Buddy Groom
| G | GS | CG | IP | H | R | ER | HR | HB | TBB | SO | WP | BR/9 | W | L | PCT | ShO | SV-O | HLD | ERA |
| 60 | 0 | 0 | 45.1 | 58 | 27 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 34 | 1 | 14.89 | 1 | 3 | .250 | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 5.36 |
| Age: 38 Height: 6-2 Weight: 201 lbs. Bats: Left Throws: Left Pos: RP |
Born: July 10, 1965, Dallas , TX Full Name: Wedsel Gary Groom College: Mary Harden-Baylor Experience: 12 years 2003 Salary: $3,000,000 |
| Well, it finally happened. Buddy Groom finally showed some
chinks in the armor he had been constructing over the past couple of
seasons. Looking back, it seems hard to recall that Groom pitched very well
until he gave up his first run of the season on May 6. But another bad
outing followed that one, and then another...and then two bad ones
sandwiching two good ones and, just like that, Groom's aura if invincibility
crafted over the last two seasons was gone with the wind. The bottom line was, he didn't strike out fewer guys, or walk more guys. He just started giving up hits. Lots of them. In bunches. In 21 of his 60 appearances this past season, he allowed more than one baserunner via hit or walk. For a guy whose average outing is two-thirds of an inning, that's pretty ineffective. Buddy Groom simply had trouble getting people out. It became obvious at some point that he lost his confidence, and Mike Hargrove lost confidence in him. However, sample size and margin of error is always so small with these specialty lefthanders, that there is no reason to think that Groom cannot rebound somewhat from the ashes of the 2003 season. Groom has had ERAs over 5.00 on two other occasions since becoming a fixture in the A's bullpen in 1996, and rebounded to workmanlike, if not stellar, seasons to follow in both cases. There is the matter of his age (he'll be 39 on July 10, 2004) and his recent workload in terms of number of appearances, but there is a possibility that Groom can return to at least yeoman status in the bullpen as the left-handed short man. TO CONTRIBUTE SUCCESSFULLY TO THE ORIOLES NEXT SEASON, HE MUST: (1) Regain his reliever swagger. It was apparent in body language and results that Groom lost his confidence, only to pitch better in September until his last outing when the Yankees lit him up. He just needs to take a deep breath and forget the whole thing. (2) Find a way to recover his effectiveness versus righthanders. Through most of his Oriole career, Groom has been fine against lefties, but pretty bad against the righthanders in between the lefties. Last year, he had his best year against righthanders, but in 2003, they hit .383 off of him. He simply can't allow that sort of production again. NOTES: allowed a .309 BAA...allowed a HR every 6.5 innings pitched...righthanders slugged .576 off of him...pitched to a 3.86 ERA in the second half, but still allowed a .333 BAA, thus relegating any "improvement" to the small sample size of just over 18 innings...in 6 appearances against Boston, only allowed a 1.69 ERA...pitched to a 4.05 ERA at Camden Yards...when facing a batter with 2 out, runners in scoring position, he allowed a .294 BAA, with 16 of 40 batters reaching base, and 16 runs scoring in those 40 attempts. |