SCOTT ERICKSON
| G | GS | CG | GF | IP | TBF | H | R | ER | HR | SH | SF | HB | TBB | SO | WP | BR/9 | W | L | PCT | ShO | SV-O | HLD | ERA |
| 29 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 160.2 | 719 | 192 | 109 | 99 | 20 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 68 | 74 | 5 | 15.01 | 5 | 12 | .294 | 1 | 0-0 | 0 | 5.55 |
SEASON SUMMARY
Scott Erickson has been an enigma for most of his career. A pitcher with a 95 MPH fastball with exceptional movement who has struck out fewer than five batters per nine innings for his career. One of the more prolific groundball pitchers of his era who had his best seasons on an astroturf field. Some exceptionally good and epically bad seasons, almost randomly plotted throughout his career.
Erickson signed a lucrative--and somewhat controversial--five-year contract beginning with the 1999 season. Unfortunately, Erickson's last "plus" campaign was 1998, the year before the contract kicked in. Since toiling with the security of the new pact, Erickson's stats are as follows:
79 G, 78 GS, 483.1 IP, 563 H, 61 HR, 215 BB, 221 SO, 25-32, 5.55 ERA.
Erickson was shut down with elbow problems part way into a horrific 2000 campaign and missed all of 2001. Basically, under the current contract, Erickson has been hurt, awful or both. Only two pitchers (Ryan Rupe and Brian Bohanon) with at least 400 innings pitched from 1999-2002 have higher ERAs over that span of time than Scott Erickson. Essentially, Erickson hasn't had a better than average season since 1998.
Unfortunately, that includes 2002. Coming off Tommy John surgery, Scott actually got off to a decent start last season (3.45 ERA in early May), but things went south in a hurry. Still, as late as mid-July, Erickson had rebounded to a 4.07 ERA after a complete game victory over Seattle. But that was the end of the effective outings. Over his final eight starts, Erickson's ERA exploded by nearly a run and a half and he got past the sixth inning only once. Over his last four starts, in 12.1 innings, Erickson surrendered 21 earned runs. After his August 31 start--a debacle in which he didn't make it out of the second inning--the Orioles bowed to the inevitable and shut Erickson down for the year.
The right-hander capped off the year by becoming the first two-time winner of the prestigious Piņata Award.
It's not clear what to expect from Erickson in 2003. Entering his second season since surgery, when most pitchers have shown full recovery, might grant some reason for optimism, but it's worth keeping in mind that Erickson wasn't pitching particularly well before he was hurt, so while a return to the status quo ante would represent an improvement over the last few years, it wouldn't be something to jump up and down over.
In any event, the Orioles announced in mid-December that Erickson had a torn labrum. Surgery, apparently, isn't needed. After a "strengthening program," the right-hander will supposedly be ready for spring training. We'll see.
TO CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY NEXT YEAR, HE MUST:
1) demonstrate that his arm is healthy again
2) remember how to get batters out; it's been so long since he last did this on a semi-regular basis that one can't help but wonder if he's forgotten how
3) do the honorable thing and wave his 10/5 rights to veto a trade if the Orioles are able to find someone upon which to dump him without being saddled with similar deadweight in return; even if Erickson is able to right the ship, whatever that means in his case, in 2003, his days with the Orioles are pretty obviously numbered
NOTES
ERA in night games (19 of them) was a staggering 6.57 vs. 3.79 in 10 day games (nine starts)...6.82 ERA, .331 opponents' BA in 13 road starts...8.19 ERA in 11 post-All-Star break appearances...opponents putting the first pitch into play hit .395 in 81 ABs...opponents were .318/.373/.516 with runners on base...opponents batted .332 vs. Erickson in the first three innings of games.