Josh Towers, like Jason Johnson, requires a Tale of Two Pitchers to recall his 2001 season.

"Good" Josh went 6-2 over seven weeks in May and June, evoking the memory of young Mike Mussina among some Oriole personnel. His ERA during that span was around 2.00.

Then came "Bad" Josh. The season prior, Ryan Kohlmeier had managed some success because batters didn't hold off on his high fastballs and eye high curveballs. Once batters laid off those offering, waiting for Kohlmeier's more "mundane" piches often found positive results. The opposite was true of Towers. Since he was always around the plate, once batters came up there hacking away instead of taking strike one and maybe two, they began having success.

At least that's the theory. The reality is, it didn't matter when they swung the bat...the hit the ball, with authority...a .297 batting average, and a near .500 slugging average.

Josh Towers turned out to be the Orioles' 2001 version of Ryan Kohlmeier. His hits/IP ratio is pretty bad, he gave up a ton of home runs, and pitched to the tune of an ERA over 6 runs per game over his last 13 starts.

Will he be part of the Orioles rotation in 2002? Hopefully, yes, but in reality, he failed in his first trip to The Show. He has a lot of things to improve on, and not a ton of time to do it.

To Contribute Successfully Next Season, Towers should:

(1.) stop giving up all those home runs.

(2.) improve his h/ip ratio, perhaps by moving the ball around a lot more.

Notes: Much better at home, with a 3.28 ERA, while pitching to a 5.74 on the road...