SEASON SUMMARY

You have to wonder if Sidney Ponson is ever going to take "the next step."  Ponson just turned 25 in November, granted.  But in four big league seasons, he doesn't appear to have advanced, in terms of accomplishments, one iota.  Ponson's career ERA, in 118 appearances covering more than 700 innings, now stands at 4.90, almost identical to the 4.94 mark he posted in 2001.  His opponents have managed to hit .278/.337/.454 off of Ponson over his four seasons.  In 2001, they were .289/.339/.487.  In his career, he's allowed 9.8 H/9IP, 3.1 BB/9IP, 5.5 SO/9IP and 1.3 HR/9IP.  His 2001 numbers:  10.5 H/9IP, 2.4 BB/9IP, 5.5 SO/9IP and 1.4 HR/9IP.  Other than appearing to get a handle on the walks, there's not much to distinguish 2001 from the rest of Ponson's below average career to date.

To make matters worse, for the first time in his big league career, Ponson missed significant time in 2001, with two stints on the DL.  Ponson missed the second half of April and the first half of May and all of September/October with forearm tendinitis.  The injury isn't expected to impact Ponson in the long-term, however.

The Orioles, absolutely desperate for a young pitcher to take the reins of their rotation have been hoping and anticipating a Ponson breakthrough for at least two years, but have yet to see it materialize.  Flashes of brilliance have been shown, but no more than that.

The club is reluctant to give up on Ponson because of his age, of course, and because of his raw tools.  He has a fastball that consistently hits the mid-90s, but has little in the way of an off-speed arsenal.  Perhaps Ponson's biggest shortcoming is a maddening tendency to yield sharp hits despite being ahead 0-2 and 1-2 in the count--the proverbial "wild in the strike zone" problem.  In fact, this may be the best reason for the Orioles to stick with Ponson.  His problem isn't getting in front of hitters, it's finishing them off.  He clearly has the stuff do that, but needs to approach hitters better after getting ahead.  Compared to the problem of getting ahead in the first place--particularly given Ponson's arm--this is a relatively minor problem.  On the other hand, this has been Ponson's problem essentially from day one and he still hasn't made the adjustment.  One can be forgiven for wondering if he ever will, at least while in a Baltimore uniform.

TO CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY NEXT YEAR, HE MUST:

1) finish hitters off; plain and simple

NOTES

Actually pitched pretty well in May (3.22, four starts) and June (3.38, six starts); the problem was the rest of the year (6.38 ERA, 13 starts)...had a substantial day/night split (3.42 ERA in eight daytime starts vs. 5.88 ERA in 15 evening starts)...posted a 6.54 ERA and allowed 72 hits (10 homers) in 53.2 IP after the All-Star break; also was hit to the tune of .320/.369/.547 after the break after holding opponents to .268/.318/.446 before...absolutely flambéed by lefty swingers:  .321/.377/.569 in 274 ABs.