SEASON SUMMARY

B.J. Ryan has settled into a role as a lefty specialist with the Orioles, illustrated by the fact that he threw approximately 10 fewer innings than he had appearances and averaged fewer than four batters per game.

Ryan's got a funky delivery, which is double-edged sword.  The good part is that the unusual all-arms-and-legs follow through can make it difficult for the opposing hitter to pick up the ball.  The bad part is that if Ryan's mechanics are even slightly messed up, he can't find the strike zone to save his life.  

Throwing strikes has always been Ryan's Achilles Heel; he's walked better than 5.5 batters per nine innings for his career and last year he was at 5.15 (though four of his 33 free passes were of the intentional variety).  B.J. is also a little bit susceptible to the longball; it's not a horrible record, but he's allowed roughly 1.2 HR/9IP over the past three seasons.

Ryan had a very rough time of it through most of the first half of last season and appeared at one point as though he might be headed for Rochester.  By the time the All-Star break rolled around, Ryan was struggling in a major way:  his ERA was 7.18; he had allowed 30 hits (opposing batting average:  .283), including five home runs, and walked 19 batters in 26.1 innings pitched.  The only positive?  29 strikeouts.

But after the break...let's just say that if Ryan can bottle that, he'll be a very useful part of anyone's bullpen:  2.59 ERA, 31.1 IP, 21 hits (.198 batting average against), two home runs allowed, 14 walks, 27 strikeouts.  While the K/IP ratio slipped, every other part of the equation showed a dramatic improvement.

Expect Ryan to be the full-time lefty specialist in the Orioles bullpen in 2003, with fellow southpaw Buddy Groom holding down a more extensive role.

TO CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY NEXT YEAR, HE MUST:

1) do whatever he was doing in the second half of 2002--eat the same breakfast cereal, wear the same socks, whatever

2) retain his mechanics; if he gets screwed up mechanically, duck

3) improve his control; if Ryan can ever get a handle on this problem he could turn into one of the majors' elite lefty specialists 

NOTES

As usual, Ryan had a large platoon differential:  righties were .283/.376/.407 against him in 113 ABs, but lefties managed just .192/.319/.374 in 99 ABs...when B.J. did make a mistake to a lefty swinger, it was a big one; portsiders hit five of the seven home runs Ryan allowed in 2002...somewhat ominously, Ryan was far less effective on short rest (ERA over 6 with 0-1 days rest) than with at least two days between appearances...from July 6 until August 17, allowed only two runs in 16 appearances (16 IP).

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