When the 2000 season began, the casual Orioles fan had never HEARD of Ryan Kohlmeier, yet in August and September, he successfully closed out 13 of 14 contests for the "new look" Orioles.

The tall 23 year old midwesterner showed a coolness on the mound not seen since Randy Myers last sauntered in from the bullpen in 1997. Not overpowering in any facet of his game, Kohlmeier simply got the job done to the tune of a 2.39 ERA.

Before you ready the closers’ cap for him for the coming seasons, there are some warning signals in the 2000 stats:

He gave up more than a hit per inning (30 in 26.1 innings) and 45 baserunners.

His ERA nearly doubled from his first six performances to his last six (though it was minuscule to begin with.)

Pat Rapp had a better OBP allowed. (.366 for Rapp, .378 for Kohlmeier. This is a pretty high number.)

Pat Rapp had a better batting average allowed. (.289 for Rapp, .291 for Kohlmeier.)

He DID do an outstanding job in not getting hit HARD…his slugging against was a low .388. (Rapp’s was .466, Mussina’s .404)

So, Kohlmeier’s approach in 2000 was; get in there, throw the ball, let them hit it, and don’t get burned with the big hits.

He gave up hits to the first batter he faced to the tune of a .409 average and .480 OBP, but simply did not give up hits with men on base or in scoring position…batters with runners in scoring position hit a feeble .194 off Kohlmeier.

He was quite vulnerable to lefties, giving up his one homer, a .500 slugging percentage, and a .333 average to the 54 southpaw batters he faced. Meanwhile, he only allowed a .245 average to righthanders.

He was much more effective to batters he faced after throwing 15 pitches, giving in to a batting average of .338 over the first 15, only .174 afterwards.

So what can one conclude? Kohlmeier had an excellent introduction to the majors, and he gave the O’s management and fans hope. There was, however, nothing overpowering about his numbers, and the high batting average and OBP may plague him in 2001 if he cannot address them.

TO CONTRIBUTE NEXT SEASON, HE MUST:

Cut down on baserunners. Allowing that many runners is living quite dangerously.

Work on getting out lefthanders. Closers face a lot of left-handed pinch hitters, and they hit Kohlmeier hard in 2000.

Improve K/BB ratio.

Keep learning, and don’t get down when the batters start getting to him

NOTES: Picked up three saves against KC, allowing only one hit and no walks over three innings…gave up five of his 15 walks to the Red Sox over 2 outings covering 1.2 innings.