Brad Bergesen Could Be Sleeper Who Helps Revitalize Orioles’ Starting Rotation

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Feb 26, 2011

Our weekly look at one item tying together each of Boston’s AL East opponents examines the Orioles, the division’s perennial doormat. Which relatively unknown player could make a name for himself in Baltimore in 2011?

The Orioles have finished last or next-to-last in the AL in team ERA five years in a row. It’s nearly impossible to win that way, and they ran their streak of consecutive losing seasons to 13 in 2010, posting a 4.59 ERA, better than only Kansas City.

Much has been made of budding left-hander Brian Matusz and once-highly rated prospect Jake Arrieta, the two guys many in Baltimore hope to help reverse the trend. A third youngster, Brad Bergesen, gets a fraction of the ink, but began to come into his own a bit near the end of 2010.

Bergesen, now 25, went 5-3 with a 2.85 ERA in his final 12 starts of the year. In that run he recorded the second and third complete games of his young career, and won a duel with Clay Buchholz in Fenway Park.

The right-hander is not overpowering; he had only 81 strikeouts in 170 innings last season. He won’t be winning any Cy Young Awards anytime soon. And Bergesen may remain behind Matusz and Arrieta on the pecking order of young Baltimore pitchers. But the former fourth-round pick looks as though he’ll be able to eat some innings for the Orioles, and shut down opponents often enough to give his team a chance to win.

In Baltimore, that’s saying something.

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