Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Matt Andriese allowed one earned run in three-and-two-thirds innings on Friday against the Blue Jays. Despite the outing being substandard to his previous appearances (zero earned runs in his last two), he outplayed his competition for a rotation spot.
His main competition, Burch Smith started the game and yielded six runs. With Alex Colome, Alex Cobb, and Drew Smyly, all dealing with injury issues, both Andriese and Smith could end up in the Opening Day rotation, but Andriese has the chance to stick even when one of the three returns if he can outperform fellow rookie Nate Karns in the first month of the season.
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Andriese is focused on staying within himself and not trying to overthrow, saying to Sports Talk Florida:
"“You know I just gotta go about my own business and try not to worry about that. I think all that stuff will take care of itself if I go out there and pitch my game and put myself in contention. That’s all I can worry about.”"
Andreise is on the right path towards earning a spot, showing excellent late movement on his pitches through each of his last 3 starts.
As an innings-eater from UC-Riverside, Andriese generates a ton of ground balls while pounding the strike zone, which makes his 19.3 strikeout percentage in Triple-A even more encouraging. Throwing across his body, he’s deceptive with his release. With average to plus control of four pitches he should settle nicely into the rotation. His fastball rests in the low 90s and he isn’t afraid to work inside and consequently jams right-handers on a consistent basis.
His curveball, although average, has solid downward movement and should improve as Tampa pitching coaches enhance his development. His slider has more bite and a sharp 11 to 5 break when he’s at his best. His best pitch is undoubtedly his splitter, which has the type of sinking and cutting action that could make it a dangerous out-pitch and has been a major reason why 74 percent of runners are left on base.
Despite a solid arsenal, Andriese will have to have to focus on hitting his spots and maintaining his command for the entire game. When he keeps the ball low in the strike zone and doesn’t overpitch, he could post a six innings pitched while yielding three earned runs every night, the true definition of a quality starter.
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If Andriese can show Tampa he is capable of holding his own in the rotation, Tampa may have hard decision on their hands once their injured starters return. If Matt Moore doesn’t return until July and Andriese pitches well, the Rays may even decide to return Alex Colome to the bullpen, something that they experimented with last season. Either way, Andriese finds himself in an unexpected position on what was viewed as a deep Rays pitching staff only a few months ago.