He’s seen some of his fellow rotation-mates move on in the Orioles chain, but lately Ryan O’Shea has become the rock that the staff is built on. The 23-year old hurler used the stretch around his birthday back on May 29th to compile four straight quality starts (allowing no more than two earned runs in 7 innings of work in each outing), piling up three of his five victories on the season and issuing nary a walk in three of those appearances. While his last two starts weren’t as sparkling, he’s put together some good numbers and has a great chance to become a staff leader in a number of categories for 2009.
At the halfway break, Ryan led the team in innings pitched with 72, tied for the lead with his 13 starts, and was third on the staff with 53 strikeouts to go with a sound 3.13 ERA. He also had the lone complete game on the Shorebirds’ staff, albeit it was a 7-inning game back on June 4th.
O’Shea was drafted by the Orioles back in 2008 out of the University of New Orleans in his hometown. The 27th round pick put up decent numbers in Aberdeen last season (2-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 33 innings spanning 16 appearances) but did not become a starter in the professional ranks until this season. However, if he continues to put on good performances, he might remain a starter for awhile longer.
