Sports
Bascom Wins Orioles Pitching Award
Bowie right-hander earns Palmer Award for minor league pitching.
Pitcher Tim Bascom didn’t get off to the best start in 2011. But his finish was certainly much better.
Bascom became a key member of the Baysox starting rotation and helped Bowie become one of the Double-A Eastern League’s best teams in the second half of the season.
He finished with a 10-4 record overall (between one game with Frederick and the rest of the year at Bowie) and was awarded the Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award from the Orioles organization on Monday.
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Bascom pitched one game with Single-A Frederick – he won it -- and spent the rest of the season with Bowie. He ended up with a 2.97 ERA overall (second in the Oriole minor league organization).
“It’s an honor,” Bascom said. “There’s a lot of good prospects. I [knew] I was in the running.”
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Bascom had been a starter for almost his entire minor-league career heading into 2011. He started in 85 of the 88 games he pitched in, but the Orioles put him in the bullpen starting this season.
The right-hander started and relieved in the first part of the season, but he moved into the starting rotation for good about halfway through. Bascom said being told he was pitching out of the bullpen ticked him off a little, so he began to work harder.
In addition, Bascom said his velocity increased this season, possibly from his 12 games coming out of the bullpen.
“I got a little relieving under my belt this year,” Bascom said. “Relieving for the short time I did increased my velocity a little bit. I don’t know if it was related or if it was just getting a little more adrenaline…but it really helped.”
Bascom is hoping for bigger and better things next year. He’ll be 27 when 2012 begins and hopes to get to Triple-A Norfolk—or higher.
The right-hander pitched at Norfolk last year but struggled. He finished with a 4-7 record and a high 6.94 ERA in 17 starts.
But everything was different this year.
“Obviously you want to be in the big leagues as soon as possible,” Bascom said. “This year, I feel like I put it all together and learned from it all.”
