One last time: Jordan on 2009 draftees Berry, Cowan and Martin

In our last article with O's scouting director Joe Jordan on some of the pitchers selected in the 2009 draft, he talks about Ryan Berry, Jake Cowan and Jarret Martin. Berry has been a success story to this point, despite the fact he was a pitcher the O's selected even though he had been hurt as a college pitcher that year at Rice. He missed some time during Rice's 2009 season with a strained shoulder. The Orioles took Berry in round nine and he was signed to an over slot bonus and they were pleased with his 2010 year between Delmarva and Frederick when he went 2-5, 3.22. He was limited to 117 1/3 innings and pitched in relief over his last five appearances to keep his innings down. Coming off his injury at Rice, the O's were proceeding cautiously with Berry last summer. "Ryan did exactly what we needed him to do. He pitched all summer and Ryan is a worker. I've been told he's in great shape, stronger, he put on some weight," Jordan said. "A guy that we had at the back end of the first round, top of the second round, evaluation-wise, that we got for third round money. I think his stuff will be a little bit sharper this year and he did a good job last summer." The Orioles may limit his innings again this coming season. "Everything went according to plan last year with Ryan. We were not going to extend him, we were going to limit what he was going to do. Our main goal was to get him out there every five days. We had an innings limit and we knew he couldn't pitch all summer in the rotation, they moved him into the bullpen with Frederick so he could pitch all season. That was a success. No setbacks with him." Berry would probably be slated to pitch around 130 or 140 innings in 2011. Cowan, taken in round 10 of that draft, had good numbers last season at Delmarva but didn't pitch after May 12th, going 3-1, 3.51 over seven starts and 41 innings. "He had some shoulder issues and that was a setback. He was healthy when we took him, not an injury risk. We'll just have to see where he is at. I'm going to guess he is a guy that may not break camp on time," Jordan said. Martin, a 21-year-old lefty selected in round 18, pitched at Bluefield in 2010, averaging more than a strikeout per inning with a 2.03 grounder to fly ball ratio, but he also walked too many. In 13 starts over 59 2/3, Martin was 3-5, 4.07 and gave up just 43 hits with 46 walks and 68 strikeouts. "He pitched all summer and Jarret at times, boy he showed it. But he is inconsistent and command has to continue to improve, but he made a lot of progress last summer. He got to pitch all summer. He's had command issues in the past, but his stuff is there. "He is the right type of guy to try to get down in the draft. A left-hander with arm strength and a breaking ball. He did have a little shoulder tendinitis that first summer, but he's fine now. He got a pretty good workload last year," Jordan added.