There's Still Hope With Matt Hobgood

Matt Hobgood had huge expectations coming out of Norco High School being drafted 5th overall by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2009 draft. He shot up draft boards all through the draft process. The Orioles decided to go with Hobgood because they liked his upside and he was fresh out of high school so they could give him a few years in the minors.

Matt Hobgood has struggled for most of his professional career,
but his ceiling is still as high as ever, and it's not too late to turn it around.

Now up to this point you could call Hobgood a bust. He has struggled in his 2 seasons in the minors. In his first full season he pitched in 21 games and posted a 4.40 era in 94 innings pitched for the Delmarva Shorebirds. In his second season he has showed some progress but wasnt pitching very deep into games. He has battled injuries but has pitched 13 games total and only 37 innings for the Aberdeen Ironbirds.

Now why so much optimism for a kid that hasnt looked good at all since being drafted? Well the most of us know we dont have much depth in out minors so if Hobgood can get back on track next year and pitch decently and maybe pitch close to 100 innings then thats huge progress. Remember he just turned 21 years old in the beggining of august so he is still a young kid. I would expect him to turn it around next year and hope to see the majors in 2014 when hes 23. The Orioles saw something in him that they liked so my guess is that he will at least get a shot maybe not as a starter but somewhere on the big league roster. I think Hobgood will surprise a lot of people and turn out to be a good draft pick for the Orioles.