Erbe had always jumped forward on the mound after lifting his left leg to begin his delivery. He had never noticed, and coaches had always let the mechanical flaw go because the results were so good. But at Frederick, Erbe was unable to repeat his delivery consistently, and Carolina League hitters were good enough to take advantage.
"When you have that kind of wild delivery," he said, "if something is a little bit off, it throws your pitches way off."
After an ugly 16-4 loss in May, he told himself just to forget it. But he couldn't.
As his outings got worse and worse, Erbe tried to fix his mechanics mid-game.
"I just didn't know what to do," Erbe remembered. "I tried everything, but I just couldn't figure it out."
As Erbe's season collapsed, Spoone entered such a groove that he seemed apt to throw a no-hitter every time out. When the two sat in their apartment after one of Erbe's bad starts, Spoone gave his friend space, then offered tips or tried to cheer him up over games of Guitar Hero.
The Orioles asked the right-hander to go to Florida for Instructional League in October to get back on track. There, pitching supervisor Dave Schmidt spent weeks smoothing out his delivery. Erbe watched the hop disappear gradually on video.
When he returned to Frederick for the winter, he worried his gains would somehow vanish as he waited three months to pitch. He woke at 8 a.m. every day to run and lift weights with fellow pitcher Jason Berken. It was too cold to throw, but he practiced his motion over and over in front of a mirror. He reported to spring training almost a month early.
His dad hadn't seen him throw since the previous summer and saw "an entirely different pitcher."
"Wow, what a change," Keys pitching coach Blaine Beatty said. "It's night and day. He's been lights out, controlling three pitches in the [strike] zone."
Erbe has gone 3-2 in his first six starts with a 3.82 ERA, and just six walks against 34 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings.
"I'm where I wanted to be," he said. "That's a huge relief."
With one eye on his friend's results, Spoone hopes for a Bowie reunion.
"He's got a great arm," he said. "There's no reason he can't be here."
childs.walker@baltsun.com
Chorye Spoone
Age: 22
Hometown: Riviera Beach
High school: Northeast
Current team: Bowie Baysox
The skinny: Hard-throwing sinkerballer who bloomed late but moved to Double-A Bowie this year after a dominant 2007. Rated eighth-best prospect in the Orioles' system by Baseball America.
Brandon Erbe
Age: 20
Hometown: Pikesville
High school: McDonogh
Current team: Frederick Keys
The skinny: Orioles thought they got a steal when they picked the hard-throwing right-hander in the third round in 2005. He lived up to expectations in his first two seasons but struggled in 2007. He's trying to pull it back together for Single-A Frederick and is ranked 10th-best prospect in the system by Baseball America.
