ESPN MLB

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Leo Mazzone's first season as the Baltimore Orioles' pitching coach did not live up to his or the team's expectations. However, the bright spot for the Orioles' 2006 pitching was that Erik Bedard and Chris Ray developed from promising projects into the head of a rotation and a clear closer, respectively.

But with the exception of Bedard (15-11, 3.76) and Ray (33 saves in 38 chances), Baltimore's pitching left much to be desired last season, when the Orioles finished with the second-worst team ERA (5.35) in baseball. The starters had a collective 5.40, and the bullpen 5.25, with a record of 19-25 for a team that finished fourth in the American League East.

Those numbers contrasted sharply with results that made Mazzone legendary from 1991 to 2005 with the Atlanta Braves, where the pitching coach led his team to 10 team ERA titles and worked with hurlers who had a total of nine 20-win seasons and notched six Cy Youngs.

Based mainly on that pitching, Atlanta won 14 straight division titles, a streak whose end coincided with Mazzone's departure from the team.

"I think a lot of people have been unfair to judge Leo on his first year as our pitching coach," said right-hander Daniel Cabrera, who went 9-10 with a 4.74 ERA in 26 starts last season. "You've got to keep in mind that Mazzone came from a team that won for 14 straight years, and then came here to a team that had lost for eight consecutive seasons," said Cabrera.

"Like everything in baseball, a pitching coach needs time to get to know his pitchers when he's on a new team," added Bedard.

The arms of the talented Bedard and Cabrera could hold the key to preserving Mazzone's legacy as a mentor for pitchers. Bedard, 28, is the undisputed ace of the Orioles' rotation, which in addition to Cabrera will also include young lefty Adam Loewen and veteran right-handers Jaret Wright and Steve Trachsel.

After winning six games in each of the previous two seasons, Bedard had his breakout 15-victory campaign last year. But more than Mazzone's influence, Bedard credits his success in '06 to improving the location of his curveball. "I worked all winter [2005-06] at home in Ottawa with my younger brother Mark. He was my catcher there and helped me with my control," said Bedard. "What Mazzone has done with me is more psychological. With Leo I've learned to handle situations where I get myself into jams."

The 6-foot-7 Cabrera, 25, is a right-hander with an electric fastball who still struggles with his control, which is not uncommon with tall pitchers. "Because of the WBC [Cabrera pitched with the Dominican Republic], I wasn't able to work with Leo at the beginning of last year's spring training. The first half of the season was difficult because we didn't know each other," said Cabrera, who went 4-6 with a 5.15 ERA in the first half, but got better in the second half, going 5-4, 4.26. He lost only one of five September starts, and in his last outing of the season, he pitched his best game, a one-hitter against the Yankees in New York.

"Mazzone discovered a slight movement toward first base that hurt my ability to locate pitches," said Cabrera. "Now we're working on the psychological aspect of things, in order to not fall back into that same mistake."

In addition to its promising rotation, Baltimore improved its bullpen for 2007, with the acquisitions of Chad Bradford, Todd Williams, Danys Baez and Jamie Walker.

"This spring has been different because the faces aren't all that new for me," said Mazzone, 58, who is under contract with the Orioles through 2008.

His good friend and Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo convinced him to go from Atlanta to Baltimore after 2005. And Perlozzo defends his friend's record: "Mazzone's legacy is unquestionable. It's not fair to ask him to do immediately here what he did in Atlanta," said Perlozzo.

Cabrera agrees. "It's also not fair to say that anyone would have been successful in Atlanta with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz in the rotation," he said. "They weren't born great pitchers."

"We all knew that Mazzone would be under pressure to produce immediate results," added star shortstop Miguel Tejada. "The important thing is for us to support each other as a team."