Let's just come out and say it: Brian Matusz is a mess right now.
He looks clueless on the mound. He looks dead-armed, too. Oh, and he can't hold on base runners to save his life.
Other than that, everything's going just fine.
OK, no fair joking about the struggling lefty, not after he stunk up the joint Sunday in the Orioles' ugly 9-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Camden Yards.
He retired just three of the 13 batters he faced. He lasted just an inning and a third and was torched for five hits and four runs, all earned.
It was the shortest of his three starts since coming off the disabled list — three starts when he's had terrible stuff. And it left the Orioles baffled as to what is wrong with a seemingly talented pitcher projected to be one of the cornerstones of a promising young rotation for years to come.
Shouldn't there be improvement from Matusz by now? Buck Showalter was asked after the game.
For an instant, the Orioles manager wore a pained expression, as if a kidney stone was flaring up.
"There should, there should," he said quickly. "Yeah, he's telling us he feels fine. Just not a whole lot coming out right now."
Which is probably an understatement at this point.
Matusz's fastball had absolutely no life to it Sunday, and the Rays teed off on him like he was throwing underhand.
His fastball hit 88 on the radar gun twice, but otherwise hovered in the mid-80s. And hovered is probably the right word there.
It's the second year in a row that Matusz's velocity has declined. And right now it's so noticeable that the Rays dugout was buzzing about it during the game.
"I'm certain that he's not 100 percent," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. And both Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria and designated hitter Johnny Damon said Matusz appears to be nothing like the pitcher he used to be.
If all that isn't enough to concern the Orioles, there was also this: Matusz seemed incapable of holding base runners on Sunday.
The Rays stole four bases in the first two innings. Sure, maybe you can't blame that entirely on Matusz. Maybe catcher Craig Tatum has to take the hit for that, too.
But on at least two of the steals, Matusz didn't appear to even look over at the runner, leaving Tatum with no shot to gun anyone down.
It was such a shaky outing that Showalter seemed uncertain if Matusz would even make his next scheduled start.
"I don't know," Showalter said. "We'll sit down. I haven't talked to him yet since he pitched. Brian's a very confident guy. We'll see where he is with it.
"We've been talking to him since last year about holding runners and some things he needs to do. He's just had some challenges. Sometimes guys have to ... [you] kind of have to get in their face a little bit to [have them] understand some things. So we'll see where it takes us."
Is that Showalter calling out his young lefty?
Is that the Orioles manager saying to hell with the kid gloves, time for some tough love, time to verbally smack this guy out of his funk?
Sure sounded that way to me.
Give Matusz credit, though: he didn't hide from the media after this latest disaster.
He stood in front of his locker and patiently answered every question, even when you knew the horrible performance was still tearing him up inside.
"From the get-go, I didn't have a good feel," he said. "... It was just one of those days where you've got to be able to battle without your good stuff. They were able to find some holes and get some things going early, and I just wasn't able to get on track today."
Once again, Matusz said there was absolutely nothing wrong with his arm.
"I'm 100 percent healthy," he said.
And that little problem of the Rays base runners turning the game into a track meet?
"I've got to do a better job of holding runners," he said. "It's not fair for [the] guys like that when I'm just taking my time and trying to get in a groove. I've got to be a little bit better than that, so that's something I've got to work on."
Problem is, the Orioles say they've been on him forever to hold runners on more effectively. But apparently the guy just isn't listening.
All of it left you wondering Sunday about Matusz's confidence, and how quickly he'd be able to bounce back from yet another outing where he just seemed to have nothing.
"I'm fine confidence-wise," he said. "I know I have the stuff and what it takes to go out there and be successful. It's just a matter of getting locked in and feeling good and getting on a roll."
Maybe.
But he better get locked in and feeling good soon. Because the Orioles are running out of patience.
And that's never a good thing when you're trying to keep your job.
Listen to Kevin Cowherd Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. with Jerry Coleman on V1370 AM Sports.