In a turn of events not often seen for the Orioles in the last few decades, the club might have too many good starting pitchers.
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
The Orioles have a starting pitching problem. Except it’s not the same kind of starting pitching problem that plagued the team for years and even decades on end in recent history.
No, this “problem” is that the Orioles might have too many good starting pitchers, more than they can accommodate in a five-man rotation. John Means must return from his rehab assignment by the end of the month, and could be back as soon as Sunday. Kyle Bradish isn’t far behind, perhaps getting just one more rehab start before rejoining the Orioles. Tyler Wells is also getting close to throwing again.
As Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun writes, the O’s are going to have some tough decisions to make very soon. Means and Bradish are expected to have spots waiting for them in the rotation, but who leaves to make room for them?
Even two weeks ago, it seemed hard to believe the Orioles would be hesitant to remove anyone from the rotation. Cole Irvin and Dean Kremer were both turning in erratic performances, as was Wells before he hit the injured list. But now Irvin and Kremer are both coming off of great outings — the former throwing 6.2 scoreless against the Royals, the latter racking up a career-best 10 strikeouts against the Angels — while Wells’s replacement, Albert Suárez, has been an out-of-nowhere success story with two consecutive outings of 5.2 scoreless. Suddenly there are no obvious weak links.
Still, maybe the Orioles could use this opportunity to address the biggest hole on their team: the bullpen. Irvin and Suárez, in particular, could serve valuable roles as long men or middle relievers if they get bumped to the ‘pen. Wells, whenever he returns, might be well suited as a late-inning reliever, a role in which he excelled late last season. If that squeezes out some of the Orioles’ shakier relievers like Mike Baumann and Yohan Ramírez, well, so be it. The overall roster would be stronger for it.
Too many good pitchers, huh? What a nice problem to have.
Links
The O’s offense so far: Lot of runs, lot of homers but not many walks – Steve Melewski
Orioles hitters have the second-fewest walks in MLB right now, but it’s not exactly hampering their productivity. This isn’t the free-swinging, junk-chasing kind of offense of the early 2000s.
McKenna happy for Kjerstad and hoping to rejoin him in majors – School of Roch
If you’ve been thinking, “The Orioles’ success is all well and good, but what’s Ryan McKenna up to?”, then have I got the story for you.
Orioles call-up videos keep going viral, thanks to this manager’s touching delivery – The Baltimore Banner
Giving prospects the news of their major league call-up isn’t easy. You have to summon them into your office without seeming too excited. You have to set up your iPad in such a way that it’s not too obvious you’re filming them. You have to start with mundane conversation and then — bam! — hit ’em with the big news when they least expect it. Buck Britton has it down to a science.
Orioles first pitch to be from Marriotts Ridge High student with autism – MLB.com
This is really neat. Congrats, Will!
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Just one player in Orioles history has an April 26 birthday: the late catcher Nate Smith (b. 1935, d. 2019), whose entire MLB career consisted of five games with the 1962 Birds.
On this date in 1997, O’s second baseman Roberto Alomar crushed three home runs in a 14-5 rout of the Red Sox at Camden Yards. The Hall of Famer blasted a two-run homer in the second, went back-to-back with Eric Davis to lead off the fourth, and powered another two-run shot in the fifth, finishing the day 4-for-4 with six RBIs.
Random Orioles game of the day
Today’s random number is…1955. On April 26, 1955, the Orioles — in just the franchise’s second year in Baltimore — lost a walkoff against the Tigers, 3-2. For eight innings, the Orioles’ Erv Palica and Tigers’ Ned Garver locked in a pitcher’s duel, each giving up two runs. But while Garver got through a scoreless ninth, Palica didn’t, coughing up a walkoff homer to the Tigers’ 20-year-old right fielder Al Kaline, a Baltimore native who was just beginning his two-decade, Hall of Fame career.