The temporary replacement for Tyler Wells is a surprise, at least to me.
When the Orioles placed Wednesday’s originally-scheduled starter, Tyler Wells, on the injured list with elbow inflammation with about 20 minutes to go before Tuesday’s game, the spot in the rotation was opened up without a clear idea of who would immediately fill it. This is probably temporary, just for today and next Tuesday.
I assumed this would be a start going to Baltimore’s own Bruce Zimmermann, who is already on the 40-man roster. He had not pitched since Thursday for Triple-A Norfolk, so was rested to go. Having watched Zimmermann’s previous major league outings, there was nothing exciting about this, but it seemed like he was the O’s first backup option in the rotation, at least until the end of the month when John Means returns.
A possible galaxy brain option seemed to be just bringing up Means now and hoping for the best. I don’t think that would have been a good idea.
Instead, making the start today is 34-year-old Albert Suárez, who you might remember if you really got excited about his one good start back in spring training. The last couple of days of roster moves for the Orioles have had big 2021 energy, by which I mean that it’s like the O’s are just kind of handing out nice favors to grinders rather than trying their best to win.
Yesterday, catcher David Bañuelos was selected and put in the game late in a blowout to make his MLB debut; today, Bañuelos was designated for assignment to make room for Suárez. The starting pitcher has his own story of perseverance, having last pitched in MLB in the 2017 season. It’s a nice reward for a guy who’s definitely been in the baseball wilderness.
The difference between 2021 and now is that the rest of the roster is a whole lot better. Suárez’s start isn’t even necessarily a punted game by the team. A lineup that’s been potent so far, including a double-digit output last night, is still going to be out and looking to blast Twins starter Pablo López. They still have a decent chance to sweep this thing.
Maybe Suárez will even pitch fine enough that we feel bad when he gets the DFA as Means returns at the end of the month. If he can make it at least five innings, I’ll count that as acceptable.
Orioles lineup
- Gunnar Henderson – SS
- Adley Rutschman – C
- Ryan O’Hearn – RF
- Anthony Santander – DH
- Ryan Mountcastle – 1B
- Cedric Mullins – CF
- Colton Cowser – LF
- Jordan Westburg – 3B
- Jackson Holliday – 2B
O’Hearn in right field? Oh, brother. We’ve seen this have some negative effects in previous games and it might today, too. Perhaps the Orioles figure that with a Minnesota lineup that’s not likely to deploy many strong lefties, there won’t be much action to that side of the field. Or at least not much action that any MLB player standing out there with a glove can’t handle. I’m not so sure that they’re correct.
Twins lineup
- Edouard Julien – 2B
- Ryan Jeffers – C
- Byron Buxton – DH
- Alex Kiriloff – RF
- José Miranda – 1B
- Trevor Larnach – LF
- Austin Martin – CF
- Willi Castro – SS
- Kyle Farmer – 3B
López, the Twins starting pitcher, has a 4.86 ERA after three starts. His big problem so far is he hasn’t done very well at stranding runners – just 58.1% are left on base compared to his career number of 73.3%. That’s probably just bad luck, but in case it’s not, the Orioles need to get some traffic and then find ways to capitalize.