Orioles Select Nick Maton
The Orioles announced that they have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Nick Maton. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, right-hander Tyler Wells was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Outfielder Kyle Stowers was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk to get Maton onto the active roster.
The move is seemingly related to the injury of Jordan Westburg. While fielding a grounder last night, Westburg collided with Juan Soto of the Yankees, who was trying to run from second to third base. Manager Brandon Hyde said after the game that Westburg is day-to-day with a left hip contusion, per the MLB.com injury tracker.
The Orioles have been splitting the playing time at second and third base between Westburg, Jorge Mateo and Ramón Urías. If Westburg is out of action for a few days, that means Mateo and Urías need to be in the lineup.
That scenario would have left them with no backup infielder while Westburg is hurt, so they have selected Maton. The 27-year-old was acquired from the Tigers in a cash deal in the offseason but didn’t make the club’s roster out of Spring Training. Since he’s out of options, the O’s put him on waivers and were able to pass him through unclaimed, outrighting him to Norfolk.
He has played 41 games for the Tides this year with good results. He has seven home runs and has drawn a walk in 12.5% of his 168 plate appearances. He’s hitting .294/.387/.483 overall for a 126 wRC+. He has done that while spending time at all four infield positions and a brief showing in right field as well.
That solid performance will get Maton back to the majors, at least for now. Since the O’s haven’t put Westburg on the IL and didn’t call up a notable prospect like Connor Norby or Coby Mayo, perhaps they only envision needing coverage for a few days. If that is indeed the case, Maton is out of options and would have to be designated for assignment again if they want to remove him from the roster. But if he manages to hold his spot, he has less than two years of service time and could be cheaply retained in future seasons.
As for Wells, it was reported about three weeks ago that he would require season-ending surgery of some kind on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. The O’s announced two days ago that the procedure had been completed, describing it as “right elbow revision ulnar collateral ligament surgery with UCL repair and internal brace augmentation.” He’ll be out for the rest of this year and likely part of the 2025 season as well.
MLBTR Podcast: Gambling Scandal, The State Of The Blue Jays And The Orioles’ Rotation Depth
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- Tucupita Marcano of the Padres betting on baseball while with the Pirates (1:05)
- The Blue Jays are struggling but Ross Atkins says trading Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette doesn’t make sense (7:50)
- The Orioles lost John Means and Tyler Wells to surgery but also called up Connor Norby (17:45)
- While recording, we get the news of Marcano’s lifetime ban and find out the identities of the other players who were suspended (23:45)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Since the Brewers and Willy Adames didn’t reach an extension, is there any chance the Brewers consider trading him this summer? (24:25)
- It seems like there are more season-ending injuries, but is there any data to support that? If there is, is MLB taking a look at mitigating? (28:25)
- What will be the financial components of the deadline? Are there any teams that might have a surprising amount of payroll room? (33:50)
Check out our past episodes!
- Ángel Hernández Retires, Ronald Acuña Jr. Out For The Season And Roki Sasaki’s Potential Posting – listen here
- The Likelihood Of A Juan Soto Extension, What’s In Store For Pete Alonso, And Corbin Carroll’s Struggles – listen here
- Paul Skenes, The Prospect Hype Machine, Willson Contreras And Rising Catcher’s Interference Rates – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
John Means, Tyler Wells To Undergo UCL Surgery
Orioles general manager Mike Elias informed the media today that both left-hander John Means and right-hander Tyler Wells will undergo elbow surgery. Each player will be undergoing ulnar collateral ligament repair, though it’s not known if either will be full Tommy John surgery or the internal brace alternative. In either case, both players are now set to miss the remainder of the season. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to relay the news on X.
It’s an unfortunate double blow to the Baltimore rotation depth. The news on Means is particularly heartbreaking as he just got back from a lengthy Tommy John layoff not too long ago. He went under the knife in April of 2022, missing the majority of that season and most of the following season as well.
He did return to the mound late in 2023 but felt renewed elbow soreness. He was left off the club’s playoff roster last year and the O’s then tried to slow-play his ramp-up here in 2024. He started the season on the injured list and was reinstated at the start of May, making four starts before landing back on the IL with a left forearm strain.
Now Means is set for yet another long rehabilitation period, which will include the remainder of this season and likely a decent chunk of 2025 as well. From 2019 to 2021, he was one of the few bright spots for the club during its rebuilding phase. He tossed 345 1/3 innings in those three years, one of which was shortened by the pandemic, with a 3.73 ERA. But due to the elbow issues, he’s only thrown 52 1/3 innings over the past three seasons and that number won’t be going up now.
In addition to giving Means another huge obstacle to overcome, this surgery has the chance to end his tenure with the Orioles. He will pass six years of major league service time by season’s end and is set for free agency this coming winter. At that time, he will be heading into his age-32 season with an uncertain health outlook after all the aforementioned elbow work. Perhaps he and the Orioles will work out a new contract to cover his rehab period, if both sides are interested, but he could also consider getting healthy again and before showcasing himself for other clubs.
Wells, 29, landed on the injured list in the middle of April due to elbow inflammation. It appears that the club didn’t find much success with whatever non-surgical options it was exploring over the past six weeks and ultimately decided that surgery was indeed necessary.
The righty has a 4.06 ERA with the O’s since the start of 2021, pitching both out of the rotation and out of the bullpen. He reached arbitration in the most recent offseason as a Super Two player and is making $1.9625MM this year. He would be in line for another pass through arbitration this winter but wouldn’t be able to get a big raise after missing the vast majority of the current campaign. It’s also possible the O’s decide to non-tender Wells, given his upcoming rehab, though he is also controllable through 2027 and is still optionable.
For the club, this will significantly weaken their rotation depth for the remainder of the year. They currently have a starting mix consisting of Corbin Burnes, Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, Cole Irvin and Albert Suárez, which is a solid group but one with question marks.
Bradish was diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in February. He managed to return to the club and has pitched well through a few starts, though that was also the case for Means before his elbow issues returned. Suárez has a 1.53 ERA this year but it’s his first MLB season since 2017. Irvin has a 2.84 ERA but with a low strikeout rate of 17.6%.
Even without Means and Wells, reinforcements could be coming from within. Dean Kremer is on the injured list but isn’t expected to be out too much longer. Prospects Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott are both throwing well in Triple-A this year.
The club is 35-19 and comfortably in playoff position. Perhaps they will use the coming weeks and months to evaluate everyone in that group and see how things look in the middle of July, but it also seems fair to expect the O’s to be exploring the trade market for starting pitching this summer.
Beltway Notes: Wood, Thomas, Wells, Webb
One of the chief questions surrounding the Nationals this season is when star prospect James Wood could be making his Major League debut, though that debate might be put on hold while Wood overcomes a minor injury. Wood left Thursday’s Triple-A game with tightness in his right hamstring, and Nats manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Andrew Golden of the Washington Post) that the removal was precautionary in nature.
We could learn as early as today whether or not this injury is serious enough to merit a stint on the seven-day minor league IL, or if Wood could potentially be ready to go after another day or two of rest. Naturally the team is going to be as cautious as possible with Wood given that, if healthy, he seems to be forcing the issue of a call-up. Acquired from the Padres as part of the Juan Soto trade package in 2022, Wood was a consensus top-15 prospect in baseball even before he started obliterating Triple-A pitching. The 21-year-old is hitting .355/.465/.596 over 202 plate appearances with Triple-A Rochester, with nine homers and 10 steals (in 11 tries).
More from the Nationals and the Orioles…
- It has now been a month since a Grade 2 MCL sprain sent Lane Thomas to Washington’s 10-day injured list, and Martinez told Golden and company that Thomas will be re-evaluated this weekend. This could potentially mean an activation from the IL, or perhaps just a move up to Triple-A games in the next stage of Thomas’ rehab assignment. Thomas has already played in four games with Double-A Harrisburg, and Martinez said that Thomas has been a little sore but otherwise feeling okay in his return to action. Thomas was off to a slow start (.184/.250/.253) over his first 96 PA of the season, but the outfielder was the Nationals’ most consistent hitter in 2023, with 28 homers and a .268/.315/.468 slash line over 682 PA.
- The Orioles’ pitching depth has again become a talking point with John Means and Dean Kremer both hitting the 15-day injured list in the last few days. Tyler Wells has been on the IL since mid-April due to elbow inflammation, and the righty will start playing catch this week, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun). This represents something of a restart of Wells’ recovery program, as Wells was shut down with more soreness after attempting some catch at the start of May. Given the setback, it would appear as though Wells is still several weeks away from a return to the 26-man roster, as he’ll need to ramp up before even starting a minor league rehab assignment. Wells has a solid 3.93 ERA over 222 1/3 innings for Baltimore over the last two seasons, working mostly as a starter though some struggles cost him his rotation spot last year.
- Right-hander Nathan Webb will miss the rest of the 2024 season after undergoing left Achilles tendon surgery, as Webb himself announced on his Instagram page. Webb underwent Tommy John surgery in spring 2023 and was slated to return to the mound around midseason. “I was only a few weeks away from getting into games after rehabbing….however, the good news is that I will make a full recovery and be 100 percent ready for Spring Training 2025,” Webb wrote. The latest injury won’t impact Webb’s status with the Orioles, as the club signed him to a two-year minor league contract last October with the understanding that Webb would already be missing a big chunk of the 2024 campaign. The 26-year-old Webb has yet to make his MLB debut, and he has a 6.11 ERA over 268 minor league innings in the Royals’ farm system.
Orioles Plan To Activate Kyle Bradish From Injured List This Week
Kyle Bradish tossed 77 pitches over five innings of a Triple-A rehab start yesterday, which was his third rehab outing while recovering from a right UCL sprain. It looks as though the Orioles are satisfied with the progress, as manager Brandon Hyde told BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Rich Dubroff and other reporters that Bradish will probably be activated from the 15-day injured list this week to make his official 2024 debut.
“Our medical team talked to him last night, the pitching guys as well. He feels great,” Hyde said. “We’re just looking right now when to slot him in, but he’s going to be with us soon….He got to an innings spot and a pitch spot, the amount of pitches he threw where we feel like he’s ready. Kyle was one of the best pitchers in the league last year, and we’re excited to have him back.”
It was a little more than two months ago that Bradish’s injury was revealed, which caused immediate speculation that the righty’s season could be in jeopardy if Tommy John surgery or an internal brace procedure was needed to address the UCL damage. However, Bradish received a PRP injection that seemed to work wonders, as he was able to gradually increase his workload to the point that he was able to start his rehab assignment earlier than expected. Though missing a month of the regular season is no small matter, that is a concession Bradish and the Orioles will happily take given the initial threat of a much longer layoff.
After making his MLB debut in 2022, Bradish quietly emerged as Baltimore’s ace in his second big league season. The right-hander finished fourth in AL Cy Young Award voting after delivering a 2.83 ERA and above-average strikeout (25%) and walk (6.6%) rates across 168 2/3 innings. He allowed a good deal of hard contact, but his 49.2% grounder rate limited the damage, and Bradish benefited from a .270 BABIP.
The addition of Corbin Burnes further bolstered the Orioles’ rotation this winter, pushing Bradish down to the projected No. 2 spot in the pitching staff. The rotation took some more hits when John Means‘ elbow soreness resulted in a season-opening stint on the IL, and Tyler Wells was also sidelined two weeks ago with elbow inflammation. Hyde told Dubroff and company that Wells hadn’t yet started throwing, as “we’re just kind of slow playing him” and “making sure there’s no soreness in there.”
Means is much closer to a return, as his final Triple-A rehab outing is set for Sunday. Assuming all goes well, both Bradish and Means could be activated in the next week, thus bumping Albert Suarez and probably Cole Irvin out of the starting mix. That said, Hyde said “everything’s up on the table right now,” in terms of how the O’s might line up their starters, as the team has also considered using a six-man rotation. Such a deployment would help ease Bradish and Means into action, and the Orioles’ upcoming off-days on May 6 and 9 would also allow for a potential reset after the club evaluates everyone through at least one start.
AL East Notes: Grissom, Wells, Fairbanks
The Red Sox have been without second baseman Vaughn Grissom for all of the 2024 season to this point after the 23-year-old missed Spring Training due to a groin strain. Early expectations put Grissom’s timetable for return in the range of mid- to late-April, though Katie Morrison-O’Day of Masslive noted yesterday that Grissom and the club plan to take his rehab slowly as he looks to build up for the season. Per Morrison-O’Day, Grissom has mostly played DH throughout his rehab assignment to this point but has ramped up his time at second base in recent days, including playing all seven innings of the second game of Worcester’s double-header yesterday.
That Grissom was ready to play a full game at the keystone yesterday is surely an encouraging sign for Red Sox fans, as the big league club has suffered injuries of varying severity to shortstop Trevor Story, outfielder Tyler O’Neill, third baseman Rafael Devers, and first baseman Triston Casas already in the young 2024 campaign. With Story set to miss the rest of the season, O’Neill and Casas both on the injured list, and Devers day-to-day, Boston’s positional mix could certainly use the boost that Grissom could provide. Acquired from the Braves in exchange for Chris Sale this past winter, the youngster has hit a solid .287/.339/.407 in sporadic playing time at the big league level over the past two seasons. That solid slash line at the big league level is supplemented by incredible numbers at Triple-A last year, where he posted a .921 OPS in 102 games.
Despite the obvious need at the big league level, however, the Red Sox don’t seem inclined to rush Grissom back to the majors; manager Alex Cora recently indicated that the youngster won’t join the club ahead of their next trip, which begins on Friday. Grissom himself seems to be on board with being cautious ahead of his return, telling Morrison-O’Day that he wants to be “really ready” to return in order to “give [the Red Sox] the best version of myself I can.”
More from around the AL East…
- Orioles right-hander Tyler Wells hit the injured list last week due to inflammation in his elbow in a move that was described as “precautionary” at the time. Wells provided a little more context on the nature of his injury to reporters (including Jake Rill of MLB.com) yesterday. The righty noted that he struggled to bounce back after his four-inning start against the Pirates on April 12 and isn’t sure when he’ll resume throwing at this point, though he added that he remains “optimistic” that the inflammation won’t be a long-term issue for him. Wells struggled to a 5.87 ERA in his first three starts of the year for Baltimore but posted a solid 3.64 ERA despite a 4.98 FIP in 25 appearances last year. With Wells on the shelf, the Orioles have turned to 34-year-old journeyman Albert Suarez to fill out the rotation alongside Corbin Burnes, Cole Irvin, Grayson Rodriguez, and Dean Kremer.
- Rays closer Pete Fairbanks has been unavailable the past two days due to illness, as club manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) yesterday. Per Cash, stomach issues sidelined the right-hander on Friday to the point that he didn’t even make it to the ballpark, and the righty went on to deal with “a little bit of a dead arm” on Saturday. The issues prompted the club to sit Fairbanks down yesterday in hopes he would rebound ahead of this afternoon’s game against the Yankees. Fairbanks, 30, has been a dominant relief arm for Tampa dating back to the 2020 season, with a 2.66 ERA and 2.45 FIP in 138 2/3 innings of work over the past four seasons. Despite that rock-solid pedigree, the right-hander has dealt with some early struggles to this point in the 2024 campaign, allowing eight runs (seven earned) in seven innings when healthy enough to take the mound. Jason Adam and Garrett Cleavinger handled late-inning duties yesterday while Fairbanks was unavailable.
Orioles Place Tyler Wells On Injured List Due To Elbow Inflammation
8:49pm: Manager Brandon Hyde said after tonight’s win that the IL placement for Wells is precautionary (X link via Jacob Calvin Meyer of the Baltimore Sun). The club is hopeful he’ll only be out of action for a couple weeks.
6:10pm: The Orioles announced that they have placed right-hander Tyler Wells on the 15-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation, retroactive to April 13. They selected the contract of catcher David Bañuelos to take his place on the active roster. To open a 40-man spot for Banuelos, they designated Liván Soto for assignment.
There is some evidence to suggest that this injury cropped up unexpectedly. Wells started for the O’s on Friday, tossing 90 pitches over four innings, and was scheduled to start tomorrow’s game. The news of this transaction dropped just minutes before tonight’s contest started and reporters such as Jake Rill of MLB.com and Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner point out that Bañuelos was already with the club on the taxi squad as an emergency third catcher.
The O’s already have two catchers on the roster in Adley Rutschman and James McCann. There’s been nothing to suggest that anything is wrong with either of them, so it appears that Bañuelos was added because he was around and there wasn’t enough time to call up another arm from one of Baltimore’s minor league clubs.
Regardless of when it went down, the injury to Wells is notable. Since the move was made so close to game time, the club hasn’t relayed to reporters if they consider the injury severe or expect a lengthy absence, but it’s always at least a bit concerning when a pitcher’s throwing elbow is involved. Wells underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 while in the minor leagues with the Twins. He was later selected by the Orioles in the 2020 Rule 5 draft and has a 4.06 earned run average over 294 2/3 innings for the O’s since then.
The O’s already have Kyle Bradish and John Means on the injured list, so Wells now makes it three starters on the shelf. Both Bradish and Means have started rehab assignments and could be back in a couple of weeks but it’s still going to be a tricky situation for the O’s to navigate for a time.
Corbin Burnes, Cole Irvin, Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer currently occupy four spots in the Baltimore rotation but the club will need someone to replace Wells in the meantime. Bruce Zimmermann is already on the 40-man roster and last pitched in the minors on Thursday, so he is perhaps the most logical choice. Prospects like Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott are also in Triple-A but not currently on the 40-man roster.
Bañuelos, 27, will be making his major league debut if he can get into a game. He has spent most of his career in the Twins’ system, spending time in Triple-A in 2021 and 2022. He was kept in Double-A last year but performed well, hitting .270/.369/.526. That led to a minor league deal with the O’s and he played two Triple-A games this year but the last was on April 3 as he has seemingly been travelling with the big league club.
Soto, 24 in June, has been the unfortunate centerpiece of a game of hot potato between the Angels and Orioles in recent months. The O’s claimed him off waivers from the Halos in February but the Angels claimed him back a few weeks later. Last week, the O’s claimed him yet again.
The young infielder has a strong .375/.414/.531 batting line in the majors, though in a tiny sample size of 71 plate appearances. In a larger sample size of 1,505 PAs in the minors since the start of 2021, he’s hit .246/.340/.355 for a wRC+ of 86. But he’s capable of stealing a few bases and has bounced around the diamond, playing the three infield spots to the left of first base and even a brief stint in center field. Since he still has a couple of option years remaining, Soto appears to be attractive as a versatile depth piece. The Orioles will now have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers.
AL East Notes: Ryu, Wells, Yankees
Hyun Jin Ryu isn’t ready to say goodbye to Major League Baseball. Speaking with Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News, the 36-year-old pitcher didn’t offer much insight about his impending free agency, saying, “I don’t know what to tell you at this point. I think we’ll have to wait and see. Only time will tell.” However, while his comments weren’t very revealing, they make it sound like he isn’t planning to retire, at least without testing the waters of free agency first.
To that end, Ryu reconfirmed that when he is ready to leave MLB, he will return to the KBO to finish his career with the Hanwha Eagles. He played for the Eagles from ages 19 to 25. “I haven’t changed my mind on that,” he said. “I will absolutely make that happen.” Once again, his response implies that retirement isn’t on his mind quite yet.
Ryu signed a four-year, $80MM contract with the Blue Jays ahead of the 2020 season. The southpaw excelled during the first year of the deal, pitching to a 2.69 ERA and finishing third in voting for the AL Cy Young. He was solid but hardly ace-like the following season, posting a 4.37 ERA in 31 starts. Unfortunately, his next two campaigns were marred by injury. Ryu needed Tommy John surgery last summer, and he made just 17 starts from 2022-23. He was serviceable upon his return, rejoining the Blue Jays rotation for August and September, but his underlying numbers were worrisome (17% strikeout rate, 4.70 SIERA), and he failed to make the roster for the AL Wild Card Series.
Ryu will be 37 next season, but given his long track record of success and his dominant run from 2018-20, he should draw some interest this winter. If he doesn’t receive any offers to his liking, perhaps he’ll consider heading back to the KBO, but at least for now, it seems like he’s planning to pitch another MLB season in 2024.
In other news from the AL East…
- Tyler Wells lost his job in the Orioles’ rotation this summer. He was optioned just ahead of the trade deadline, and he transitioned to a relief role at Triple-A. About eight weeks later, the towering right-hander earned a call-up back to the big leagues, where he made four scoreless appearances out of the Orioles’ bullpen. He made three more scoreless appearances in the playoffs, taking the mound in all three of Baltimore’s ALDS games. Yet in spite of his success out of the ‘pen, the Orioles are expecting Wells to rejoin the starting rotation in 2024, according to Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com. In 20 starts last year, the 29-year-old pitched to a 3.98 ERA and a 4.28 SIERA. However, he looked much stronger over the first three months of the season before he ran out of gas in July. With another year of big league experience under his belt, the Orioles will hope he can stick around for a full season in the rotation.
- In the latest edition of his Yankees Beat newsletter, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com touched on the team’s surplus of options in the middle infield. He suggests the Yankees could look to trade Gleyber Torres, but the possibility of dealing Oswald Peraza is not up for discussion. Torres is a talented second baseman, but he’s a known quantity at this point, whereas Peraza has untapped potential at the plate and in the field. What’s more, the Yankees only have one year of team control remaining over Torres, while Peraza won’t even be eligible for arbitration for at least three more seasons.
AL East Notes: Adam, Blue Jays, Wells
Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, Rays right-hander Jason Adam was unavailable during tonight’s 7-6 loss to the Guardians due to an oblique strain that will send him to the injured list. Adam hasn’t pitched since August 27 due to the issue. It’s another devastating injury for Tampa’s pitching staff, which has already lost three of its five opening day rotation members for the season in Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan. Now, the bullpen has lost perhaps its most reliable setup arm for right-hander Pete Fairbanks.
After a sensational 2022 campaign with the Rays where Adam posted a 1.56 ERA in 67 appearances, the 31-year-old righty has taken a step back but is still dominant with a 2.67 ERA in 54 innings this season, 56% better than league average by measure of ERA+. With Adam headed to the IL, it’s fair to wonder if his regular season is in jeopardy, though without confirmation from Rays brass its hard to speculate on a timetable for return given the considerable variance in severity regarding oblique injuries. With Adam headed to the shelf, the Rays figure to rely on Fairbanks, Colin Poche, and Robert Stephenson to cover the late innings, with veteran Andrew Kitteredge as a potential X-factor for the bullpen as he returns from last year’s Tommy John surgery.
More from around the AL East…
- The Blue Jays had interested in then-Mets outfielder Mark Canha prior to the trade deadline, when he was ultimately traded to the Brewers. Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, the club considered dealing for an additional bat like Canha or fellow Met Tommy Pham (who was eventually traded to Arizona) before ultimately opting to rely on prospect Davis Schneider to boost the offense down the stretch. While the decision to lean on Schneider looks prescient as the 24-year-old has set the world on fire with a 270 wRC+ in his first 15 games, a bat like Canha or Pham would surely help cover for the loss of Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman to the injured list earlier this week. Nicholson-Smith also notes that the club rebuffed interest from a free agent middle infielder toward the end of August in deference to Ernie Clement, who like Schneider has also delivered in a small sample size since taking over for Bichette at shortstop.
- Orioles right-hander Tyler Wells is struggling with arm fatigue as he converts to a bullpen role with Triple-A Norfolk, as manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Jake Rill of MLB.com) today. As Rill notes, Wells last pitched on August 25, with Hyde noting that the righty hasn’t “bounced back” from his last outing as hoped. Wells posted a 3.18 ERA in 104 2/3 innings of work prior to the All Star break but was rocked for 11 runs in nine innings of work in three appearances after the break, prompting the club to demote the 29-year-old hurler for a conversion to the bullpen.
Orioles Moving Tyler Wells To Bullpen
The Orioles are taking a look at right-hander Tyler Wells out of the bullpen down in Triple-A Norfolk and could use him as a reliever down the stretch and into the postseason, tweets Jake Rill of MLB.com. Wells was optioned to Double-A last month after an alarming lapse in his command saw him walk or hit a quarter of his opponents in his first three starts following the All-Star break (nine walks, three hit batters, 48 total opponents faced).
Wells, 29 this weekend, got out to a brilliant start for the O’s in 2023, pitching to a 2.68 ERA in his first seven starts (47 innings). That success was largely built on a minuscule .145 average on balls in play and 88.2% strand rate, however, both of which are unsustainable measures for any pitcher over a larger sample. Dating back to mid-May, Wells has turned in a more pedestrian 4.59 ERA, while both his BABIP (.250) and strand rate (80.1%) in that time have begun to regress (though they’re both still a ways from league-average levels). The right-hander also lost a mile per hour off his fastball during that stretch; he averaged 93.2 mph through his first seven starts and 92.2 mph thereafter.
The 106 innings that Wells threw for the Orioles in 2022 (minors and big leagues combined) was his highest total since 2018. The former Rule 5 pick out of the Twins organization tossed just 57 innings from 2019-21, owing to injury and the canceled minor league season in 2020. Including the 9 2/3 innings he’s pitched since being optioned, Wells is up to 123 1/3 innings this season — topping the career-high 119 1/3 innings he pitched back in ’18.
Though the plan might be to manage Wells’ workload down the stretch with shorter relief appearances, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes that the organization isn’t necessarily closing the book on Wells a starter entirely. He could get a look in the rotation again next year, depending on the extent to which the O’s address the starting staff in the offseason. Baltimore will see both Kyle Gibson and trade acquisition Jack Flaherty become free agents at season’s end. Wells would join Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Bruce Zimmermann and DL Hall as in-house rotation options next season (though Hall has also been working in relief since returning from a stint on the minor league injured list).
If Wells acclimates well to the relief role and pitches his way back onto the big league roster, he’d be a boon for what’s already a strong relief corps — headlined by All-Stars Felix Bautista and Yennier Cano. Baltimore relievers rank sixth in the Majors with a 3.58 ERA, third with a 26.5% strikeout rate and first with just 0.82 homers per nine innings pitched. Wells pitched out of Baltimore’s bullpen in 2021, logging 57 innings of 4.11 ERA ball as a rookie. In 274 1/3 innings at the big league level — all with the O’s — he’s posted a 4.04 ERA with a roughly average 22.9% strikeout rate and an excellent 6.6% walk rate but a more troubling 1.64 homers per nine frames.
Wells needed a full 172 days of Major League service time in 2023 to reach three years of service, which he won’t get after being optioned late last month. However, assuming he’s recalled at some point between now and season’s end, he should still gain enough service to qualify as a Super Two player, making him arbitration-eligible four times rather than the standard three. This optional assignment has nevertheless likely delayed his path to free agency by a year; since he can’t reach three years of service this season, he’ll now be controllable at least through the 2027 campaign instead of after the 2026 season, as he’d been on pace for entering the year.