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.
Sounds like he pitched his way into service time manipulation.
Not even close. Dude was straight garbage for almost a month.
The tinfoil hat, “service time” conspiracy theorists, will always see conspiracies behind every corner; just forget that the new rules make “service time” manipulation counter productive and ill advised. Let them have their fun.
It’s 100% manipulation. This dude has logged more innings than nearly every reliever will pitch this season but it penalized bc he starts.
I use to say conspiracy too but if u have an average player it’s good to have the ability to send them down so a strategic team would always look to manipulate service time bc it’s a good business move.
Also some teams are just cheap. And stick some guy for 4 million of 6 years is their business model
Wells had at least 3 awful starts and a serious case of tired arm plus some confidence issues. it is handy for Johnny Boy to fiddle w service time too but Wells overall has been a huge success as a Rule 5 starter and reliever. O’s are very lucky to have him and to his credit, he made the most of his opportunity with a new club.
the argument could go either way dependant on whether you see people lurking out there trying to screw you or whether it was a wise move to get some other pitchers a chance to shine in Baltimore before the stretch run and Tyler’s return.
as much as I really have a serious distaste for Johnny Boy, I choose not to live in a world where everyone is out to get me. maybe that’s naive but even if it is manipulation, I can’t do anything about it but huff and puff. life to too short.
Wells wasn’t manipulated for service time. He was sent down because the O’s aren’t a crappy team who could work through his problems while he cost us ML games.
Service time manipulation? It’s not like he’s an elite top prospect. He’s a good piece, but he’s not like a franchise player. He’s already past his career high IP, and he was losing gas. It was starting to look obvious in his last few starts.
“The Birds” are building a permanent nest, right atop the AL East.
Blue Jays have some fight in them, but the Orioles are here to stay with this young core of players.
With absolutely no pitching lol. They said it can’t be done.
Now the reds are the Os of the nl
The O’s are overachieving and no amount of homerism can defend that. I know Orioles fans aren’t used to winning and are pounding their chest a lot these days, but let’s be real for a second. Outside of their bullpen, nothing else they do really stands out. They’re 14th in starter ERA and middle of the pack in most other categories in offense as well. 2 of their top 5 players in WAR are relievers. Cano and Bautista are the only reason the Orioles have won so many more games than they should have. Going 22-11 in 1 run games is a big reason why.
The O’s win so many 1 run games because of who they have pitching in the late innings.
Teams with an elite closer and 8th inning man get those records in 1 run games.
It’s a team. Not a bunch of individuals. They all do their job. The O’s platoon well. We don’t have a horse to give the ball to in the postseason & that’ll make things tough. But if you don’t think the team is for real—then IDK what to tell you.
What you do is true. However they are winning against everyone. not to mention GRod will be a star and look at the talent coming..
The stat break in May is arbitrary. He was very good in almost every first half start and many of his runs were allowed in his last inning as he got over 90 pitches. That does raise the question of whether he’s a starter long term, but he’s a quality arm that clearly just hit the wall after the break. Os are doing a great job shuffling these guys to get some rest.
In the meantime Bradish and Kremer are legit big league starters and Grayson has figured it out – but will likely need another year to attain consistency.
Every team is dealing w fatigue and injuries right now and Os are managing as well as any.
Great plan for him. He’s a bulldog but it was obvious he was getting worn out. Let him strengthen the pen for the playoff push and give him a fresh start in the rotation as the number 5 next season
no mention of John means?
No mention of John means what exactly?
A healthy Means next season , he’s the Ace of the staff. Cy young candidate. Nothing but depth with this team. Both sides of the ball.
Not necessarily. Pitchers don’t always come back the same pitcher they were from TJ. Not saying he won’t be good, but we can’t just assume he will be the ace immediately. TJ generally needs some time to get the feel (offspeed and breaking) pitches back. It may be months into ‘24 before he starts to settle in fully.
I don’t see John Means winning any CY young awards. He’s a nice #3 on a championship contender.
We also have a pitcher named John Means that’s pretty good. He even threw a no-hitter at one point. Maybe you’ve heard of him.
Man, this team so clearly missed a golden opportunity by not getting a more solid SP at the deadline.
Disagree. Most fans in Baltimore understand the cost of upgrading at SP and realizing where we are in our competitive window. While we may win the AL East, that’s not the overall goal. Not mentioning Shohei but the best SPs available in free agency this winter are Nola, Gray and Eduardo Rodriguez. I think we get more bang for our buck by taking a look at what’s available via trade in the offseason.
John Means, Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, Dean Kreamer and (insert veteran innings eater) is a more than decent rotation for 2024. We lack depth but we’re not as bad off as the media would have you believe.
Don’t need one. Staff maybe best and deepest next season as is , hold on to the gems. You see why Elias hasn’t traded anyone. He’s so smart. What everyone misses as the Os surpass all teams , 2nd best now at mlb level and still best farm, is this is basically the same core and staff y’all were laughing at , that was losing a hundred games a season.
Hello
What does all GMS miss here except AA.
Keep your core.
Orioles starting pitchers have allowed three or fewer runs in 21 of their last 24 starts!
Obviously you know nothing about the O’s. Their rotation is not weak.
Granted, I’m not an O’s fan. But you really trust anyone besides Bradish and Kremer right now? Not sure I would. And I like Irvin, but his issues are well-documented.
Agree. Those who think the Orioles rotation is good need to take off the orange colored glasses (or stop smoking so that the orange aura goes away)
Wells – I got so much grief about his WHIP. Regression caught up with him. This is a below average starter especially once guys have seen him twice. Better off in long relief which fills a team need ATM.
Bradish – This year this is a pretty good pitcher who would fit in the middle (2-4) of any rotation across the league. Enough said there.
Kremer – Let’s not go nuts off a few good starts, folks. Even Daniel Cabrera had some of those. He was lit up in ALL his April starts, decent to good in May, lit up twice badly out of 6 times out in June and 2 out of 5 times in July. His last four starts have been decent to good. He’s trending in the right direction but he’s still below average. He’s also pitched more innings this year than he’s had any other year in his pro career.
Means – an ace? Cy Young candidate? Come on! What I said about Bradish applies here, and give the guy a break coming back from surgery.
Flaharty – could be similar to Bradish as well but hasn’t shown it here yet.
Gibson – back of the rotation, below avg starting pitcher innings eater.
Irvin – garbage
Gray Rod – the ONLY pitcher who has shown ace stuff, and only since his recall. so it is too early to tell.
If you take the very best of what they all can do, sure you can have a decent rotation, but you have to be realistic that the rotation overall is going to be a weakness which is often covered up by a great bullpen. TB gave up less to get a better SP in Civale than the Orioles did with Flaharty.
Kremer was below average last night up against a Cy Young candidate!
Curt – like I said, Kremer’s last 4 starts have been decent to good. 6 IP 0 runs last night speaks for itself. Last 4 starts 7 ER in 24.1 IP.
But 3 of the previous 6 starts he was certainly not the reason the team won 2 of them….
July 30 – 3 ER and 7 hits allowed in 4 innings – bullpen earned that win for the team, he certainly didn’t.
July 19 – 5 ER 4 BB allowed in 4.2 innings – bullpen again earned win
June 30 – 7 ER in 3 IP, Loss
The other 3 starts in this set were good, but when you average out those 6 you get a 5.12 ERA over 31.2 innings. That’s below average and that’s what I’m talking about. A 6.67 ERA in 6 April starts would also count as way below average…and even when averaged out with a very good May is still below average (4.58 ERA in 59 IP/11 starts)
The difference in team ERA of the Os (4.05) and mlb leading Blue Jays (3.67) is less than 1/2 a run a game and that is without arguably their best pitcher(John Means). Not saying the pitching is a strength but it’s a farce to keep calling it a weakness. Elias makes a trade in the off-season to upgrade the rotation and Means is healthy again this is easily a top 5 pitching staff. The other thing is the 3 guys the Orioles would use in a playoff series (Bradish,Kremer,and Grod) are all pre-arb so not only are they good but they are cheap. This Os team is for real
@thornton
Civale comment is junk. Manzardo will be a better major leaguer than anything we gave up. Rom is junk. I bet Prieto ends up looking like a Hanser Alberto.
Showalter? Who knows. 19 year old kid we signed for a couple hundred thousand bucks.
There wasn’t really a difference-making pitcher available that wasn’t going to cost a ton of prospects. Can you name one traded pitcher so far paying off big for their team? Not one.
I would have been fine if we were getting a Snell type back. But there literally wasn’t one. the only ones available were pretty old or rental pitchers having career years..
@Darkside
I get that there’s a sentiment that having a true ace to pitch 2 games in a series to set the tone is a strong reason to have a Verlander but at what cost?
the economics of baseball changed pretty drastically with the Mets, Rangers and Padres throwing mint at the market this Winter. you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. trade away the farm and pump up the payroll where you can’t re-sign your own homegrown talent (don’t get me started on the Clown Prince’s comments about hiking ticket prices).
I do think they could have done better than Flaherty but Corbin Burnes wasn’t being put out and as I reflect on some of the pitchers that were “can’t miss this off-season” how awful would a big deal for Rodon have looked now? sure, Bassitt, Evoldi, Wacha could have helped but there was also lukewarm Tajuan Walker, Syndegaard, Flexen, Kluber, Cueto out there we could have been stuck with too. we were never going to land Verlander or Scherzer, lets be realistic.
the season really has gone our way and I’m trying to enjoy it for once in a long time. I realize that whole is greater than the sum of the parts but this has really been a fun season to watch. no sense being glum over how we might have mortgaged the future and signed guys to push us to 6 games over the Rays instead of 2.
My biggest concern is how well Houston hit Bautista. They had his number. Almost no one else has.
That’s the 1 AL team that’s going to give us a tough time. I hope they’re knocked out before we ever see them.
we’ll see about the Stros v Felix.
enjoyed how the BoSox crushed them tonight. I’m sure it’s my Dark Ages trauma speaking but I am worried about the BoSox games left. I think we’re just 3-3 against them this season where they’re the only ALE team that we don’t currently have a winning record against
Wells made 44 appearances out of the Orioles bullpen in 2021 so it’s not as if this would be a completely new experience for him
The Orioles should have traded Kjerstad, Hall, Westburg, McKenna, and O’Hearn for Ohtani. Y’all’s owner just cried poor and flags fly forever
Knowing what we do now, how does that help our rotation? Give up our 2024 Opening Day RFer, 2B and #4/5 starter along with two depth pieces for a DH that would have made three starts for us before leaving for the West Coast.
Kjerstad is the only one worth anything, for, y’know, Ohtani. Westburg is Nate Lowe without the power, DL Hall isn’t starting pitcher, and some depth pieces having a nice season. He has 44 home runs with 5 weeks left in the season. Would have been a bummer he only started 2 or 3 games, but again: flags fly forever. Y’all want to win or not?
And if it doesn’t work, oh well. The O’s are deep enough for 5-10 years. The best time to win is right now.
I don’t agree witht he “oh well” of it. We have a GM that has proven he knows what he’s doing and in him I trust. You would be hard pressed to find many Orioles fans that wanted Ohtani. Perhaps the fans of other teams know more than we do about our own team but I’d rather win for the next 6-8 years than to give up pieces because we’re having our first good season in a while.
What an absurd evaluation. Hall clearly has back end BP potential. Westburg is a solid all-around contributor and has plenty of power. Plus versatility. Nate Lowe is a stupid comparison.
Stevie Wilkerson is Luis Arraez without the contact skills!
Yes, because hindsight says trading for Ohtani would have been smart…
Not many in Baltimore wanted Ohtani before the injury due to the cost.
@Bizzy
Wow, you must not have read the headlines before posting this. Did not age well. So trade all that for an (albeit incredible) DH for the rest of the season?
Yikes. No thank you. He’s legendary but there’s no way he’d sign or be signed a new blockbuster contract to stay in Baltimore after 2023.
The Os will never trade Kjerstad and Jackson. Nor would the move a Cowser right now.
The roster is so deep as is , the incremental gain even if you brought in an all star not worth it here.
Wells only averaged 92.9 MPH in his last relief appearance in Norfolk. That’s a red flag to me if that’s all the velocity he’s got coming out of the pen. I think that’s a little less than what he averaged as a starter.
I’m just wondering if he was holding back thinking that he would go back to starting. Maybe if they tell him that he’s definitely not starting the rest of 2023, he starts to dial it up out of the pen and then he can stretch out again over the offseason and Spring Training.
Since the Os announced he’s going to the pen I’d assume they told him that at some point before he made the relief appearance, so he should have been able to adjust accordingly.
@skins
I don’t know that a 1 mph in a single rehab relief appearance is much of a “trend” that then data point. Small sample size there. Velo is overrated. it’s not a 1-for-1 indicator of effectiveness. his WHIP was more of one but granted, that was the before tired arm. regardless, let’s hope he can bring some effectiveness and maturity to a relief long man role.
@Mac – It’s concerning because when he was a bullpen arm before he became a starter, his velo was much higher. 95-96, 97 on occasion if I recall.
I tend to agree with what you said re: velo. However when you see a starter drop velo or when a SP moves to the pen and the velo doesn’t tick up, that’s concerning. I think, just my opinion of course, that he’s got some problems under the hood going on that either a) have not been diagnosed yet or b) he and the Os know about but haven’t been publicly disclosed
“The 106 innings that Wells through for the Orioles in 2022 (minors and big leagues combined) was his highest total since 2018.”
Ruh roh. (As I through my arms in the heir.)
@why
So how many is too many? you don’t ever get to a higher historic IP unless you test it out. that’s like the arbitrary 100 pitch count rule of thumb. not sure that that’s all that magical either.
somewhere between Johan Santana’s no hitter pitch count and 100 might be a good number but I guess it all just depends. in the same way, it’s good to be aware that guys are at their personal highs for IPs but there’s not magic line either. I suppose much of depends on how violent the arm action is and the pitch mix. interesting to discuss this in light of Strausburg’s announcement of his retirement. let’s see what happens. I’m sure the trainers and FO know a little more than we do collectively.
As a tried and true Orioles fan, I can calmly say with all certainty this year, we have what we need. LET’S GO O’S!!!!!
I like that the Os are not relying on a couple of superstars night in, night out to carry the team. Different teammates whether on the bump, in the field or at the plate randomly show up night in, night out. They all seem to get along and they all seem to play with no fear. Love it. Let’s go Os!
Yep. I think it’s a product of how Brandon Hyde crafts the culture in the Baltimore clubhouse and Elias is astute enough to stay patient and stick to his plan. So many folks were eating Elias alive for neglecting to sign Rodon, Taillon, or any big name free agent really, yammering on about how the O’s don’t want to enhance on the breakout 2022, blahblahblah. Lots of O’s fan on that tip, too. Not realizing the liftoff he was talking about was about to happen. I haven’t been this happy to be an O’s fan in a long time.
Smart move. Wells look to be tiring over the last month so he’s probably more effective as a multi inning reliever. The key pieces of the postseason rotation, Bradish, GRod, Irvin and Kremer, have all been hitting their stride recently.
Edit: This all could be a ploy to cut costs after Angelos’ comments suggesting they would need to raise prices to keep their young stars.
They’re 29th in payroll now, where will they cut?
More accurately, they would be reducing future arbitration salaries. Angelos’ comments were made about the possibility of extending young players. The question is how much more will they spend in say, 3 years.
The Orioles will try to trade more veterans during that time. Position players like Urias, possibly Santander, Hays and Mountcastle. There are a ton of moving pieces in play for the Orioles right now. That explains why they’re hoarding their prospect surplus.
He looked tired the last month. It is smart to let him take a month and try to get his arm and body back in shape. He was the WHIP leader before tiring out.
Orioles are stacked.
Wells had thrown more innings than ever in his career. he was tired, it was obvious.
@dpsmith22
agreed. but if the only tool in your toolbox is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail.
people looking for the Boogeyman behind every move. “it’s manipulation for sure! Angelos is cheap! they’re moving to Nashville!”
I think the only thing we all agree on is that this season has been some of the most fun I’ve enjoyed from the O’s in a long time and that Johnny Boy is a Clown.
hope the latter doesn’t cut in on some of the joy of the former.