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Right-hander Dean Kremer, who had an ERA of 7.55 in 13 starts in the 2021 season, reduced that by over four runs per game last year. It provides hope that he could again this season be a key member of the Baltimore rotation.
No one has won a job yet and a lot can happen over the next few weeks under the Florida sun, but Kremer had a strong season over 22 games and 125 1/3 innings in 2022, going 8-7 with a 3.23 ERA. His 124 ERA+ was 24 percent better than league average.
Kremer did that while posting below-average strikeout rates, but he was above average in walk rate and homer rate, and used solid spin rates to create effective pitches that provided him with a strong season.
His ERA, had he enough innings to qualify for league leaders at 162, would have ranked 11th last year in the American League. Among pitchers throwing 120 or more innings as a baseline, his ERA was tied for 17th. Among the 18 pitchers on that list, he ranked last in K rate at 6.2 and his strikeout percentage was 17.0 while major league average was 22.9. His walk rate, though, was 2.4 and his walk percentage of 6.6 topped the major league average of 8.5.
Kremer was particularly good when pitching on exactly four day’s rest, going 3-2 with a 1.77 ERA and .656 OPS against.
SARASOTA, Fla. – Being two days into workouts prevents Orioles manager Brandon Hyde from identifying many rock-solid certainties, including roles for some pitchers who are in the starters mix. However, it isn’t too soon for him to wonder how he’s going to replace Félix Bautista if the big right-hander isn’t on the opening day roster.
Bautista threw a bullpen session earlier today, but he’s on a rehabilitation program for the left knee that he injured in late September, and the Orioles are working to strengthen his right shoulder after a bout with fatigue that limited his use down the stretch.
Whether Bautista is in Boston on March 30 depends on more than his health. He must reach an innings total that satisfies the Orioles after being withheld from earlier exhibition games.
“He could be able to break for Opening Day,” executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said yesterday, “depending on how much of a ramp-up we’re able to get him.”
Bautista became the Orioles’ saves leader with 15 after they traded Jorge López to the Twins at the deadline. López totaled 19 during his first All-Star season.
The first day of spring training for the Orioles produced the first news of a player that will miss opening day. And it comes from the O’s bullpen. We can always count on the start of spring to produce information on which players will be “slow-played” or be on a list of no play, not playing yet at all.
Bullpen righty Dillon Tate will begin the season on the injured list. He strained his right flexor/forearm in November. That will also keep him from pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
We also learned yesterday that closer Félix Bautista is questionable for opening day as he’s been rehabbing his left knee this winter and is on a strengthening program for his shoulder. Missing one or both of these pitchers for any length of time would be a huge loss.
Also, lefty DL Hall will be slow-played due to lower lumbar discomfort, which first showed up about three weeks ago.
O’s executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias told reporters they expect Tate back in late April or early May. Tate’s situation makes the addition of right-hander Mychal Givens maybe more important now.
SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles implemented a policy under their new regime that eliminated public consumption of the contract statuses of their front office and manager. Brandon Hyde has entered his option year after his hiring in December 2018, but anything beyond it remains under wraps.
Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias, who’s believed to be working under a five-year deal handed out a month before he selected Hyde, also is unwilling to share any details. However, he offered more hints this morning about their long-term futures in Baltimore.
Asked specifically about Hyde, Elias said, “It’s an area that for better or for worse, I don’t believe it’s in the club’s interests, in anyone working here’s interests, to know the expiration dates on the contracts of our baseball ops employees. That includes him.
“I think you can look at the job that we’ve done rebuilding this team and I know he and I are very proud of it. Obviously, we have an outstanding working relationship so far that’s been very successful, in my opinion, and productive for the team, and I think that people are, for better or worse, going to have to get used to he and I here for a while. I think we’re going to have a lot of success going forward, and he’s done a great job and I was glad to see him get some recognition last year.
“I also was very proud of the fact that, for maybe the first time in recent baseball history, we’ve had the same manager from the beginning of a rebuild through the point of competition, and I think that says a lot and is something he doesn’t get enough credit for.”
The Orioles have agreed to terms on a 2023 minor league contract with INF Gilbert Lara.
The Orioles take the field today in Sarasota, Fla., for the first official workout of the new season. Yes, baseball is back. The first spring training game is set for a week from Saturday at Ed Smith Stadium against the Minnesota Twins.
With the new year comes new rules in Major League Baseball. We will see a pitch clock, restrictions on infield shifts and larger bases.
The pitch clock has at least one intended goal: reducing time of games. The average MLB game lasted three hours and seven minutes last season, and officials think there is a chance we see that time trimmed as much as 25 minutes per contest.
Requiring that two infielders be positioned on either side of second base should allow for more action in the game. More balls should get through to the outfield, leading to more hits, but infielders also will have more ground to cover, putting a premium again on range and possibly bringing more great defense back to the game. Think more diving plays and off-balance throws.
Last year teams shifted a combined 60,765 times on the infield, with more shifts coming versus lefty batters on the right side of the infield. Now there can only be two infielders on each side of second base, and they must be on the infield dirt. The MLB batting average for 2022 of .243 should go up a bit. That was the lowest in the game since 1968. On the other hand, minor league teams last year saw just a two-point gain in batting average – from .247 to .249 - with the shift-limiting rules in place.
While the Orioles' stated goal for this year is to take their 83 wins from last year, build on that and make the playoffs, not everyone believes that will happen. Or at least their predictions and projections lead you to believe they are skeptical.
The Orioles gained 31 wins last year to get to 83, and that was the second-biggest win gain from one year to the next in team history. The 1989 Orioles won 87 games, a year after the club won just 54 in 1988, for a plus-33.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 2022 Orioles were the first team since 1900 to win at least 77 games in a season after losing 110 or more games the previous year. And they were also the first team in major league history to win more than 70 games after finishing each of the previous three full seasons (150+ G) with 100+ losses.
But while Birdland is excited to see if their club can get back to the playoffs in 2023, others being heard from are trying to throw some cold water on the whole thing.
We can always count on the PECOTA projections for this.
He is one of a host of Orioles' rotation candidates that number about 10 to 12 as spring training is set to begin, but right-hander Kyle Bradish may have a leg up on some of his competition. His strong finish to the 2022 season is one big reason for that.
On the year, over 23 games and 117 2/3 innings, he went 4-7 with a 4.90 ERA, allowing 119 hits with 46 walks and 111 strikeouts. He recorded a 1.402 WHIP with a 3.5 walk rate, 8.5 K rate and 1.3 homer rate. He had a 45.3 groundball rate and his Fielding Independent Pitching of 4.39 was an improvement on his overall ERA.
But late in the year he was throwing quite well. Over his last 13 games, after returning in late July from right shoulder inflammation, he went 3-3 with a 3.28 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. In those games he allowed a batting average of .212 and .607 OPS.
But in his last eight games he really had a strong finishing kick, going 3-2 with a 2.76 ERA and he allowed just two homers over 45 2/3 innings. In those eight games, he recorded four quality starts, posted a 1.01 WHIP, allowing a .169 batting average and OPS of .500. All just about dominant numbers.
And those eight games were against in order Houston, Cleveland, Toronto, Boston, Toronto, Houston, Boston and the New York Yankees. In the two starts versus the eventual World Series winning Astros, he pitched a combined 16 2/3 scoreless innings allowing just four hits with two walks and 16 strikeouts.
On behalf of the Baltimore Orioles Partnership Group, I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of Ted Lerner on the loss of their patriarch.
Mr. Lerner was a successful businessman, developer, sports team steward, and a pillar in the world of Washington real estate.
My condolences are with the Nationals and the Lerner family.
The 2022 season may have seen the Orioles produce their first winning record since 2016. And it saw them lose fewer than 100 games in a full-season for the first time since 2017.
In the end there were 83 wins for the Orioles, and a winning percentage of .512. But it didn’t start all that well.
They were 0-3 after being swept to start the year in St. Petersburg, Fla. and 1-5 after two series. They were 3-8 after 11 games and 7-14 at the end of April. They were 21-30 when May ended and did not reach the .500 mark until getting to 44-44 on July 12.
But the group of Orioles heading to spring training this week has designs on playing well right from the jump this year and the schedule could play into those hopes.
The Orioles officially begin their 14th spring training in Sarasota, Fla. this week. Pitchers and catchers are due to report by Wednesday, but no doubt the camp is bustling already with players reporting early and the small group of prospects taking part in an early hitting camp.
We are now a little over three weeks away from the start of the fifth World Baseball Classic. The now expanded to 20-nation tourney begins with four pools of five teams each playing games in Taiwan, Tokyo, Phoenix and Miami.
Team USA will play in Pool C at Chase Field in Phoenix along with Canada, Colombia, Mexico and Great Britain. The two top teams in each of the four pools advance to the quarterfinals and play is then single-elimination, one and done, from that point on. The semi-finals are March 19-20 in Miami with the championship game set for March 21.
Here are past winners:
2006 – Japan
2009 – Japan
When it comes to scoring runs, the Orioles were slightly below American League average in 2022 – due in large part to a scoring drought late in the year.
The AL average for runs per game last season was 4.22 and the Orioles were at 4.16. They ranked 10th in the league in runs scored, up from 2021, when the Orioles were 14th.
And for much of last season they were about league average in runs, or just above. They were scoring 4.20 runs per game at the All-Star break and were at 4.24 per game at the end of August. But when they scored just 3.97 per game in the last month that brought the final season average down.
So there is progress to make here.
And yes, some of it, maybe much of it, can come from full seasons of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson. They combined for 559 plate appearances last year and they could double that this coming season.
The Orioles today announced the club’s minor league coaching staffs and player development assignments for the 2023 season. The coaching staffs of Triple-A Norfolk, Double-A Bowie, High-A Aberdeen, and Low-A Delmarva are listed below, along with the Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League Orioles.
The Orioles return the following managers to their same posts from the 2022 season: BUCK BRITTON (Norfolk), KYLE MOORE (Bowie), ROBERTO MERCADO (Aberdeen), FELIPE ROJAS ALOU, JR. (Delmarva), CHRISTIAN FRIAS (FCL Orioles), and ELBIS MOREL and CHRIS MADERA (DSL Orioles).
Britton returns for his second season as Manager of the Tides. In his Triple-A managerial debut season last year, two No. 1 overall prospects – ADLEY RUTSCHMAN and GUNNAR HENDERSON – were promoted from the Tides to the Orioles to make their Major League debuts. In total, 35 players appeared on both the Tides’ and Orioles’ active rosters during the 2022 season. Britton will be joined once again by Pitching Coach JUSTIN RAMSEY, who enters his fifth season in the organization and second with Norfolk. Ramsey will continue to serve as Upper-Level Pitching Coordinator in addition to his position with the Tides. BRINK AMBLER joins Norfolk as the Tides’ Hitting Coach after serving in the same role with the Shorebirds in 2022. Fundamentals Coach RAMÓN SAMBO and Development Coach JOSHUA RODRIGUES each return in their roles, with Sambo entering his fourth season in Norfolk and 17th in the Orioles’ system, and Rodrigues entering his second season in the organization. Athletic Trainer ALAN RAIL, ATC and Strength and Conditioning Coach JON MEDICI also return to Norfolk. GRIFFIN PYOTT, ATC has been named Assistant Athletic Trainer after serving in the same role with Delmarva in 2022, his first season in the organization. ADAM SEHLMEYER returns as Norfolk’s Clubhouse Manager.
Moore returns to Bowie for the second season and his sixth as a manager in Baltimore’s farm system. In Moore’s first season skippering the Baysox, Bowie went 68-70, including posting a 41-28 record in the second half. Pitching Coach FORREST HERRMANN makes the jump to Double-A for his second season in the organization, having most recently served in the same role with Aberdeen in 2022. SHERMAN JOHNSON makes his coaching debut as Bowie’s Hitting Coach. A former infielder, Johnson appeared in 10 games for the Los Angeles Angels in 2018 and played in parts of nine minor league seasons in the Angels, Cincinnati Reds, and Minnesota Twins organizations, as well as a stint with the independent league Kane County Cougars in 2022. He played two seasons at Florida State University. TIM DeJOHN returns for his second season as Fundamentals Coach with the Baysox. In addition to his role with Bowie, DeJohn has also been promoted to Minor League Infield Coordinator for all affiliate levels. Development Coach RYAN GOLL and Athletic Trainer ALLYSE KRAMER, ATC have been promoted from Aberdeen. Goll has also been promoted to Offseason Camp Coordinator. JON WEINBERG returns as Bowie’s Clubhouse Manager.
After making his professional coaching debut last year, Mercado returns as the Manager of the IronBirds. He led Aberdeen to a 78-54 record and a South Atlantic League championship appearance in his first season. Pitching Coach AUSTIN MEINE joins the Orioles from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he had served as Pitching Coordinator since 2021. Hitting Coach ZACH COLE enters his second season with the IronBirds and third in the organization. CHASE SEBBY, a former all-conference catcher at Ball State (IN), has been promoted to serve as Aberdeen’s Fundamentals Coach after joining the Orioles in 2022 as FCL Development Coach. BILLY FACTEAU will serve as Aberdeen’s Development Coach, a role he held with the Baysox last season. Athletic Trainer TORI ATENCIO, ATC joins the organization after serving as Athletic Trainer for the Pioneer League Billings Mustangs and as an Assistant Athletic Trainer at Montana State University Billings. SAM SAUER will serve as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the IronBirds, moving up from the FCL. ROSS STOVALL returns as Aberdeen’s Clubhouse Manager.
When it comes to how much a team may be improved from one year to the next we often look at what offseason additions they made. Did they get better there? We seldom look at improvements players already on the roster could make.
During a media session with reporters last Friday at the Warehouse, O’s executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias discussed two important, and still young, players on his roster and their abilities to take a step forward in 2023. He was talking specifically about Ryan Mountcastle, whose .729 OPS last season was five percent over the American League average, and outfielder Austin Hays, whose .719 OPS was three percent above league average.
Both players got off to good starts that didn’t hold up in 2022. Mountcastle had an OPS of .786 in the first half and .659 in the second half. He hit just five homers total in July and August. Hays posted an OPS of .779 in the first half and .626 in the second half.
In Mountcastle’s case, his homer total dropped from 33 in 2021 – which was an Orioles rookie record – to 22 a season ago. His homer percentage dipped from 5.6 percent to 3.6.
But when it came to expected stats, a formula that uses a combination of exit velocity and launch angle, Mountcastle looked strong on the stat sheet.
He is the pride of Valdosta, Ga., and now has his own Orioles-produced short film to prove that. He was the 21st overall player selected in the 2017 MLB Draft. He can throw a fastball 100 miles per hour and his name has been consistently on top 100 lists, most of them, since his draft day.
But Dayton Layne Hall, known better as DL, still has some doubters. It seems sometimes he actually prefers it that way. This kid is out to prove people wrong. It’s been that way for a long time.
If you feel he is a longshot to make the Orioles' opening day rotation, what with 12 or so candidates competing for those jobs, this kid, with his quiet confidence and intensity, is out to prove you wrong.
“Just to go out there and compete and earn a spot in the rotation,” he said of his approach to spring training this year. O’s reporters interviewed the 24-year-old lefty during Saturday’s Birdland Caravan. “Just (want to) continue to build off what I learned and did last year in the big leagues.
“I mean, the focus for me is to be a starter. I think I can be a big league starter. That’s what I am focused on and that’s what I’m going to do.”
It began yesterday and will run right up until the start of the Orioles major league spring training. Five of their top hitting prospects, none that have seen the majors just yet, will take part in an early hitting camp at Ed Smith Stadium.
It will run through Feb. 14 in Sarasota. It will allow the young talent to be seen by manager Brandon Hyde and some of the big league coaches and other instructors before the official report date for pitchers and catchers on Feb. 15.
The camp is not open to the public or media.
The players participating in the camp are outfielders Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad and infielders Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo and Connor Norby. All five recently were ranked by at least one publication as a top 100 player and all five are also among the Orioles non-roster spring training invitees.
Among all O’s minor league batters in 2022 this group ranked well up there in final OPS numbers for the year, including players with a minimum of 200 plate appearances. Gunnar Henderson was first at .946 with Norby, who led the organization with 29 homers, next at .886. Cowser was fourth at .874 with Kjerstad seventh at .851 and Mayo 13th at .782.
The Orioles began their latest development camp this morning at the Ed Smith Stadium complex, with five of their top prospects working out until Feb. 14.
Outfielders Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad and infielders Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo and Connor Norby are spring training invites receiving an opportunity to meet early with the major league staff and instructors.
Manager Brandon Hyde, co-hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte, offensive strategy coach Cody Asche and strength and conditioning coach Trey Wiedman will be joined by Triple-A Norfolk manager Buck Britton, coordinator of instruction Jeff Kunkel, minor league hitting coach Brink Ambler and High-A Aberdeen development coach Ryan Goll.
Ambler served as Single-A Delmarva’s hitting coach in 2022 after his promotion from minors technology coordinator.
MLB Pipeline ranks Holliday as the Orioles’ No. 3 prospect after they selected him with the first overall pick in last year’s draft. Cowser is fourth, Mayo seventh, Kjerstad ninth and Norby 11th.
O’s catcher Adley Rutschman said the fans at Birdland Caravan this weekend brought “an energy and a buzz” that was great for the players to see. The fans might say the same about their catcher.
Rutschman’s 2022 season began with him on the injured list but ended with him on American League MVP lists. He finished 12th in voting for the MVP after finishing second for AL Rookie of Year.
It was a debut season where his 5.3 fWAR ranked third-best among rookie catchers in MLB history. Mike Piazza was first at 7.4 in 1993 and Carlton Fisk was at 6.6 in 1972. And then Adley. Keeping not good, but great company.
“I mean, it really worked out well,” he said of getting past the strained right triceps that kept him out of the majors until May 21. “I think I was put there for a reason and I went through what I went through for a reason. To be able to have the season I did and be able to see the team progress, the coaches and everyone come together, it was a special, special year.
“My goal is always to be the best version of myself – the best baseball player, the best human. There is always going to be room to improve. That’s the thing about baseball and life, you are always going to have things to improve on. So, in that offseason, work as hard as you can, and we’ll see how this year goes.”
The blonde hair was much shorter, but Kyle Stowers kept his same enthusiasm for being a major league player. The excitement about debuting in August, the smiles as fans lined up to get a photo with him in Salisbury.
He greeted one group as if they were friends from high school.
Stowers isn’t assuming that he’s on the Orioles’ roster for opening day. The chances are good, but to relax about it is risking a rude wakeup call.
“I want to be there,” Stowers said, “and I want to help the team win in every way I can.”
Stowers played in 34 games, the first two in Toronto during a June series after Anthony Santander went on the restricted list due to his vaccination status. The real call-up came in August, with the Orioles still in the thick of the wild card race.
It seemed that Birdland Caravan may have hit another gear on Saturday afternoon in downtown Baltimore. A packed crowd, some braving long lines in the frigid cold, greeted the Orioles at their happy hour event at Checkerspot Brewing Company.
It is not far from that spot, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, that those fans hope some of those players will lead the Orioles back to the playoffs as the countdown is on for the 2023 season.
Adley Rutschman, fresh off his second-place finish for American League Rookie of the Year and 12th-place finish for AL MVP, appreciated the passion he saw from the fans.
“Absolutely, the players feel that," he said. “It’s just a buzz. You know, and energy that you feel coming to events like this. You see the people are excited, and when you feel that kind of encouragement and support, it only helps everyone come together and continue to try and do great things.”
After a season when he batted .254/.362/.445 with 35 doubles and 13 homers, Rutschman produced 5.3 Wins Above Replacement, according to FanGraphs.com. That led the Orioles and tied for ninth among all AL hitters. And Rutschman played just 113 big league games. But he spent his offseason still looking for ways to improve his play.
