Roster reduction, revamped rotation, and more Rutschman

NEW YORK – The Orioles aren’t celebrating baseball’s reduction in rosters from 28 players to 26 beginning May 2. They want the extra bodies after a truncated spring training, and with their rotation requiring additional support.

They’re expected to carry 14 pitchers after learning this week that the limit has been raised, but there’s room to be flexible. Don’t get too attached to the math.

There could be a game or series that screams for a fourth bench player, and the club is willing to listen.

“It’s nice that we’re going to at least have the option,” manager Brandon Hyde said yesterday. “I think we’re going to see where we are from a pitching standpoint on that day and throughout the month. Tyler Wells is in our rotation and he’s not pitching that many innings, so it’s kind of, we’re carrying an extra guy there. We’re playing some really good offenses. … We’ll see where we are.

“It’s going to be a series-to-series decision. Hopefully, our starters can get some length and we can possibly keep an extra position player. We just don’t know right now.”

The present condition of the rotation occupies most of the club’s attention. How the Orioles will fill Saturday’s start and whether Kyle Bradish is poised to make his major league debut.

I honestly think it remains under discussion, but there’s been some movement at Triple-A to expand the options.

John Means underwent ligament-reconstructive surgery yesterday – don’t refer to it as “replacement” because a tendon is used and you’ll create confusion – but executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias seemed optimistic that the team’s ace could return in the first half of the 2023 season.

What rotation would Means walk into?

We can assume that a veteran starter will be signed because it always happens. But it’s permissible to imagine and get excited about a group that includes Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall, plus Baltimore native Bruce Zimmermann, who starts tonight in the series finale at Yankee Stadium.

Zimmermann has allowed two earned runs in 15 innings and struck out 16 batters. The others are projected to reach the majors this year, with Hall arriving last after throwing only 31 2/3 innings at Double-A Bowie in 2021. He starts Friday night in high Single-A Aberdeen, while the Orioles open a three-game series against the Red Sox.

“It’s just about covering innings, throwing strikes, not having any injury setbacks,” Elias said. “The stuff and the velocity are certainly there, and I think we’re going to see that on display on Friday. And look, once he’s back to being himself in Bowie, the guy’s on the 40-man roster. He’s got major league stuff.”

The Orioles want to give Wells an extended audition as a starter, believing that he’s got the mix and mentality to succeed. He offered a nice demonstration last night.

Mike Baumann, Keegan Akin and Alexander Wells are in the bullpen but can jump back into the starter competition. Dean Kremer is a few weeks away from being ready to pitch again after straining his oblique while warming in the third game. Zac Lowther is waiting for his next chance and just needs to string together some successful outings.

The rotation that Means left won’t resemble the one he eventually rejoins.

“As John’s injury demonstrated, pitching is a very fragile thing and you might even make your argument it’s more of a numbers game. But I can’t complain about the fact that we have a guy like John, who will be coming back from surgery,” Elias said.

“I feel like the talent’s there. We’ve just got to get luck and keep all these guys together and get them performing, and it would be very special, I think, to have any three, four, five of these guys clicking at the same time in an Orioles rotation. And we’re doing our damnedest to try to get that to be the case, but it’s never easy.”

Adley Rutschman continues his injury rehab assignment tonight in Aberdeen after going hitless last night in four at-bats.

There will be other stops along the way to his major league debut.

Elias said that Rutschman showed before the triceps strain that he’s “one of the best talents in the organization, if not the sport.”

“If he puts himself back to that point in time, I can’t see a whole lot more that he probably needs to prove in the minor leagues other than he is himself, so we’ll take it one day at a time,” Elias said.

The pace is fine with Rutschman. He shows patience at the plate and when returning from injury.

You hear him talk,” Elias said. “That’s his mindset. I think that’s part of what makes him such a great athlete is the ability to keep that mindset, and we’re only on Day 2 of his minor league rehab assignment today.”