Why Mike Wright Has Closer Potential (Update: To Start for Baltimore 5/17)

Buck Showalter was quoted this afternoon as saying Mike Wright touched 99 MPH in his start last night for Norfolk. That immediately prompted me to log into my milb.tv account and watch his outing from last night to see if this was true.

I didn't see any 99's on the broadcast radar gun but I'm not surprised to hear that someone may have recorded that velocity because for the first three innings Wright absolutely dominated, sitting a consistent 94-97 MPH with his heater with a plus low 80's change up. His slider was average and not commanded particularly well but the fastball-changeup combo, especially with the ideal 10-12 mph velocity had me envisioning Wright as a potential closer one day. Why not a starter? Unfortunately, Wright has the tendency not to show this kind of stuff consistently from start to start. When it does show up, it tends to fade by the middle innings. Sure enough, that's what happened last night. After setting down the first 9 batters of the game, Wright's fastball velo dipped into the low 90's in the 4th and he doesn't have strong enough command to get consistent outs at the big league level when his fastball is in that range, in my opinion. Not surprisingly, the Knights tagged him for 3 runs in the 4th inning, ending his outing on a sour note.

In short inning stints, Wright looks the part of a late inning reliever in the making. That being said, I will be sure to tune in to each of his starts going forward because if he starts holding plus fastball velocity deeper into his outings or takes a big step forward with his command, his ceiling as a starter could get a lot more interesting.

Welcome aboard.

Very interesting to hear about the jump in velocity. His changeup has been his best offspeed pitch for a few years now but it sounds like he has Trevor Hoffman type stuff now. If he keeps throwing like that, I could see him in the Orioles bullpen sooner than later.

Very interesting to hear about the jump in velocity. His changeup has been his best offspeed pitch for a few years now but it sounds like he has Trevor Hoffman type stuff now. If he keeps throwing like that, I could see him in the Orioles bullpen sooner than later.

He might be the Andrew Miller move.

He might be the Andrew Miller move.

Don't mention that name around Gina Geppi. She will flip.

He might be the Andrew Miller move.

Doubt the Orioles give him the chance to start and try to lead the league in walks.

Very interesting to hear about the jump in velocity. His changeup has been his best offspeed pitch for a few years now but it sounds like he has Trevor Hoffman type stuff now. If he keeps throwing like that, I could see him in the Orioles bullpen sooner than later.

Especially if our bullpen keeps under-performing.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mike Wright is 3-0 with 2.64 ERA in 6 starts for Tides. 9 walks, 30 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/orioles?src=hash">#orioles</a> think could help back of pen</p>— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) <a href="

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A late lineup change for Norfolk: RHP Steve Johnson will make the start in place of RHP Mike Wright. First pitch from Harbor Park at 6:35.</p>— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) <a href="

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A late lineup change for Norfolk: RHP Steve Johnson will make the start in place of RHP Mike Wright. First pitch from Harbor Park at 6:35.</p>— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) <a href="

">May 12, 2015</a></blockquote>

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Hmmm, and Garcia has a dead arm.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A late lineup change for Norfolk: RHP Steve Johnson will make the start in place of RHP Mike Wright. First pitch from Harbor Park at 6:35.</p>? Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) <a href="

">May 12, 2015</a></blockquote>

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I like the sound of all of this.

I've been calling for this guy in the bullpen since the second week of the season.

Hopefully he's getting called up and it's not an injury. MacFarland is another guy who could possibly get sent down, but hopefully it is Garcia to the DL or released.

I've been calling for this guy in the bullpen since the second week of the season.

Hopefully he's getting called up and it's not an injury. MacFarland is another guy who could possibly get sent down, but hopefully it is Garcia to the DL or released.

No way the will release Garcia at this point.

No way the will release Garcia at this point.

DL him, long rehab, bring him up August 12h and you get your 90 days through the end of the season.

It has been 37 days since Opening Day and there are 34 days between the day rosters expand and the end of the season. So he needs to be off the DL for at least 19 days between now and then.

DL him, long rehab, bring him up August 12h and you get your 90 days through the end of the season.

It has been 37 days since Opening Day and there are 34 days between the day rosters expand and the end of the season. So he needs to be off the DL for at least 19 days between now and then.

Yeah, it'll go something like that.