Alex Wells

[Frobby]

A fairly typical Wells outing tonight: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K's.   For anyone counting, that's 64 consecutive innings without issuing a walk.   

[scarey1999]

Really wish he'd get a start or 2 in at FRE before the season ends. 

[Frobby]

Wells was pulled after 4 scoreless innings today.     No walks, of course, and 3 hits.    36 of 48 pitches were strikes.     I assume they pulled him just to protect him tonight.     He's at 144 innings with one start to go.    He easily could have reached 150 IP by the end of the year, but the O's have been shortening his outings lately.   

[Legend_Of_Joey]

15 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Wells was pulled after 4 scoreless innings today.     No walks, of course, and 3 hits.    36 of 48 pitches were strikes.     I assume they pulled him just to protect him tonight.     He's at 144 innings with one start to go.    He easily could have reached 150 IP by the end of the year, but the O's have been shortening his outings lately.   

Makes sense. No playoffs to get ready for, had a short season last year and is on a great run this year. Can't wait to see what he does next year.

[Luke-OH]

On 8/22/2017 at 2:11 AM, scarey1999 said:

Really wish he'd get a start or 2 in at FRE before the season ends. 

 

20 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Wells was pulled after 4 scoreless innings today.     No walks, of course, and 3 hits.    36 of 48 pitches were strikes.     I assume they pulled him just to protect him tonight.     He's at 144 innings with one start to go.    He easily could have reached 150 IP by the end of the year, but the O's have been shortening his outings lately.   

From Steve Melewski:

Readers have asked why Wells was not promoted to Frederick?

“He’s young and it’s his first full season,” Graham said. “He’s at his innings limit, and it’s about development. He’s done a great job and is exactly where he needs to be. When you have a young pitcher in his first full season and they are having that kind of success and continuing to improve, you just let him develop.”

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

Makes sense. No playoffs to get ready for, had a short season last year and is on a great run this year. Can't wait to see what he does next year.

Me too.   I'm a little disappointed they didn't have him make his final 5-6 starts in Frederick, but I can also see the merit in taking it one step at a time with him.    Without question, he's our MiL pitcher of the year.    

[McLovin]

15 hours ago, Frobby said:

Me too.   I'm a little disappointed they didn't have him make his final 5-6 starts in Frederick, but I can also see the merit in taking it one step at a time with him.    Without question, he's our MiL pitcher of the year.    

With him near his innings limit, the stress of pushing it, and pushing it at a higher level - might be argued as an injury risk.

[Frobby]

On 8/28/2017 at 10:09 AM, McLovin said:

With him near his innings limit, the stress of pushing it, and pushing it at a higher level - might be argued as an injury risk.

Season ended today with Wells not making any more starts.    Hopefully that's just the organization deciding that 140 IP was enough for a 20-year old after pitching 62.2 the previous season, and not a sign that Wells was hurt in his last start.    Any intel here?

In any event, it seems to me that Wells was hands down our MiL pitcher of the year.    His final line: 140 IP, 118 H, 49 R, 37 R, 10 BB, 113 K's, 0.91 WHIP, 2.38 ERA.    And of course, 68 innings without a walk, dating back to June 25.    

Down the stretch, the O's did a lot to protect Wells, removing him several times when he was cruising.  He had several games where he threw more than 75% strikes.   

I'm really excited to see how this kid will do at higher levels.   

[Legend_Of_Joey]

Wells is the Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the Orioles.

Absolutely shocking. ?

[OFFNY]

o

 

Orioles Name Alex Wells Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year

(Baltimore, MD)

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/09/05/orioles-name-alex-wells-jim-palmer-minor-league-pitcher-of-the-year/

 

o

[OFFNY]

2 minutes ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

 

Alex Wells was named the Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the Orioles.

Absolutely shocking. ) ?

 

o

 

Orioles Name Alex Wells Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year

(Baltimore, MD)

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/09/05/orioles-name-alex-wells-jim-palmer-minor-league-pitcher-of-the-year/

 

o

[Frobby]

53 minutes ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

Orioles Name Alex Wells Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year

(Baltimore, MD)

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/09/05/orioles-name-alex-wells-jim-palmer-minor-league-pitcher-of-the-year/

 

o

The article mentions that Wells made 17 quality starts in 25 starts.    What it fails to mention is that:

- On April 20, he only pitched one inning due to the game being suspended due to rain

- On August 16, he was pulled after 5 IP, 1 ER and 70 pitches purely to protect his arm late in the season.

- Similarly, on August 27, he was pulled after 4 IP, 0 ER and 48 pitches just to protect his arm.

- In his first start of the year, they limited him to 5 IP, 2 ER in 82 pitches.

It could fairly be said that there were only 4 games all year where he was pulled before 6 IP because he was struggling.     In one of those, he gave up 8 unearned runs (0 earned), all in one inning, as the Shorebirds made 5 errors behind him in the inning.

[PaulFolk]

38 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The article mentions that Wells made 17 quality starts in 25 starts.    What it fails to mention is that:

- On April 20, he only pitched one inning due to the game being suspended due to rain

- On August 16, he was pulled after 5 IP, 1 ER and 70 pitches purely to protect his arm late in the season.

- Similarly, on August 27, he was pulled after 4 IP, 0 ER and 48 pitches just to protect his arm.

- In his first start of the year, they limited him to 5 IP, 2 ER in 82 pitches.

It could fairly be said that there were only 4 games all year where he was pulled before 6 IP because he was struggling.     In one of those, he gave up 8 unearned runs (0 earned), all in one inning, as the Shorebirds made 5 errors behind him in the inning.

The paragraph you mention is straight from the Orioles press release. Even the Orioles PR is underselling this guy, I guess!

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, PaulFolk said:

The paragraph you mention is straight from the Orioles press release. Even the Orioles PR is underselling this guy, I guess!

Well, of course I wouldn't expect the press release to spout off everything I just said.    But it's been a while since any Oriole MiL pitcher had as consistent a season as Wells just had.   

Edit -- By my research, Wells' ERA was the lowest of any Delmarva pitcher making 10+ starts since Brad Bergesen in 2007 (15 starts, 2.19 ERA).     

I think next year is huge for Wells. A lot of pitchers struggle with the jump to A+.

[Tony-OH]

21 hours ago, Frobby said:

Season ended today with Wells not making any more starts.    Hopefully that's just the organization deciding that 140 IP was enough for a 20-year old after pitching 62.2 the previous season, and not a sign that Wells was hurt in his last start.    Any intel here?

In any event, it seems to me that Wells was hands down our MiL pitcher of the year.    His final line: 140 IP, 118 H, 49 R, 37 R, 10 BB, 113 K's, 0.91 WHIP, 2.38 ERA.    And of course, 68 innings without a walk, dating back to June 25.    

Down the stretch, the O's did a lot to protect Wells, removing him several times when he was cruising.  He had several games where he threw more than 75% strikes.   

I'm really excited to see how this kid will do at higher levels.   

I had reached his innings limit. He's fine. Great year for the young man.