Tuesday September 7: Alexander Wells takes on the Royals

[SteveA]

Gametime:  7:05 pm

Forecast:  82 degrees, pleasant and sunny

Roster Moves:  The Orioles have recalled RHPs Michael Baumann and Manny Barreda from Norfolk.   They have put Jorge Lopez on the 10 day IL with the ankle he injured yesterday, and sent Zack Burdi down to Norfolk.  To make room on the 40 for the 33 year old Barreda, who has never pitched in the majors, the Orioles moved Hunter Harvey from the 10 day IL to the 60 day IL.   This is a procedural move that does not affect Harvey's ability to come back at any time, as he has already been disabled since June 29  (70 days).   They do mention that his specific injury is a right triceps, which I do not think we knew before.

Matchup:  Jackson Kowar (R) vs Alexander Wells (L)

Lineups

1. Whit Merrifield (R) 2B

2. Nicky Lopez (L) SS

3. Salvador Perez (R) C

4. Adalberto Mondesi (S) 3B

5. Carlos Santana (S) 1B

6. Andrew Benintendi (L) LF

7. Edward Olivares (R) RF

8. Michael A. Taylor (R) CF

9. Hunter Dozier (R) DH

 

1. Cedric Mullins (L) CF

2. Ryan Mountcastle (R) 1B

3. Anthony Santander (S) RF

4. Austin Hays (R) LF

5. Pedro Severino (R) C

6. DJ Stewart (L) DH

7. Jorge Mateo (R) SS

8. Jahmai Jones (R) 2B

9. Kelvin Gutierrez (R) 3B

Orioles Bench
Trey Mancini (R) -- still sidelined with "general soreness" which includes his foot
Ryan McKenna (R)
Jose Urias (R) -- still sidelined with a sore upper leg
Austin Wynns (R)

Bullpen Availability

Available
    Fernando Abad*  0.2 IP, 11p Sunday
    Manny Barreda, just brought up from Norfolk
    Michael Baumann just brought up from Norfolk (Hyde says he will work as a multiple inning guy out of the bullpen to begin with)
    Marcos Diplan  1.0 IP, 19p Sunday;  1.0 IP, 14p Saturday 
    Dillon Tate   0.1 IP, 7p Friday
    Tyler Wells  1.2 IP, 34p Friday; 1.0 IP, 12p yesterday

Maybe Available
    Tanner Scott*   1.2 IP, 26p Sunday; 1.0 IP, 22p Saturday
    Cole Sulser  1.0 IP, 20p yesterday;  1.1 IP, 17p Saturday; 1.0 IP, 12p Friday 

Probably Not Available
    Conner Greene  0.2 IP, 8p yesterday;  0.2 IP, 21p Sunday; 1.0 IP, 22p Friday 
 

*denotes lefthanded pitcher

[SteveA]

Game Notes

• The Orioles have gone 5-7 since ending their 19 game losing streak, and 4 of the 7 losses have been decided by 1 run.   So the Orioles have only lost by more than 1 run 3 times in the last 12 games.   17 of the 19 losses during the losing streak were by more than 1 run (and only one of those was by 2 runs).
• KC starter Jackson Kowar was taken in the supplemental round after the 1st round in the 2018 draft out of the University of Florida.
• Trey Mancini is out for the second straight game with what Hyde calls "general soreness", saying he is hurting in several places, although he did specifically mention the foot as one of them.   There was a bit of a kerfluffle on Twitter last night when former ML pitcher Kyle Farnsworth made a tweet making fun of modern ballplayers, he had obviously read Hyde's comments yesterday and made fun of the fact that a player was missing a game because of "general soreness", without specifically naming Mancini.   It was obvious who he was talking about though and he got dozens of responses berating him for making a comment like that about someone who went through what Trey went through the last year.   Other people brought up the time that Farnsworth went on the DL after kicking a trash can.  Farnsworth finally issued a semi-apology tweet, saying the post wasn't specifically directed at Mancini and did not mention cancer.   He said he was making a general comment about players' who won't play through "soreness" as opposed to "real injuries".
• Jose Urena is sitting the 3rd straight game with upper leg soreness
• Cedric Mullins has now joined the "26/26" club, with 26 HRs and 26 steals.  Reggie Jackson is the only person ahead of him in Oriole history, as he is in the "27/27" club with 27 HRs and 28 steals in 1976.
• Newcomers:  The Orioles have added RHPs Michael Baumann and Manny Barreda to the roster.  If they both pitch for the Orioles, the Orioles will tie their 2019 record of having 58 players who appeared in a game, and they would break their 2018 record of having 18 guys make their major league debut in a season with the team.   Baumann is one of the Orioles top pitching prospects so there is no need for me to put any information about him here; see the Top Prospects List on the minor league page.  Barreda is 33 years old, with nearly 500  minor league innings and over 650 Mexican League innings (both at the top level of Mexican baseball and their "AAA" level) in a 15 year professional career.  He was drafted by the Yankees out of a California high school in the 12th round in 2007, and before this season had peaked at AAA in US professional baseball, only accumulating 39 AAA innings for the Braves in 2017.  In addition to the Braves and Yankees, he was in the Brewers organization for a while.   This year he has 34.1 innings for Norfolk with a 4.19 ERA, and 1 inning for Bowie.
• Wells Watch:   Alex Wells will try to improve his standing in the all time Orioles Wells WAR list.   Here are the standings* right now:

1. David Wells 2.9
2. Tyler Wells 1.3
3. Alexander Wells -0.3

*Now that Negro League stats are considered Major League, it is worth noting that Willie Wells put up 1.5 WAR in his one season for the Baltimore Elite Giants.

• Australia Watch:   Alex Wells is already the best player the Orioles have ever had, based on WAR that was born in Australia.  Here are the standings*:

1. Alex Wells -0.3
2. Damian Moss -0.4
3. John Stephens -0.4

*Joe Quinn had 0.4 WAR for the National League Baltimore Orioles in the 1890s

[eddie83]

Big crowd.  

[Yossarian]

Gutierrez showing some glove at third.  Nice.

[eddie83]

Two nice plays this inning by Gutierrez. 

[Yossarian]

Is it just me, or does it look like Wells isn't even on the rubber?  He looks like he sets up with his left heel barely touching the rubber (the center field camera angle looks like it's not even on the rubber).  That's as far to the first base side of the rubber that I can remember anyone pitching from.

[SteveA]

Quick first inning, despite giving up a hit.

I'm still at work, following on Gameday, but it "feels" like Wells works really quickly.  Not a lot of time between pitches.

[SteveA]

1 minute ago, eddie83 said:

Two nice plays this inning by Gutierrez. 

He sure looks like a plus defender.   Unfortunately it also looks like he can't hit major league pitching.

[Yossarian]

Just now, SteveA said:

Quick first inning, despite giving up a hit.

I'm still at work, following on Gameday, but it "feels" like Wells works really quickly.  Not a lot of time between pitches.

For the record - I am still at work, too.  Only I am in my home office with the game turned up so I can hear it in the other room.  When I hear announcer voices get excited, I step into the other room to see what's going on.

[Yossarian]

Just now, SteveA said:

He sure looks like a plus defender.   Unfortunately it also looks like he can't hit major league pitching.

He can join McKenna in that club.

[SteveA]

1 minute ago, Yossarian said:

He can join McKenna in that club.

Yeah, but I think McKenna might actually be a little bit better hitter.   Even if not, I think a plus defensive outfielder who can't hit who plays all 3 outfield positions might be more valuable than a plus defensive 3rd baseman who can't hit.

[SteveA]

OK, good start.   

 

[ChosenOne21]

DJ!!!

[SteveA]

4 minutes ago, SteveA said:

OK, good start.   

 

That's what I call more!

[Il BuonO]

Taylor looked like he forgot he wasn’t in KC going after DJ’s long ball.