Hall, Wells focused on making rotation

But with competition stiff, both could end up back in bullpen for contending club

SARASOTA, Fla. — Tyler Wells isn’t interested in talk about him returning to the Orioles’ bullpen. When it comes to his own situation, DL Hall said he can’t hear enough of it.

Both are part of Baltimore’s rotation competition this spring, with a dozen pitchers vying for five spots. Although both view themselves as starters, they react differently to the possibility they end up as relievers.

“When somebody doubts me, it’s usually gonna cause me to do a lot better,” Hall said. “I enjoy the doubt. I wouldn’t even say I necessarily block it out. I love hearing it. Bring it on. Bring on all the negativity because it’s only gonna make me better.”

Given the success each has had out of a big league bullpen, they would be logical candidates to land there if they don’t crack the rotation.

After joining the Orioles as a Rule 5 draftee,

Wells pitched out of the bullpen and worked his way into the closer’s role as a rookie before spending 2022 in the rotation, serving as perhaps Baltimore’s most consistent starter before injuries limited him in the second half.

Hall, the Orioles’ No. 2 pitching prospect, struggled in his first major league start before pitching effectively as a reliever to end the year, aligning with some evaluators’ beliefs he’s best suited for that role.

In the minors, Hall showed how effective a starter he can be. In his first 14 Triple-A starts, he had a 3.51 ERA, limited opponents to a .188 batting average and struck out 38.5% of opposing batters while walking 14%. Excluding two starts in which the 24-year-old lefthander believed he was tipping pitches, those numbers improved to a 2.81 ERA, a .168 batting average against, a 43.9% strikeout rate and a 12.1% walk rate.

With Hall coming off an elbow injury

suffered in 2021, the Orioles managed his innings last year by having him move to relief after his major league debut. He struck out 11 batters in 8 ⅔ innings, allowing one run and two walks, in his final eight appearances out of Baltimore’s bullpen, one of which was a save at Yankee Stadium. He said the mindset he gained from that stretch will benefit him in a return to starting.

“A big thing that I face on the mound is that aggressiveness, just going right at guys and just trusting my stuff 100% of the time,” Hall said. “Sometimes, when I’m not locked into that mode and I get a little bit passive, it’s easy for me to start walking guys and trying to be too perfect and not be myself, so for me to stay in that aggressive mentality is huge.”

Wells similarly discussed the benefits of his year as a reliever throughout last season. The 28-year-old right-hander had a 3.38 ERA in the 18 first-half starts, but oblique and shoulder injuries limited him to only five outings after the All-Star break. Wells said he isn’t monitoring the rotation competition this spring, instead focusing on “putting myself in the best spot to help myself and help the team win.” But he believes that means being a starter.

“I don’t see it being anything else,” Wells said. “I think that I had really good success last year as a starter. Right now, that’s all my focus is on.”

That’s the approach manager Brandon Hyde wants every pitcher in the rotation mix to have, with executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias having noted the Orioles want to be careful about impacting any pitcher’s long-term starting potential to address a bullpen need for the 2023 team.

Kyle Gibson and Cole Irvin are experienced starting pitchers seemingly assured rotation spots after Baltimore acquired them this offseason. Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish pitched well in the season’s closing months to put themselves in a good position. Elias has repeatedly said he would like to see top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez break camp as a starter.

But injuries could quickly change the outlook; Hall is dealing with discomfort in the right side of his lower back and, as a precaution, making underhand tosses rather than overhand throws when participating in pitcher fielding drills. Regardless, the Orioles will need the other candidates, either in their bullpen or as insurance in Triple-A.

“As we get closer to breaking, then we’ll kind of figure out where we are roster wise and we’ll see who’s gonna break with us and who’s not,” Hyde said. “All these guys, definitely want them in their minds to think that they’re rotation candidates.

“You want to give the guys that you feel like have the [ability] to start the opportunity to.”

Although Wells and Hall both see benefits in taking traits from relieving into starting, Wells said he doesn’t believe the inverse would be true, pointing to his approach at the beginning of his rookie year in 2021. A starter in the Minnesota Twins system, Wells missed 2019 because of Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery and 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, prompting the Orioles to use him as a reliever after taking him in the Rule 5 draft. Through the season’s first two months, he had a 5.48 ERA and allowed a home run in almost half of his appearances. Between the start of June and when he became fatigued in mid-September, Wells enjoyed a 25-outing stretch in which he recorded a 1.74 ERA and limited opponents to a .364 OPS, striking out 36 batters in 31 innings while walking only two.

He’s not concerned that success as a reliever will prompt Baltimore to make him one again, believing it was the result of his approach as a pitcher, not his role. He said he worked this offseason to improve what he called his “dietary lifestyle” in hopes being in better shape will allow him to complete a full season, ideally as a member of the Orioles’ rotation.

“As long as I’m always able to compete and go out there and take the ball, that’s what I’m gonna do,” Wells said. “I’m gonna give everything I got on that mound. This year is no different.”