Wells secures spot in starting rotation
Right-hander has been refining mental aspects
BRADENTON, Fla. — Orioles manager Brandon Hyde provided some clarity Thursday morning on how his starting rotation will look to open 2022. He was clear how much more is needed.
After announcing that left-hander John Means will start the season opener for the second straight year and right-handers Jordan Lyles and Tyler Wells will start at some point in the four games that follow, Hyde was direct about where Baltimore’s rotation stands with eight days until the regular season begins April 8 in Tampa.
“That’s where I’m at, and that’s all there is,” Hyde said. “That’s all I got to tell you, and that’s all I know, to be honest with you.
I don’t have any idea after that.”
That Wells has helped provide some certainty is welcome. He made his third spring start in a 4-4 tie against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, improving his exhibition stat line to two runs allowed in 7 innings across those outings with three frames of one-run ball.
The Orioles’ second selection in the Rule 5 draft before last season, Wells, 27, began 2021 pitching in mopup duty before finding his major league footing and becoming the Orioles’ closer. Given that he threw only 57 innings as a reliever and was coming off two lost years because of Tommy John surgery and the canceled 2020 minor league season, Wells won’t be stretched out as a full starter. Instead, he’ll be working in tandem with another pitcher who covers three or so innings.
The Orioles pushed Wells to 53 pitches Thursday, with the last two coming off a conversation with pitching coach Chris Holt in the third after Wells allowed a two-out home run to Bryan Reynolds and loaded the bases on an infield single, walk and hit batter. The latter of that pair produced a flyout from Michael Chavis to end the inning.
Wells’ average velocity on each of his pitches was down at least 1 mph from his 2021 averages, according to Statcast, a byproduct of trying to manage his workload across multiple innings. He said his assumption is the Orioles want him built up to throw about 70 pitches by his first regular-season outings, with a greater focus on the number of innings he throws. He expects to work three or four innings in most of his early-season starts, with the hope of going deeper in games if he feels comfortable later in the year.
A starter in the minor leagues with the Minnesota Twins before the Orioles took him in the Rule 5 draft, Wells said he has spent most of this spring relearning the mental aspects of the role.
“A lot of it is routine,” he said. “I had a conversation with Jordan Lyles yesterday about just trying to prepare for games, learning about the lineup, understanding, like, ‘OK, what do you look for, who do you talk to?’ Kind of just a routine of not just preparing yourself physically, but preparing yourself mentally and having a game plan every time you go out there.”
Wells said he’s also received insight from Means, catcher Robinson Chirinos and righthander Jorge López, who is also in the mix to be used as a piggyback pitcher. On Thursday, Wells’ bulk partner was Keegan Akin, who led Baltimore rookies in innings last year but has struggled with his command.