Every weekday, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.
Question: Do you think the Orioles will move Tyler Wells to the bullpen when he’s healthy? They need another reliable quality relief pitcher and Wells did well in that role. From: Karl Monaco
Answer: Karl, I think that’s a real possibility, but I don’t know how long Wells, who has right elbow inflammation, will be out and what the condition of the starting staff will be when he’s ready to return.
Presumably, left-hander John Means will return in early May when his rehab stint is over, and right-hander Kyle Bradish will be back in mid-May if his rehab stint goes well. If they’re both back in the rotation, then I would think Wells could go to the bullpen.
Question: The Orioles’ regular infield of Jordan Westburg, Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday and Ryan Mountcastle were all drafted as shortstops. When was the last time that was the case, let alone the Orioles? From: @watchingtvs
Answer: I don’t think it’s happened in Orioles history, and am not sure if and when it’s happened in baseball before, but the most important point is that the Orioles knew what they were doing when they were drafted as shortstops.
Mountcastle was drafted under Dan Duquette while the others were chosen under Mike Elias.
It’s smart to draft skilled shortstops because they’re generally the best athletes in the infield, and if they can play there, they can play elsewhere. Mountcastle had difficulties playing at short in the minors and successfully transitioned to first.
Teams are always looking for shortstops, and the Orioles had two other skilled shortstops in their system, Joey Ortiz, who was traded to Milwaukee in the Corbin Burnes deal, and Darrel Hernaiz, sent to Oakland in the Cole Irvin trade last year.