In which the Orioles try for a sweep behind big man Tyler Wells.
If the 2024 Orioles are trying to turn the page from the postseason drubbing that left a “sour taste” in players’ mouths after a historic 101-win season last year, they be couldn’t doing a better job than this.
On Thursday’s Opening Day, the team steamrolled the Los Angeles Angels, 11-3, behind a brilliant 11-strikeout performance from new right-handed ace Corbin Burnes. Yesterday, they took Game 2 in equally impressive fashion, Grayson Rodriguez racking up nine strikeouts before his team hung a nine-spot on LA in the sixth inning en route to a 13-4 victory.
Now, what can they do for an encore?
If all were going according to plan, Tyler Wells wouldn’t be making this start today, but I have a hard time feeling too bad about seeing him on the mound. Injuries to Kyle Bradish and John Means created an opening for the 6’8 right hander, and Wells had a very solid spring to justify his team’s trust in him: a 3-0 record in four starts totaling 14.1 innings with just two runs allowed and eleven strikeouts. Wells’ 2023 was a season of two halves. He was one of baseball’s best starters, period, with a sub-1 WHIP in 17 starts over the first half of the season, but he ran out of gas in late July and was sent to the minors to recover. Can conditioning help? If Wells looks like he did in the first half of ’23 and in spring training ’24, his spot in the rotation is his to keep.
The Orioles’ 6’8” man will be doing battle against 23-year-old left hander Reid Detmers. A 2020 Round 1 draftee who debuted with LA in August ‘21, Detmers has flirted with brilliance but struggled with inconsistency. He threw his first career no-hitter against the Rays in May ‘22, and a year later, strung together five starts in a row where he struck out eight-plus and allowed two or fewer runs. But over the season, he managed just a 4.48 ERA, and struggled to command his slider. The Angels view him as a talented youngster with a very high ceiling. In a start against the Orioles last September, Detmers held the Birds to one earned run on nine hits.
Orioles lineup
Gunnar Henderson SS
Adley Rutschman DH
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Anthony Santander RF
Austin Hays LF
Jordan Westburg 3B
Cedric Mullins CF
James McCann C
Jorge Mateo 2B
RHP Tyler Wells
Angels lineup
Anthony Rendon DH
Nolan Schanuel 1B
Mike Trout CF
Taylor Ward LF
Brandon Drury 2B
Luis Rengifo 3B
Logan O’Hoppe C
Jo Adell RF
Zach Neto SS
LHP Reid Detmers