Kjerstad has Opening Day hopes, Mullins is healthy, and Irvin is trim.
Good morning, Birdland!
There remains time for the Orioles to address the gaps in their pitching staff. With the injuries to Kyle Bradish and John Means, some roles are being reassigned. In all likelihood, it will force Tyler Wells and Cole Irvin into rotation work early in the season. That, in turn, will weaken a bullpen that already felt an arm thin after DL Hall was dealt to acquire Corbin Burnes.
For now, it seems like Mike Elias prefers to dig through the scrap heap and see if he can find an intriguing arm or two rather than making any big significant investments.
Just this week, Elias has made two trades with cash. First was lefty Matt Krook from the Yankees and next was righty Kaleb Ort from the Phillies. You are advised to not look at their recent major league numbers. They won’t make you feel any better.
The additions of Krook and Ort feel somewhat similar to the trade for Jonathan Heasley back in December. None of them are particularly exciting, but you sort of just trust that the Orioles will be able to get the trio into their “lab” and make something work. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Major league bullpens run on hopes and dreams most of the time anyway, so the Orioles’ somewhat precarious situation isn’t unique. If Means is less “injured” and more “managing his workload” then this might be fine. An early-season return for him could push Wells back to the bullpen, where he would immediately become a key cog in relief. That, paired with a healthy Dillon Tate and more of the same from Yennier Cano, Danny Coulombe, and Cionel Pérez feels decent in the middle innings. Fingers crossed that Craig Kimbrel can lock down most of the close games he is brought into.
Links
After glimpse of MLB in ‘23, Kjerstad vying for O’s roster spot | Orioles.com
It does feel like the best version of this team has Heston Kjerstad playing significant innings in some capacity. Something this lineup lacks is power beyond Anthony Santander and Gunnar Henderson. Although he would be a rookie, Kjerstad also packs a wollop.
Orioles Outright Diego Castillo | MLB Trade Rumors
We did it! Castillo had been DFA’d and claimed off waivers four times before this. But the Orioles were the team to finally sneak him through to keep him in the organization. Will this matter at all? Hopefully not.
Orioles’ Cedric Mullins, now healthy, confident he can return to 2021 All-Star form | The Baltimore Sun
Mullins was quite good early on last season. He was performing like the best player on the team. He’s still capable of doing that, and the Orioles might need him to without an obvious center field alternative at or near the big leagues.
Slimmer Irvin hopes to put up stronger early numbers for Orioles | Roch Kubatko
Our impression of Cole Irvin is soured by just how awful he was early in the season. But the lefty was perfectly fine after he eventually returned from his lengthy bout in Norfolk. For whatever reason, I’m not worried about him in the rotation. It won’t be Cy Young stuff, but he should be a decent number five.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Sam Hilliard celebrates his 30th birthday today. He hasn’t played in a game for the Orioles just yet, but he currently occupies a spot on their 40-man roster, and could serve in a reserve role this season.
- Tom Shopay is 79. The outfielder played in parts of five seasons with the O’s, first from 1971 through ‘72, and then again from 1975 through ‘77.
This day in O’s history
There’s no Orioles news from this date to report, according to Baseball Reference. So instead, here are some happenings from beyond Birdland:
1925 – The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
1947 – The Polaroid Land Camera, billed as the first “instant camera” is demonstrated in a meeting of the Optical Society of America by Edwin Land.
1948 – NASCAR is incorporated.
1972 – The spaceship Luna 20, an uncrewed vessel from the Soviet Union, lands on the Moon.