Kremer strong in loss to Blue Jays

Dean Kremer has had an interesting spring. From the excitement of how last year ended to preparing and representing Team Israel in the WBC, he has been steady, unwavering and ready to go.

Each outing shows how the young righty has developed, grown and improved since coming to Baltimore. It hasn’t always been easy, but his moxy has been burning every time he takes the ball. 

Kremer has impressed this spring for both the Orioles and Team Israel, and he continued that pattern on Wednesday when he took the ball against the Blue Jays.

Throwing 67 pitches, 44 for strikes, Kremer would complete five innings of three-hit ball. Unfortunately, two of the three hits were home runs, both solo shots.

“I just thought he made a couple of mistakes. That was it,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said after a 2-1 loss. “I thought he threw the ball really well. Had all the pitches going. They didn’t do much against him, and I’m happy with his start.”

Kremer would give up only those two earned runs, walking one and striking out three. On the spring, he now possesses a 3.21 ERA in 14 innings of work with a WHIP of 0.71.

“Just mistakes that are getting hit middle-middle,” Kremer said on his outing. “It doesn’t matter where you go, who you are. If you make a mistake middle-middle, guys will hit it, especially in the big leagues. Not too much concern.”

Andrew Politi pitched an inning of work, making his eighth appearance of the spring. He now has seven scoreless appearances this spring with eight strikeouts in eight innings of work, with an ERA of 4.50 and a WHIP of 1.000.

I think I had a good spring,” Politi said. “I think the best thing is I went out there, and I threw a lot of strikes, and I competed and did whatever I had to do.”

Bryan Baker and Mike Baumann each pitched a scoreless inning to wrap up the day.

The offense came mostly from three players, as Terrin Vavra, Kyle Stowers and Nomar Mazara each had two hits.

Vavra continues his torrid spring as he looks to lock down a spot on the Opening Day roster. He singled and hit his second home run of the spring, as he is now batting .351 with six RBIs.

“We have a great competition in this clubhouse, and it’s all very respectful,” Vavra said. “It’s just super fun to be a part of, and you never want to put the cart before the horse. You want to just let those decisions play out the way they’re supposed to.”

Kyle Stowers continues his growth at the plate, as he went 2-for-4 to raise his average to .286 on the spring. His OPS currently stands at .736.

Mazara picked up his third double of the spring and is now batting .250. Competing for a bench role, the powerful lefty played right field today and has five RBIs and an OPS of .603.

The offense finished with eight hits and one run. They collected one walk and struck out eight times on the day, as the Orioles dropped the game 2-1 and are now 13-12 on the season.

Side Notes:

Cedric Mullins is scheduled to return to the club tomorrow. With Dean Kremer and Anthony Santander back from WBC, all three can focus on preparing for the regular season.

“Proud of all three of them,” Hyde said. “What a great experience for them to pitch in that sort of postseason or bigger environment. For three guys who have never been in the postseason before, to be able to play in front of 40-some thousand people with things on the line, I think it’s just going to really benefit them and their career going forward.

Outfielders Heston Kjerstad and Colton Cowser have been reassigned to minor league camp. The O’s roster is now at 44 players, 10 non-roster invitees.

Mychal Givens has been limited by a sore knee and has been unavailable as of late. He has pitched in four games this spring, but Hyde doesn’t think this will affect his availability for Opening Day.

“It just got sore,” Hyde said. “We’re taking some precautionary measures against it, taking it easy with him, and hopefully he’ll be able to break with us.”

Keegan Akin, who has not pitched in six days, will pitch out of the bullpen Friday against the Yankees. The lefty reliever pitched two innings on a back field earlier this week.

Grayson Rodriguez starts Thursday night against the Tigers from Ed Smith Stadium. Kyle Gibson starts Friday night against the Yankees in Sarasota, and Tyler Wells starts Saturday night against the Pirates in Bradenton.

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