THE BALTIMORE BATTERY

Much of Birdland have been holding their breath as the deadline draws closer, waiting to see if the Orioles tap into their farm to acquire some frontline starting pitching. However, the second half of the season may be bringing that idea to a screeching halt.

Let’s start with the two guys Orioles GM Mike Elias added during the offseason: Kyle Gibson, who signed a one-year, $10 million deal, and Cole Irvin, who was acquired from the Oakland Athletics in an under the radar trade. Neither have been spectacular, but as off late, both have done their jobs eating innings and giving the offense a chance in games.

Gibson’s tough outing against the Miami Marlins has inflated his stats a bit, but since July 9, he’s made four starts, pitching to an ERA in the mid fours and going six plus innings in three of those four starts.

Irvin, who had a disappointing start to his Orioles tenure, even needing a Triple-A stint to get back on track, has been tremendous since moving to the bullpen. Since his outing in Minnesota, where he went 6.1 innings, allowing three hits and one run, he’s managed a 2.38 ERA and helped save the bullpen against LA when Tyler Wells had an off night.

The rest of the O’s rotation are all guys the organization either drafted or traded for and developed in-house. Grayson Rodriguez had high expectations from the fanbase when he got the call early in the season. However, issues with location gave him a rude awakening to the bigs.

After a stint in Triple-A, he’s come back very strong. He went five innings, allowing seven hits and four runs against the Dodgers, and followed that up with his best outing of the season, going 5.2 innings, allowing three hits and one run against a loaded Tampa Bay Rays team.

Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish were both acquired in trades a few years prior. Kremer was a part of the Machado deal and Bradish in the Bundy deal. Both have battled some inconsistencies during their short careers, but each may be turning corners at the right time.

Kremer has been lights out his last four starts dating back to July 5. He’s gone seven plus innings in two of those four starts, pitching to a 2.92 ERA. Although the strikeouts have been up and down, he’s held batters to weak contact that his defense behind him can handle.

Bradish has been even better. He’s gone six plus innings in his last four starts, and although the Phillies got the best of him this past series, his ERA in that time is still 2.42 and just over three on the season. The young right-hander has done a great job keeping the ball in the park and has solidified himself as an arm who will get the ball in a postseason series.

That leaves us with Tyler Wells. He’s the outlier, to put things simply. While the rest of the rotation is trending upwards, Wells has regressed a bit from his stellar start to the year.

Up until his last two starts, he led the league in WHIP at 0.98 and was easily the Orioles’ ace. Since July 4, his ERA has been over seven, and he’s only gone more than five innings once. Some of this may be attributed to fatigue, as he’s already set a new career high in innings and may need a phantom IL stint to get right, but even so, his ERA is still 3.65 on the year.

I don’t think the Orioles are completely ruled out on adding starting pitching, as you can never have enough, and the lack of postseason experience is a valid concern. But I think it’s become much less of a need the last few weeks. In the end, Elias has the farm system to make moves, so we’ll see if he pulls the trigger.

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