We are going to start a brand new series that started because of the random conversations that our staff has in our group chat.
The 2010s for the Orioles were interesting, to say the least. Three playoff appearances, a division title and a large number of players that barely anyone remembers to suit up for the Orioles.
With that said, here are five starting pitchers that played for the Orioles in the 2010s that you may have forgotten about.
TYLER WILSON
The year is 2017. The Baltimore Orioles look to open their season at home against the Toronto Blue Jays after being knocked out by them just six months prior.
It’s the 11th inning, and the score is tied 2-2. Manager Buck Showalter just used closer Zack Britton for the 9th and 10th and decides to put the ball into the hands of… Tyler Wilson?
Wilson would come in and shut down the Blue Jays to allow Mark Trumbo to hit the walk-off home run for an O’s Opening Day win.
Wilson was drafted in the 2011 MLB Draft by the Orioles out of the University of Virginia after having a college career that consisted of never losing a game in 19 games, 16 starts.
Wilson wouldn’t make his MLB debut until May of 2015 and would play in 42 games with the Orioles through three seasons. He would make 19 starts and have an 8-10 record with a career 5.02 ERA.
Wilson ended his career with the LG Twins in the KBO and would have a solid career in Korea. He carried a 3.40 ERA in 81 starts and finished with a 33-19 record. Wilson wouldn’t pitch again until he played in the Venezuelan Winter League last year.
MIKE WRIGHT JR.
When you think of the 2016 Orioles rotation, the first names that pop in our heads are the known players like Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez and Kevin Gausman. But did you know that the Orioles ran a six-man rotation, and the sixth man was Mike Wright Jr.?
Selected in the third round of the 2011 draft, Wright Jr. was a top prospect to watch for in the Orioles system. He would make his big league debut on May 17, 2015, and would waste absolutely no time to put his name out there, as he went 7.1 shutout innings against the Los Angeles Angels.
Ultimately, Wright Jr. would struggle with the Orioles, having an ERA close to six in 101 games, 23 starts, and would be traded to the Seattle Mariners in April of 2019.
His struggles would continue after his time with the Orioles, as Wright Jr. would spend one season with the Mariners and sign with the Chicago White Sox in 2021. He also played one season in the KBO for the NC Dinos and hasn’t pitched since 2022.
YEFRY RAMIREZ
The 2018 Orioles were the worst team in baseball, but who’s complaining, because they ended up getting catcher Adley Rutschman and 2023 Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson due to that awful year. But, once again, the Orioles ran a six-man rotation, and at the back end was Yefry Ramirez.
Ramirez joined the Orioles at the trade deadline when the organization purchased him from the New York Yankees in 2017. He originally was signed as an international free agent in 2011 with the Arizona Diamondbacks before becoming a Yankee in the 2015 Rule 5 Sraft. Ramirez debuted for the Orioles during the 2018 season.
Ramirez pitched in 17 games and had 12 starts with an ERA of 5.92 in 65.1 innings pitched. He allowed 64 hits, 11 home runs and struck out 62 batters. He would only have one win in his time with Baltimore, which was against the Boston Red Sox on July 24, 2018.
Ramirez would be traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019 and bounced around from team to team until he was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2022. Ramirez last pitched in the KBO, where he had a 4.13 ERA in 13 starts.
AARON BROOKS
The 2009 NBA Most Improved Player played in the MLB? OK, that was a really bad joke, I know, but the opportunity was there.
The California State University at San Bernardino right-hander spent just one year with the Orioles, and he was actually pretty solid for a 2019 team that was the second worst team in baseball.
Brooks became an Oriole on July 6, 2019, when he was claimed off waivers from the Oakland Athletics. He would make his Orioles debut just one week later during a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays, earning a no decision with 2.2 innings of shutout ball. Brooks would pitch in 14 games and start 12 of them, finishing with a 6.18 ERA and 4-5 record.
Brooks would pitch one more season as a St. Louis Cardinal in 2022, which consisted of five games. He just finished a season in El Paso as a member of the San Diego Padres’ Triple-A affiliate, and he also pitched in the KBO during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, where he found some success.
BRAD BERGESEN
Before there was the rise of Kevin Gausman and Chris Tillman, there was Brad Bergesen, who was not a highly rated prospect but was someone that Orioles fans thought had high potential to be a long-time reliable pitcher. Newsflash, it didn’t exactly work out that way.
Bergesen was drafted in 2004 to the Orioles out of Foothill High School. The California product would stay in the minors for five years before finally making his MLB debut on April 21, 2009. He would get the win in a 5.2, one-run outing against the Chicago White Sox.
Bergesen showed that potential in his first couple starts, as he was named the No. 2 starter in the O’s rotation in 2009 and had the lowest starter ERA in 19 games at 3.43. Everything went downhill for Bergesen after that point, as he would struggle until he was claimed off waivers in July of 2012. He would soon be released by the Diamondbacks at the end of the 2012 season.
Bergesen would spend some time in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, the Independent League and the Venezuelan Winter League until he stopped pitching in 2018. Bergesen is now the pitching coach for the Philadelphia Phillies’ Double-A team, the Reading Fighting Phils, and has been since 2020.
Which pitchers on this list do you remember watching? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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