The Orioles will get reinforcements with the expansion of rosters on Sept. 1, as they have added outfielder Colton Cowser and reliever Joey Krehbiel for the weekend series in Arizona.
The club is also expected to add Tyler Wells as another bullpen arm before long. Starting pitcher John Means could also be added after a successful rehab stint following Tommy John surgery and a recent setback with a back injury.
Krehbiel, who is on the 40-man roster, provides another durable bullpen arm, which will be key this late in the season. He has appeared in two games with the Orioles this season, throwing 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
Expectations remain high for Cowser, who is considered the Orioles’ No. 2 prospect behind infielder and former No. 1 pick Jackson Holliday. Cowser made his MLB debut on July 5 and slashed .115/.286/.148 with two doubles and four RBIs in 26 games before being sent back down to Triple-A Norfolk on Aug. 14.
“He got off to a pretty good start, and then he just kind of got caught in between a little bit in his at-bats,” manager Brandon Hyde said.
Cowser slashed .314/.440/.524 with 15 doubles, a triple, 12 home runs and 45 RBIs in 315 plate appearances in 69 games with the Tides this summer.
In his most recent rehab start, Means threw five scoreless innings while allowing one hit with six strikeouts and two walks for Norfolk on Aug. 31. Means hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since April 2022, but he could provide a huge boost during the final month of the season.
Wells was one of the Orioles’ best starters before the All-Star break, but he started to show signs of fatigue early in the second half. He was optioned to Bowie on July 30 and made three effective starts. The Orioles then assigned him to Norfolk on Aug. 22 to get re-acclimated with pitching out of the bullpen.
Wells pitched in relief for the Orioles in 2021.
“Definitely want to see what that looks like just because of how Tyler pitched out of the bullpen a couple years ago and how well he did there,” Hyde said. “He’s thrown a lot of innings this year for us in the rotation and kind of where we are, hopefully we can stay healthy the rest of the way, but just kind of want to see what it looks like out of the ‘pen right now.”
Effectiveness Of Six-Man Rotation
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has been using a six-man rotation to help preserve the arms of some of his young starters.
Kyle Bradish, Jack Flaherty, Kyle Gibson, Cole Irvin, Dean Kremer and Grayson Rodriguez have made up the starting rotation throughout the past month.
Bradish, Kremer and Rodriguez have already reached career-highs in innings pitched in the majors. All three of those starters have performed well in the past month, as has Irvin.
It’s the veterans, Gibson and Flaherty, who have had some recent struggles.
In his most recent start, Gibson allowed seven runs and nine hits in just 4.1 innings against the White Sox on Aug. 30. The right-hander gave up a season-high three homers.
Gibson has 14 quality starts this season, but he posted a 7.89 ERA in August, allowing 26 runs in 29.2 innings.
“Just a lot of inconsistency,” Gibson said after the White Sox outing. “I just didn’t feel like, for as good as I felt warming up, even in the first inning, just didn’t carry over. Just the month of August so far for me has been real inconsistent, not limiting damage. Offense did a great job getting runs early, and then giving right back there by not being able to make a pitch and get out of it, pretty frustrating.”
While there is a strong rapport among the pitchers, they are competing for a potential opportunity to start in the postseason. Some of them are making a strong case, while others need to turn their performance around quickly.
Mixed Results On Trade Deadline
The Orioles made two significant moves before the trade deadline, acquiring starting pitcher Jack Flaherty and reliever Shintaro Fujinami.
Now, questions abound as to whether GM Mike Elias did enough to strengthen the roster for the stretch run to the postseason.
Flaherty was expected to help anchor the rotation when he was acquired from the Cardinals on Aug. 1. However, he has gone 1-2 with a 6.41 ERA in four starts with the Orioles. Flaherty was pushed back after experiencing general soreness before allowing three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and one walk across 5.2 innings in a no-decision against the Rockies on Aug. 27.
Flaherty is being outshined by his younger teammates.
Fujinami was expected to be a reliable hard-throwing option out of the bullpen, but he has struggled with his command. Since being acquired from the Athletics on July 19, Fujinami has a 5.21 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 19 innings with the Orioles. He has also walked nine batters.
Fujinami had posted four consecutive scoreless appearances before giving up two runs in his most recent outing. The question is whether he can stay consistent enough down the stretch to earn a spot on the postseason roster.
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