When GM Mike Elias, manager Brandon Hyde and their staffs start talking about an Orioles 2023 playoff roster, it’ll be the first time such a discussion will take place since that one-game wild-card matchup in Toronto. That’s a total of six seasons without a postseason appearance.
Rosters remain at 28 for the rest of the regular season, but when the Orioles take the field in October, they will have to be down to 26 men for the first round they play in. They can make changes due to injuries at any time. They also have the right to make changes at the end of any series for any reason.
If at some point they drop a player due to injury, that player is ineligible for the rest of the current series and the subsequent series. An injured pitcher must be replaced by a pitcher, while an injured position player must be replaced by a position player.
The position player list is currently at 14, and I think it’s pretty easy to imagine Hyde wanting those 14 spots to remain the same in the postseason:
Catchers (2): James McCann and Adley Rutschman
Infielders (7): Adam Frazier, Gunnar Henderson, Jorge Mateo, Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Urías and Jordan Westburg
Outfielders (5): Austin Hays, Aaron Hicks, Ryan McKenna, Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander
This is where the real discussions and debates begin. How do you get down to 12 pitchers? Here are the 14 pitchers currently on the active roster, but note that Jorge López is not eligible for the postseason because he was not claimed off waivers by Aug. 31. Plus, John Means is due to start against the Cardinals at Camden Yards on Sept. 12, and the Orioles optioned right-handed reliever Joey Krehbiel to Triple-A Norfolk to make room on the active roster.
Starters (6): Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer, Jack Flaherty, Kyle Gibson, John Means and Grayson Rodriguez
Right-Handed Relievers (4): Yennier Cano, Shintaro Fujinami, Jorge López and Jacob Webb
Left-Handed Relievers (4): Danny Coulombe, DL Hall, Cole Irvin and Cionel Pérez
There’s an old expression that GMs and managers use when answering any question at any point in time regarding roster configuration: “These things have a way of taking care of themselves.”
What it means is that any combination of injury, great performance or poor performance can shape and shed light on the right way to address the roster construction.
There is no question that Flaherty has been disappointing. A lot of fans are already writing him off and figure he’ll be replaced by Means. While that is certainly a possibility, we don’t know how Means will perform in his opportunities or how Hyde might view Flaherty. If he is viewed as only a starter, Flaherty’s chances seem slim because the team probably doesn’t need more than four starters in any series.
We could see a quick experiment during the final 19 regular-season games to get a look at Flaherty in short outings to further buttress the bridge to closing out games.
A lot of conjecture also surrounds Gibson, the streaky veteran starting pitcher. The popular belief is that Bradish, Kremer and Rodriguez will start the first three games of any series in some order. I am dubious that Hyde automatically jettisons the 14-game-winner Gibson.
I could also see the club coming to the conclusion that in any short series Rodriguez could impact more than one game by appearing as a mid-game stopper for one or two innings. This idea is conjecture by me, but it makes sense. How? If you watch how playoff games have evolved in the past five to ten years, the starters, no matter how well they pitch, rarely go more than five innings.
Keep your eye on this. The Rays used up-and-coming star David Price as a reliever in the postseason in 2008, when Tampa Bay lost to Philadelphia in the World Series. It also addresses the issue of controlling Rodriguez’s total innings pitched.
For now, here is my best guess as to the 12 arms the O’s take into the first series of their postseason run, assuming that Means’ September audition goes well and All-Star closer Félix Bautista (elbow) does not return this season:
1. Kyle Bradish
2. Dean Kremer
3. Kyle Gibson
4. Grayson Rodriguez
5. John Means
6. Danny Coulombe
7. Cionel Pérez
8. DL Hall
9. Shintaro Fujinami
10. Yennier Cano
11. Jack Flaherty
12. Mike Baumann or Tyler Wells
On the outside looking in for the first series would be Cole Irvin, Joey Krehbiel and Jacob Webb.
The future is so bright for the Orioles, it’s easy to imagine the team of Elias, Mejdal and Hyde getting together on a lot of meetings such as this for the rest of the decade and even longer.
This story was updated after John Means was activated.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox