Kyle Virbitsky understands that baseball at the professional level is a business, first and foremost.
He has been solely focused on his craft as a pitcher ever since he was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 17th round of the 2021 MLB Draft, but his inclusion in the offseason trade that brought fellow hurler Cole Irvin to the Baltimore Orioles in January helped introduce a brand new perspective on how he can control his role in the game.
“When you’re playing and you’re doing the same thing every day, you try to stay focused on what’s right in front of you,” Virbitsky said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 2. “You’re not playing GM. There’s somebody else to do that.”
Since joining the Orioles this January, though, he has embraced splitting time as a starter and reliever in an organization close to his native Media, Pa. His contributions with High-A Aberdeen this season earned him IronBirds MVP honors. He posted a 3.83 ERA in 103.1 innings pitched.
“I feel like getting settled in and having transitioned at this point over to everything in Baltimore, it’s just been a really fun process to go down,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of really good minds and good people in this organization, and leaning on some of them for some of my player development stuff … has led me to where I am now. The results have gone along with that process a little bit.”
Virbitsky landed with rebuilding Oakland out of the draft after putting together a respectable four-year resume at Penn State, mostly as a reliever. He posted a 4.63 ERA in 23 appearances (22 starts) between Low-A Stockton and High-A Lancaster in his first full pro season in 2022. The 6-foot-7, 235-pound righty pitched at least five innings in a dozen of those starts.
Given his growth, the Athletics’ choice to send him back to the East Coast was nothing short of a shock.
“To get traded that early in my career, there was a ton of uncertainty,” Virbitsky said. “In fact, I vividly remember that day, out of nowhere getting a phone call from obviously some pretty important people in both of those organizations and finding out the news. That was the last thing I expected to happen.”
Winter soon turned to spring, and Virbitsky soon became acclimated to the Orioles’ pipeline. He referred to the A’s as more of a traditional player development institution. They leaned on former players and older coaches who had seen the game for longer, which contrasted wildly from Baltimore’s approach.
“It’s a bit of a younger group. Much more analytical, nuanced and willing to go down whichever path for development is going to work for whatever player they’re dealing with,” he said.
The IronBirds’ staff honed in on Virbitsky’s slider, which he identifies as his best pitch after their input. He used that to average 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings and post a 1.171 WHIP.
He also showed some flexibility in High-A, returning to his college roots by coming out of the ‘pen 10 times across 25 appearances. By succeeding as both a starter and a reliever, he has provided value as a multidimensional pitcher armed with that wicked slider, a weapon he’s sure to enhance as he moves his way through the minor league ranks.
“We’re constantly playing the top prospects from all of these different teams. … It’s fun to go out and compete against these guys with stuff that I’m working on,” Virbitsky said. “To have the backing and support of the org to go out and find out if this thing works, find out how much more I can get out of it … I think long term it’s really going to help me in my career.”
For more from Virbitsky, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Kadalena Messiano