SARASOTA, Fla. — For the past couple years I have banged the drum slowly and loudly — but mostly relentlessly — that Tyler Wells was best suited to be a relief pitcher. This notion of mine was never about his stuff. Rather, it was a perception on my part that it would be difficult to keep Wells healthy as a starter during the course of a 162-game season.
To be more precise, the definition of keeping him healthy for my purposes is that he be able to make between 25 and 30 starts in a season and hit a low end of a reasonable number of innings –say, 150 or more. I still have my doubts that he will ever reach that modest total.
However, as I was reminded on March 12 against the Rays, Wells sure keeps his team in a high percentage of his starts. The 6-foot-8, 260-pound right-hander threw four innings, allowing two hits, one walk and one solo home run. He also struck out one. He has thrown six innings in Grapefruit League play this spring, allowing just three hits. His ERA is 1.50 and his WHIP is 0.67.
Given the reality of where the Orioles are with their rotation, Wells is penciled in as the club’s No. 4 starter. Not only am I OK with that, I am excited about the previous levels of success he has had as a starter in the past. But what I am less excited about is how the Orioles get to the finish line with Wells continuing to do in September and October what I know he can do during the first half of the season.
Wells had Tommy John surgery in 2019 and was picked by the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft in December 2020. He threw 57 innings in relief for the Orioles in 2021 before working mostly as a starter in 2022 and 2023. However, it’s been a struggle for him to hold up for a full season in the rotation.
Wells posted 103.2 innings in 2022 but suffered oblique and shoulder injuries in the second half. He tossed 118.2 innings in 2023 but missed close to two months due to a minor league reset. He ultimately was brought back up for a handful of relief outings.
There is no manual for how to keep a pitcher relevant and fresh at the same time. But unless you realize you have a problem and admit it’s a problem, how else can you fix it? It seems the remedies are plentiful.
Oftentimes when teams bring in a starting pitcher of great renown from Japan, there is always a discussion of how that club can get that pitcher ramped up to be a regular part of a five-man rotation. Maybe teams have had that all wrong. Rather than trying to shoehorn a pitcher into a five-man rotation, perhaps some creativity is needed.
I suggest that the Orioles need to almost treat Wells as if he is a Japanese import and try to figure out a mandated series of measures to keep him fresh — skipping a turn once a month, maybe limiting him to five innings per start and maybe even using him as a bulk reliever behind an opener.
While I don’t know what makes Wells tick, I can see evidence that he cares about the greater good, his teammates and putting team goals in front of personal goals.
As Opening Day approaches, Wells will be a starter. That much is clear. Now, the Orioles have to be clear in how to keep him relevant for an entire season. The stakes are much higher, and a Wells who can approach 140 to 150 innings just might be vital to the big picture that sees the Orioles as much more than a bit player in the postseason.
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox