SARASOTA–What’s happening? Dean Kremer won’t begin the season in Baltimore. The 30-year-old right-hander, who’s been a mainstay of the starting staff since 2022, was surprisingly optioned to minor league camp on Saturday. Kremer has a 41-40 record and a 4.26 ERA in six seasons.
“At this point, we have what we view as six healthy starters,” president of baseball operations Mike Elias said. “At that point, the conversation becomes: ‘Do we do a six-man rotation? Looking at the schedule and the amount of offdays that we have in April, that didn’t look beneficial. In fact, it looked like it might be detrimental.
“To do a six-man rotation, you have to subtract head count from your bullpen. We talked about setting up some type of piggyback and moving someone to the bullpen, and that didn’t make sense for us either for what we were trying to do for the first couple of turns through the rotation and the schedule and the bullpen.
“It’s important to us that we keep our starters lengthened out, up and running because we have a very long season ahead of us, and I’m positive we’re going to need more than five, so this was the maneuver we landed on after extensive discussion. It is always tough when you’re sending someone out, especially a veteran that’s spent a lot of time with this team and had a good season last year, but managing a pitching staff over the course of a major league season is not easy and requires maneuvering. We’re pretty confident and hopeful that it will be a short-term affair.”
Kremer didn’t object to the move, Elias said.
“We had an honest conversation with Dean about it and in character with him, he was completely professional about it and he’ll be ready when his name is called, and that’s not too long.”
Kremer must stay in the minor leagues until April 9th.
The move allows Zach Eflin, who pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings of one hit ball against the New York Yankees on Friday night in Tampa, to move into the starting rotation. The 31-year-old Eflin will join Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt in the rotation.
“He’s checked every box,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Last night was a big box for him. He threw the ball pretty well. That’s an understatement.”
Eflin’s surgery was last August, and Albernaz thinks he’s ready to start the season.
“He’s checked every box, and we’ll see where we go,” Albernaz said.
The first-year manager said Kremer’s demotion was a tough call.
“It was a lot of back and forth over this past week, seeing what the best fit is, entertaining a six-man, piggyback, relief, option, but at the end of the day it’s just best for Dean and us to option him to Triple-A and keep the length as a starter,” Albernaz said. “It’s a byproduct of where we’re at right now and it’s a great problem to have. Dean is a big league pitcher, so to have someone like that, a big league-caliber starter in Triple-A is great for our depth.”
Said catcher Adley Rutschman: “Dean’s a phenomenal pitcher. He’s a huge presence in the clubhouse, great pitcher. I love Dean.”
Rutschman appeared to be taken aback, as were many others, by the news. The announcement of Kremer’s optioning came during the first inning of Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“We’ve got a phenomenal staff,” Rutschman said. “Top to bottom, love where our staff’s at.”
He was caught off-guard with regard to Kremer.
“I honestly didn’t know until you guys said something. Still kind of processing,” Rutschman said. “I love every guy on our staff. We’ve got a lot of talent.”
It appears there are four pitchers — Yaramil Hiraldo, Jackson Kowar, Albert Suárez and Grant Wolfram — for the final two spots on the pitching staff.
The Orioles also announced that outfielder Heston Kjerstad will have an MRI on his right hamstring on Sunday in Baltimore. Kjerstad was removed from Thursday night’s game because of right hamstring tightness.
Outfielder Dylan Beavers, who was scratched from Friday night’s game with right knee discomfort, said he’s feeling better and thinks he’ll play on Opening Day. Beavers experienced tightness in his quadriceps.
Reliever Keegan Akin didn’t pitch in Saturday’s Grapefruit League game because of an adductor injury. He’ll be evaluated on Sunday.
The Orioles reassigned right-handers Hans Crouse, Nestor German and Trey Gibson to Triple-A Norfolk.
German and Gibson pitched in Friday night’s Spring Breakout game. German had an 8.44 ERA in two games. Gibson had a 4.66 ERA in three games. Crouse allowed two runs on three hits in an inning in his only appearance.
The roster has 43 players, including nine non-roster invitees and pitchers Félix Bautista and Colin Selby, who are on the 60-day injured list.
What’s happened? Jhonkensy Noel hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to spark the Orioles to a 10-8 win over the Philadelphia Phillies before a sellout crowd of 7,816 at Ed Smith Stadium on Saturday.
It was the second home run of the spring for Noel, who also homered on Thursday night.
Levi Wells started and allowed four runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Albernaz started many regulars, including Rutschman, Pete Alonso, Colton Cowser, Gunnar Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle and Tyler O’Neill.
Alonso had an RBI double. Minor leaguer Victor Figueroa had a two-run single.
Hiraldo and Tyler Wells threw scoreless innings.
What’s up with Andrew Kittredge? The 36-year-old right-hander, who pitched in just one Grapefruit League game because of right shoulder inflammation, is hoping to begin a rehab assignment next week with Triple-A Norfolk.
“I threw a bullpen yesterday,” Kittredge said. “It’s going really well. I’m really encouraged with how the shoulder has responded. As of now, I’m on track to be back relatively early in the season.”
Kittredge would like to be back once his minimum 15-day injured list stint ends.
“Maybe surprising a little bit to me. The training staff has not been surprised,” Kittredge said. “This has been their expectation all along. The way I was feeling those first few days, it seemed hard to believe it would be this quick. So far, I basically feel normal. It’s a buildup.”
Kittredge will remain in Sarasota for a few days to throw live bullpen sessions but will be in Baltimore for Opening Day.
What’s what? The optioning of Kremer was surprising and is a reflection of the depth of the starting staff.
What’s the word? “I know Dean’s been here a long time and he means a lot to this group. He’s a very talented guy. He pitches with moxie, poise. He’s a bona fide big leaguer, and I know he’s going to help us win a lot of games this year.”-Pete Alonso on Kremer’s demotion.
What’s the number? 123. Kremer has started 123 times in his Orioles career, the same number as Storm Davis, who was recently voted into the team’s Hall of Fame.
What’s the record? 11-13-3. The Orioles will play the Washington Nationals at Camden Yards on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. Kyle Bradish will start against Mitchell Parker.
Kevin Brown and Jim Palmer will have the call on MASN while Ben Wagner and Brett Hollander will broadcast on WBAL/98 Rock.
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