Dean Kremer, Alex Wells among Oriole prospects going to Arizona Fall League

WASHINGTON—Dean Kremer and Alex Wells headline the five players the Orioles are sending to the Arizona Fall League.

The Orioles are one of five teams that will supply players to the Surprise Saguaros.

Kremer, a 23-year-old right-hander who was part of the Manny Machado trade in July 2018, was 9-4 with a 2.98 ERA in 15 starts with Double-A Bowie. He was recently promoted to Triple-A Norfolk and is 0-2 with a 10.05 ERA in three games.

Wells, a 22-year-old left-hander, is 8-4 with a 2.81 ERA in 22 starts with Bowie. In 2017, the Australian was named the Orioles’ minor league pitcher of the year after going 11-5 with a 2.38 ERA at Low-A Delmarva.

Kremer and Wells will be joined by David Lebron, who’s 2-5 with a 4.37 ERA for High-A Frederick. The 25-year-old right-hander was acquired by the Orioles in February for international signing bonus money from Texas.

Infielders Rylan Bannon and Mason McCoy also will be going to the AFL. Bannon, who was also acquired in the Machado trade, hit .255 with eight home runs and 42 RBIs at Bowie. Since his promotion to Norfolk, he has hit .351 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 14 games.

McCoy, the Orioles’ sixth-sround pick in 2017, has hit .272 with two home runs and 31 RBIs in 99 games with Bowie. He moved up to the Baysox after hitting .379 with two homer and 17 RBIs with Frederick.

The Orioles plan to send another pitcher and an outfielder to the Saguaros. Delmarva manager Kyle Moore and Frederick trainer Marty Brinker also will be going to the Arizona Fall League.

Play will begin on September 18 and conclude with the championship game on October 26.

Means’ next start cloudy: Manager Brandon Hyde said that the team hopes that John Means, who’s on the family medical emergency list, will be able to pitch either Friday or Saturday in Kansas City.

After an off-day on Thursday, the Orioles open a three-game series with the Royals. Dylan Bundy is likely to pitch the game Means doesn’t.

“We’ve still got a couple of things to figure out,” Hyde said.

The Orioles are listing Aaron Brooks as Sunday’s starter. Kansas City’s only listed starter is left-hander Eric Skoglund on Friday.

Givens getting better: Hunter Harvey’s success has been getting a lot of attention, but Mychal Givens has been on a hot streak of his own.

For the third time this season, Givens has reeled off sixth consecutive scoreless outings. He’s thrown six shutout innings, allowing just three hits and striking out eight without a walk.

Givens’ ERA is 4.18, the lowest it’s been since May 17.

“I’ve seen Mike’s been on the attack,” Hyde said. “Mychal’s got the three-pitch mix, and I feel like at times he can kind of lose command and get behind and get predictable with his fastball.”

Hyde is also impressed with the recent work of Miguel Castro, who retired Howie Kendrick, his only batter on Tuesday night in the 2-0 shutout of the Washington Nationals.

“Right now, they’re both working ahead of hitters and with the stuff that they have, with strike one, you get ahead. You’re getting hitters not to feel comfortable.”