BALTIMORE—Dean Kremer will be the final Orioles pitcher to get his second start on Monday night against the Seattle Mariners. Of the first nine games, Kremer has the shortest start, a three-plus inning effort against the New York Yankees on April 6th, but it was not without its moments.
Kremer gave up three runs on five hits and walked four, getting removed after he walked the bases loaded in the fourth in a game the Orioles lost to the Yankees, 7-2. In the first, he escaped a bases-loaded jam by striking out the side.
In their first nine games, the Orioles have three quality starts. On April 2nd, John Means gave up just one hit in seven innings to the Boston Red Sox, and Bruce Zimmermann has a pair to three-run, six-inning performances.
Kremer had a 6.32 ERA in five starts in spring training, and manager Brandon Hyde placed him in the fifth spot because the Orioles wanted to limit his innings.
When Kremer, 25, came to the big leagues last September, he showed promise, allowing three runs on eight hits in 16 innings in his first three starts. He won only the first of them, 5-1 against New York, but didn’t win his next two, in part because the Orioles scored just a run in each game.
He ended 2020 by giving up seven runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings to Boston on September 23rd and watching his ERA soar from 1.69 to 4.82.
Besides Kremer, Jorge López has disappointed. In his two starts, López has allowed 11 runs on 11 hits in 8 2/3 innings, with an 11.42 ERA.
The Orioles have a team ERA of 5.05, and that will have to improve if they want to avoid a repeat of their difficult second week. After winning three straight at Boston to begin the season, they’ve lost five of six.
Their bullpen has seen some solid stat lines, and some poor ones, too.
Tanner Scott, who had a 1.31 ERA in 25 games in 2020, has yet to allow a run and just one hit in three appearances. César Valdez has a 1.69 ERA in 5 1/3 innings.
Shawn Armstrong, who wasn’t available for the first three games because he was on the paternity list, had a 1.80 ERA in 2020. So far in 2021, Armstrong has given up six earned runs in two innings for an ERA of 27.00.
Dillon Tate, who manager Brandon Hyde envisions for a late-inning role, has given up two earned runs in 3 1/3 innings.
Hyde has nine relievers in his bullpen, including Rule 5 picks, right-handers Mac Sceroler (three runs in 3 2/3 innings) and Tyler Wells (three runs in 5 2/3).
Schedule gazing: In last season’s 60-game schedule during the pandemic, the Orioles played 40 games against the American League East and 20 against the National League East.
The move was designed to reduce risk, but this year, coast-to-coast travel is back in a conventional 162-game season.
It was strange for the Orioles to play the Miami Marlins more often than the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers, traditional American League rivals.
Those rivalries are back in 2021, and the Orioles play their next seven games against the Seattle Mariners, who were their final home opponent in 2019, and the Texas Rangers, who they also last faced in September 2019.
“We’re playing two teams that are in a similar spot organizationally,” Hyde said. “I was looking at the Seattle roster today, pretty unfamiliar with a lot of the players, Texas as well.”
When the Orioles play the White Sox in Chicago on May 27th, it will be the first meeting between the teams in more than two years. They last played on May 1, 2019.
“You rely a lot on our advance guys,” Hyde said. “You watch the starters, you watch their bullpen arms, probably watch some previous games. You try to familiarize yourself with some of their players.
“It is a challenge, and it’s the same against us, too. They don’t know a lot of our players, either. It makes it fun, thought. It makes it seeing somebody new. It’s a challenge for both sides.”
Starters for Mariners series: Dean Kremer (0-1) and Justus Sheffield (0-1) are scheduled to pitch Monday. On Tuesday, John Means (1-0) will face Nick Margevicius (0-1). On Wednesday, Matt Harvey (0-1) will face Justin Dunn (0-0), and ,on Thursday afternoon, Bruce Zimmermann (1-0) will face Marco Gonzales (0-1).
Of the Mariners starters, only Dunn is right-handed. Thursday’s game begins at 1:05 p.m.
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Rich - Question. In the tenth, the runner from second moves up on two fly balls and scores without a hit. Does that count against the pitcher's ERA?
Sig Seidenman
The automatic runner’s run is never counted as an earned run.
Does it count as a loss if they “lose”?...go O’s...
To the pitcher...go O’s...
The Boston "Buzz-saw" has left town. Phoooey. Geesh a week ago we were laughing at them. Let's take a deep breath and welcome a mild hitting Seattle Mariner club. That being said, the O's are playing at home and we all know what that means--they don't play as good(as they do on the road). Hoping Kremer is solid at least the 2nd and/or 3rd time through the order. A comment on this site last night(33d st) had a solid point---how about Hyde using the starter by committee approach(a l a WS team Tampa Bay)? Means/Harvey seem capable of going a solid 6 but Lopez and Kremer seem to give a solid 2 then fade. Use the committee in their starts. It's obvious who doesn't adjust so be proactive Mr. Hyde. By June/July we'll have an idea about the young arms in the minors so hopefully fresh "cavalry".
Lopez is not a starting pitcher. A long guy out of the pen at best but woundnt start for any team in the majors.
Stats supports your statement. Lopez career OPS against vs times through order:
1st 0.718, 2nd 0.955, 3rd 1.062
Compare to Means:
1st 0.673, 2nd 0.709, 3rd 0.713
I’m afraid to ask but why was Santander removed from yesterday’s game? I was hoping maybe he just got tossed but that apparently is not the reason. McKenna had a nice game in his place but they need Anthony playing every day. Is he still suffering from oblique related issues?
Maybe my take isn’t correct, but sometimes I think Hyde makes moves just to make moves. He seems to over manage at times.
Seems it was just precautionary - quote from Hyde "And in a nine-run game I wanted to get Santander off the field."
Dave, Hyde said that Santander and Galvis were rested once it got to be 10-1.
What? My quote is not official enough? No respect lol...
Down 9, I get those moves. Thanks Rich
PJ’s, think people need a stat from you for something to be credible...lol...go O’s...
It would be interesting to see the O's try out openers for Lopez's starts. Hopefully Kremer will show ability to go 5 or 6 beginning today. Zimmermann has gone 6 in both of his starts so far. Harvey went 4.2 then 5 innings so far.
Hopefully the O's poor performance at home 2018-2020 turns around this year.
Nuts, this was supposed to be in reply Orial's comment...
Gotcha. Forgot about Zimmerman. Yes he has shown he can go 6 also. Fingers crossed.
I would think Hyde would be familiar with anyone they play, or at least he should be, now them being familiar with our guys, a few of them but not many...go O’s...
Some clean-shaven nice looking young chap named Odor plated the go ahead run for Yanks yesterday in their 8-4 10 inning win. Did not look Rough at all.
I really don’t mind that team rule, looks professional...go O’s...
I was all for casting a line toward Odor. Some on this forum have painted him as a malcontent and expressed concern about him not being a great teammate. I have no idea where that came from. I was just hoping to get some production for a year.
As usual, the Yanks are decisive.
I agree with you, many of us were chastised, maybe for trying to get a real MLB player...oh well, we’ll stick with Urias, LMAO...go O’s...
I was one of those saying stay away from Odor and I still believe that. As to where that comes from - I live in Dallas and am a Rangers season ticket holder, so I feel pretty qualified to say it. Since I’ve been watching Odor since he joined the majors. The Rangers might have a worse team than the O’s but were willing to eat $27M to get rid of him and improve the clubhouse. Good move.
Mute point now...go O’s...
There’s a certain player on our own beloved team that we need to eat contract on and move forward from.....
How far in advance of games are the lineups posted, and where is that info available?
I always google “Mlb lineups” and click rotowire.com. Don’t know if I’m allowed to post that or not. They come out daily with “expected” lineup then “confirmed” lineup. They’re v good with that.
Thanks Kjbs
The best site is MLB.com's gameday. The Orioles usually put out their lineup about three hours before night games. I tweet their lineup when it's posted. Both teams' lineups are posted when they're available.
Rich I was under the impression these guys were professional athletes, 9 games in and they need a rest. Wonder what Mr. Ripken thinks?
Keep the faith
14+ YEARS without a day off, I’m sure they’re pretty tired, laughable at best, pitchers throw 1 inning 1 day & can’t throw the next day, sweet Jesus...go O’s...
What sport was I watching growing up when EVERY team used a 4 man rotation, players were adept at bunting and the hit and run, a relief pitcher was just a pitcher who didn’t quite have what it took to be a starter and the fundamentals of fielding and knowing what to do with the ball if it was hit to you were second nature? It sure didn’t resemble what I see today. Tho I’ll say this, these guys today sure can do a mighty fine bat flip!
LOL DL, totally agree, not sure what has happened to the game, seems to have gone downhill since the “Let the kids play” mentality started...the days of the 1-0 game seem to be few & far between...what a bummer...go O’s...