After walking five batters, allowing six runs and retiring just one batter on Thursday night, Dean Kremer was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk for the third time this season.
The right-hander’s place on the roster will be taken by left-hander Alexander Wells, the Australian native who gets his first call to the big leagues.
Kremer, who is 0-7 with a 7.25 ERA in 12 starts, must stay in the minors for 10 days unless he replaces a player placed on the injured list. His first two stints in Triple-A this season, were brief. Manager Brandon Hyde said this one won’t be.
“It’s extremely hard to pitch in the big leagues, and it’s extremely hard to be a starter in this division,” Hyde said. “We care a lot about Dean. Dean’s going to be a good major league starter. We feel like the right thing to do is to go to Triple-A for an extended period, work on being consistent with this command for all of his pitches, so when he finally comes back up here, he’s able to sustain. Right now he’s having a hard time going from start-to-start, outing-to-outing, being consistent with his stuff and his command.”
Wells was added to the 40-man roster in November. He’s 4-3 with a 5.67 ERA in eight games with Norfolk, six of them starts. The 24-year-old wasn’t able to be at summer camp in 2020 because the pandemic restricted travel.
Hyde said that Wells will be in the bullpen for Friday night’s game against Toronto in Buffalo because Kremer’s short start left the bullpen needing relievers who could throw multiple innings. He could replace Kremer in the rotation.
For the moment, the Orioles’ rotation consists of Matt Harvey, Keegan Akin, Jorge Lopez and Thomas Eshelman. John Means and Bruce Zimmermann are both on the 10-day injured list and won’t pitch until after the All-Star break.
“The teams that we play have really good offenses,” Hyde said. “There’s no breather ever here.
“We’re in a tough spot. We don’t have a ton of starter depth. We have young guys that are trying to survive in the big leagues in the rotation, and they’re facing offenses that are built to win postseason games. Sometimes you take your lumps up here, then you go back down and you try and go and figure it out and come back.
“It’s where we are right now [as an] organization, and it’s hard to compete without quality starts. It affects the bullpen and the next day and all that stuff. We’re doing the best we can.”
The Orioles have called up Eshelman and Zac Lowther for spot starts, and perhaps recalled Akin and Kremer before they wanted to.
“There’s been times where we need them to start because we didn’t have anybody, and that’s just being realistic,” Hyde said. “Hopefully, these guys can deal with adversity and learn from mistakes and continue to grow and to develop. We’re going to put them in the best position to have success, but we need to fill out a rotation, too. We’re doing the best we can with what we have.”
In 2017, Wells was named as the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year when he went 11-5 with a 2.38 ERA in 25 starts for Low-A Delmarva. Wells walked just 10 batters in 140 innings in 2017. This season, he’s walked four in 32 innings for the Tides.
“I didn’t get off to the best start this year,” Wells said. “This month was a lot better. I finally got into a groove for the month of June. I had the confidence and belief in myself to go out there and compete, every fifth, sixth day, whatever it was. I took confidence from each start, and it grew on me.”
Wells was surprised by the news.
“I was a bit shocked by the call,” he said. “Not really expecting it, but super happy to be here and happy to join the team.”
To add another fresh arm to the bullpen, the Orioles purchased the contract of right-hander Konner Wade from Triple-A Norfolk and designated knuckleballer Mickey Jannis for assignment.
Wade, a 29-year-old right-hander, was acquired in November 2017 from the Colorado Rockies for $500,000 in international signing bonus money but was released at the end of minor league spring training in 2018. Wade, who re-signed with the Orioles in February, is 1-1 with a 3.48 ERA in eight games, seven starts, for Norfolk.
“It’s validation for all the hard work I put in,” Wade said. “There were a lot of times when I didn’t know if if this day would ever come. I’ve been released. I sat in [Independent] ball for over a year. I played in Mexico, typically roads that are difficult to get back into affiliated [ball], and ultimately to get to the major leagues.
“I felt like I still had some good baseball left in me, and I wanted to pursue the dream that I had since I was a kid.”
The 33-year-old Jannis got threeIt days in the major leagues after signing his first professional contract with Tampa Bay in 2010. He allowed seven runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings against Houston on Wednesday night.
The Orioles have seven days to trade, waive or release Jannis.
Sisco to Mets: Catcher Chance Sisco, who was designated for assignment a week ago, was claimed on waivers by the New York Mets. The claim brings an end to Sisco’s tenure with the Orioles, who selected him in the second round of the 2013 draft. In parts of five seasons with the Orioles, Sisco batted .199 in 191 games.
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Best of luck to Sisco Kid...go O’s...
Rich, how does the waiver wire work? Do AL teams have 1st opportunity to place a claim and then the NL teams?
Teams in the American League have priority over the National League.
So every team in the AL and 10 of so teams in the NL passed on hiring Sisco?
No doubt Sisco wasn't going to be picked up by somebody. Players come and players go, but I'm not going to forget this one. But hey, we have Austin Wynns, 'eh Mikey? Nice move.
Disappointed in the decision to send Kremer back down. Where is the faith? Let these kids work things out for crying out loud. So this constant shuffling of arms is what passes for 'developing' pitchers now? I'm truly starting to question the judgement of these coaches and scouts and GMs of this circus.Besides the tank job Elias has been pulling, I really thought he might be a true baseball guy. Thomas Jefferson High and Yale not withstanding, Im beginning to question this guy's baseball IQ at this point. Baseball isn't simply advanced mathmatics.
And under the guise of "adding a fresh arm to the bullpen", they jettison Mickey Jannis after one attempt. ONE STINKIN' START? I'm calling BS on this one. There is no way Mickey Jannis arm isn't still 'fresh'. This team hasn't a clue. It's a process...uh sure.
All that being said ....
I really am excited to see Wells. I, and I'm sure many of you others, have had an eye on him for several years now. But my question is this ... if he bombs are they going to immediately jettison him back to Norfolk? Hope to see a few more of these guys soon, but not as the cost of simply adding them to his endless, meaningless shuffle.
One question for anybody ... didn't I read just a couple of weeks ago that Wells was experiencing arm pain?
Ken, you might want to read the quotes posted from Hyde about Kremer that I just added to the story to answer your questions.
As for Sisco, what are you not going to forget? That the Orioles tried to trade him and no one offered anything for him? That 14 American League teams and 10 National League teams passed on him before the Mets claimed him?
As I wrote before, I thought another team would take a shot on him because he's relatively young, he hits left-handed and there's a paucity of catchers, and perhaps a change of scenery will do him good. I hope so, but Wynns is a far superior defensive catcher. He's not strong offensively, but this was the right choice.
I think you're thinking of DL Hall, whose elbow has temporarily shelved him, not Wells.
You're right Rich, it was DL Hall I was thinking of, not Wells. Too man "L"s to keep straight.
As for Sisco, I'm not going to forget what I feel was his mis-management by the Elias crew. I know you don't agree with me, but I think he's got everything needed to be a solid player in the league. I don't know the guy, maybe he's missing some intangible (read heart/smarts) but I'll be keeping my eye on him and hoping Elias ends up regretting this one....purely for selfish pride reasons. I don't need a reply, but who the heck would trade for him knowing he's about to be a free agent? The Orioles had already laid their cards on the table.
BRR...that was in Spring training. He missed all of last year because he couldn’t leave Australia and was way behind when ST started. His first two starts were disasters because he still hadn’t caught up but he recently got in a “groove”and returned to his normal form. I’ve followed him since Delmarva and I know you believers in the “power guys” (95+mph) won’t be that impressed. He does throw strikes and has a three pitch mix. I consider him to be what a “pitcher” should be. Old school, I know but I hope he can make a go of it in the “bigs”. Good luck to you, Alex!
5 seasons & 191 games, out of a possible 810 games, sounds like continuity to me, go O’s...
Cal ,,, if I recall correctly, weren't you and BoogRR were ready to declare Ramon Urias a failure, after less than 100 MLB at bats?
Not speaking for Cal ... Yes I was. But it had nothing to do with his performance or lack of playing time. First off...his llllooonnng history of playing the Mexican league speaks volumns...there is probably a reason he was there. Considering he was 17 when first playing pro ball, and had yet to climb out of it (ML and 2 yrs MILB), I didn't give him much of a chance. Then I looked at his body type, thought he didn't cover a lot of ground at short considering he's awesomely fast, and just wasn't thrilled with the way he swung the bat. It was about the eye test for me.
And yes, I thought (still do) think that Sisco has the total package, although I've got rservations about his head and heart at this point. He hasn't handled what I consider his mis-handling, very well.
Urias is just not ML material. Just one guy's opinion.
Where do you get 810 games? Sisco was called up September 2, 2017 with 26 games left in the season. 2018-19 were full seasons total 324. Last year was 60 games. Sisco was DFA’d after game 52. So that’s 191 out of a possible 472 games. And he spent parts of 2018-19 in the minors. So he played about half the time
Simple math, I didn’t look anything up, Rich said 5 yrs, x 162 games = 810, overall he didn’t get a continued chance,...go O’s...
Uranus doesn’t belong up here...go O’s...
Urias, damn spellcheck...lol....go O’s...
You really need to fix that code on your phone's spell check. :)
Not surprised by the Kremer move. After Santander,Hays he may have been the most disappointing Oriole. Get Kremer away from Severino and this desperate situation here and maybe just maybe things will click. Hey he might even now cross paths with Rutschman. Nice about Alex Wells but it's Tyler I'm anxious to see in the rotation. Jannis at 33 had nothing more to prove. It's not like his curveball or fastball or change-up weren't working the other night--he is what he is. He had his chance showed them EVERYTHING he's got and it wasn't pretty. Nice story but time to go. Sisco--oh what coulda been. He had his chance(pun intended),degressed offensively,looked lethargic in his attempt. No future here. Now we need to see similar moves with Franco,Valaika,Stevie ,and Stewart(maybe). Unless your name is Means,Mancini,Mullins I wouldn't get too comfortable now.
Sisco looked like a whooped pup, can’t argue overall, if you’re not one of the M & M guys, I wouldn’t get to comfortable...go O’s...
Honestly, I know Mancini belongs, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised he gets traded, don’t want to see him go, but that seems to be how Mikey rolls...go O’s...
Love Mancini, but curious about his recent warning track power? I’m seeing some deep fly ball outs.
Am I correct about 4 HR in the last 30 games?
I believe you’re correct...doesn’t seem to have been the same since getting hit in the elbow twice...go O’s...
The Jannis fiasco, Orial, was a cruel farce. Management knew "everything" he had, as you put it, and brought him up anyway. To what purpose? To humiliate him? To show the fans they despise that there really are worse pitchers in the organization that the ones they roll out every night? Suppose he had been taken out after one scoreless inning. What would amyone have said then? I can think of no rational explanation for this misadventure. But that is true for many of the team's random moves. It's just that this one seems a bit more heartless than some others.
Dang, I was really hoping Jannis would get more of a chance to sort himself out.