Questions about Orioles’ bullpen| MAILBAG

Question: Wanted to know your take on how the Orioles’ organization is treating Albert Suárez with a stellar ERA of 2.75 and the last few outings have been better than most of the rest of the bullpen. I assume that the front office does all the movements back and forth, including designated for assignment, but we are still hanging on to Andrew Kittredge, current 8.38. The Orioles DFA’d Dietrich Enns with 3.94 ERA and brought up Nick Raquet from Norfolk with a ERA of 10.13. Where is the sense in all this? Can you make me understand the thought process? From: Douglas Garner

Answer: Douglas, I got a similar question from Jeff Banks. The problem is two-fold. The Orioles have gotten too many short starts, meaning the bullpen has had to pitch many more innings than expected. That means that the team has had to use many more relievers than it’s wanted to, necessitating many transactions.

Enns, Kittredge and Suárez don’t have options. The relievers who have options are Yennier Cano, Anthony Nunez, Tyler Wells and Grant Wolfram, and I don’t think you want to option them, even though Wells was briefly optioned to Norfolk.

Enns has a $2.625 million contract, and the Orioles are thinking that he won’t get claimed. If he does, the claiming team would have to assume the contract, which isn’t cheap for a reliever. If he clears waivers, he can stay in the Orioles’ organization, and you’ll probably see him again.

Suárez has passed through waivers without being claimed multiple times, and the Orioles are thinking he will again.

As for Kittredge, he has a long track record, and he’s being paid $ 9 million and a $1 million buyout this year. He’s had excellent back-to-back outings against the Tampa Bay Rays. If the team were to release him, they’d be on the hook for more than $6 million, and they think he has value.

Raquet was only brought up for a day because the Orioles needed a fresh arm, and Shane Baz pitched seven innings, saving the bullpen.

Question: Why is Keegan Akin still on this baseball team? Every time he comes on my TV screen, I immediately feel the urge to turn it off. Help me understand, please. From: Nick Newbold

Answer: Nick, other than this year, Keegan Akin’s statistics haven’t been bad. He’s a versatile reliever, and while his ERA was 12.66 entering Wednesday night’s game, 12 of the 15 runs he’s allowed came in lopsided games that were already decided. He gave up six runs in each.

Akin can pitch multiple innings, which not all relievers can, and he can serve as an opener.  

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.