Baltimore Orioles: Former Teammates Battle in Boston
Tyler Wilson and Eduardo Rodriguez were former teammates in the Baltimore Orioles system, but they found themselves pitching against each other in Boston on Thursday evening.
On this occasion it was Wilson who got the win by pitching eight shutout innings, whereas Rodriguez took the loss in going 4.1 innings and giving up five runs. The final score was 5-1, with some big left-handed batter whose name escapes me getting a home run with two outs in the ninth inning for Boston.
Rodriguez and Wilson were often together in the Orioles minor league system, that is, before the trade deadline deal in 2014 that sent Eduardo to the Red Sox for Andrew Miller. Whereas Miller was great in his two months with the O’s, it has looked since then that the Sox were going to get the best of this situation, as Rodriguez put up some good numbers last year.
But he has struggled more this year, as was evident last night. He now has a 6.97 ERA for the season, while Wilson saw his drop to 4.16. Both are learning on the job.
It is interesting to see their paths on the same teams in 2013 and 2014. Rodriguez looked to be ahead of Wilson at Frederick in 2013. There he started 14 games with a 2.85 ERA, whereas Wilson started 11 games with a 4.22 ERA. However, both also moved up to pitch at AA Bowie. There Wilson had the better numbers with a 3.83 ERA in 16 starts, compared to Rodriguez’ 4.22 in 11 starts.
Clearly in 2014 it was Wilson who had the better year. Though both had 16 starts in Bowie, Wilson had the better ERA at 4.38 to 5.44 for Rodriguez. Beyond that, Wilson moved up to AAA Norfolk for 12 starts and posted better numbers with a 3.86 ERA and WHIP of 1.121. Out the door went Rodriguez.
Two years later and they are facing each other at Fenway Park.
It was a very fine outing for Wilson, even as we note that quite a few balls were hit hard and the Orioles defense had a highlights reel sort of game. But the idea of a good defense is to position well and make plays, while the pitcher pounds the strike zone with a variety of quality pitches. It works.
Beyond the field of play, for my money, Tyler Wilson is the best interview on the team. He is a deeply thoughtful and analytical player. This is a guy who is going to learn and going to figure out how to maximize his ability. The Orioles need to keep running him out there, and in the end they are going to have an effective mid-rotation starter.
Next: Evaluating Jonathan Schoop so far in 2016
The road trip to Toronto and Boston ended at 3-4. We would have rather seen one of the Toronto games go the other way and make it 4-3. But I think we have seen the resurgence of a Blue Jays team that honestly should be the favored unit to win the AL East. We’ll see what happens with that, starting tonight in Baltimore. A series win would be a good thing right now for sure.