Baltimore Orioles and Dan Duquette are committed to a deep bullpen, but creating a shut-down back-end of the bullpen is all the rage right now in the MLB.
TheBaltimore Oriolessigning ofLogan Ondrusekis not going to get World Series tickets printed. In fact, it probably won’t sell any season tickets.
But what it does do is continues to give the Orioles major-league experienced depth in the bullpen.
The bullpen is currently made up ofZach Britton,Darren O’Day,Brad Brach,Mychal GivensandDonnie Hart. Let’s consider those five as safe to be on the Opening Day roster in 201.
That leaves probably three more spots, as the Baltimore Orioles will probably start the season with a 13-man bullpen due to off days, short starts, etc.
More from Baltimore Orioles
- What other Baltimore Orioles Offseason Storylines will you be interested in seeing?
- Baltimore Orioles to Face Numerous Playoff Contenders Down the Stretch
- Baltimore Orioles Showing Encouraging Signs During Recent Wins
- The Baltimore Orioles and the Expanded September Roster
- Orioles Josh Rogers Expectations in his Major League Debut
However, the Orioles’ staff has hinted that they don’t feel thatYovani GallardoorWade Mileyare good fits in the bullpen because of how long it takes them to get ready.
So, to make things easy, let’s go with a five-man rotation of the top, with Ubaldo the odd man out. This prevents trying to predict trades, injuries, etc.
But, let’s keep the eight-man bullpen, predicting only three bench players.
Ubaldo is the long man, with the five listed above. That leaves two spots, one for another swingman/long reliever and one for another pitcher.
Options on the 40-man roster areJayson Aquino,Parker Bridwell,Oliver Drake,Jason Garcia,Joe Gunkel,Chris Lee,Jesus Liranzo,T.J. McFarland, Ondrusek,Logan Verrett,Tyler WilsonandMike Wright.
The first thing to look at is who is out of options. Oliver Drake is out of options, as is T.J. McFarland. Otherwise, everyone else on this list has options remaining.
It would make it easy for McFarland to be the other long man, as a lefty in a right-handed heavy rotation. And Drake pitched well enough in 2016 that he could prove himself to be a capable other option in a deep bullpen.
Other teams, looking in the AL East, have not bought into the deep bullpen. Sure, the Yankees had Betances, Miller, and Chapman in 2016, and will have Betances and Chapman in 2017. But until they reacquiredAdam Warren, most of their guys in the bullpen were people who had very little major league experience, or were put in the bullpen because they were not effective as a starter (Luis Severino).
The same goes for the Blue Jays, which was part of the reason their bullpen was so bad to start the year.Aaron LoupandBrett Cecilstruggled a little, and until they started to rely onJoe Biaginiand acquiredJason GrilliandJoaquin Benoit, the bullpen was bad.
Tampa Bay for years has just thrown players in the bullpen and hope something sticks, and it has not worked.
Only the Red Sox have a bullpen that is strong throughout but going into 2017 that may not be the case withKoji Ueharaleaving for Chicago, and the health ofCarson Smithup in the air.
Next: 5 Greatest Home Run Hitters in Orioles' History
So while these moves may not appease the fan base, don’t discount them. A strong bullpen from top to bottom is an essential part of the Baltimore Orioles’ success year in and year out.
Add us as a preferred source onGoogleLoading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations