Orioles observations on ‘big’ hopes for Dean Kremer, ‘fun change’ for Ryan O’Hearn and more vs. Rays

Dean Kremer started his fourth game Friday in the Orioles’ 7-2 loss to the Rays, progressing into the fifth inning for the first time.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — After his breakout 2022 season, Dean Kremer struggled to begin 2023. The right-hander posted a 6.67 ERA in April, allowed batters to hit .280 off him in the first half and surrendered 10 home runs in June.

But Kremer bounced back in the second half to be one of the most consistent starters in the American League. His 3.25 ERA over the season’s final three months, including stellar starts in the Orioles’ two clinch victories in September, helped lead Baltimore to an AL East title.

The 28-year-old is entering his fifth big league season — and third as a consistent member of Baltimore’s rotation — with the hope of building off his second half, maintaining his reputation as a steady starter manager Brandon Hyde and the Orioles can rely on. That’s especially crucial with right-hander Kyle Bradish, who is out with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament, and left-hander John Means, who is a month behind as he recovers from his late-season elbow flareup, beginning the year on the injured list.

“We expect big things out of Dean,” Hyde said. “Dean has the ability to be a really good starter this year, and he showed that the second half last year.”

Kremer started his fourth game this spring Friday in the Orioles’ 7-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Charlotte Sports Park, progressing into the fifth inning for the first time and throwing 71 pitches. He struggled early — giving up a run in the first and allowing five base runners, including two via a hit-by-pitch, in the first two frames — but he bounced back to retire the final 10 batters he faced. He ended his afternoon with just one run allowed in 4 1/3 innings.

Batters hit .316 off him with runners in scoring position last season, but Kremer stranded four runners in the first two frames. He escaped a first-and-third, one-out jam in the first and then didn’t allow a run in the second after allowing the first two batters to reach base.

“I’ve felt decent for the most part the whole spring,” said Kremer, who has a 4.38 ERA in 12 1/3 spring innings. “Every outing I’ll have an inning where I just won’t feel the same, but I’m sure that’s everybody.”

Perhaps his best pitch of the day was a well-spotted, back-door sinker to strike out Rays center fielder Jose Siri, who hit 25 homers last season. Kremer doubled the usage of his sinker last season to nearly 15% amongst his six-pitch mix, using it almost exclusively against right-handed hitters.

“It’s another weapon to have if I need it,” Kremer said. “It’s about being able to execute everything with two strikes, and the more weapons the better.”

Kremer, who might start only one more game this spring, said he is “happy with where I’m at” with less than two weeks before opening day. Kremer was the Orioles’ No. 2 starter to open last season but is expected to slot in behind ace Corbin Burnes and flamethrower Grayson Rodriguez. Hyde said the Orioles are currently discussing how to line up the rotation after Burnes, who will start opening day March 28 against the Los Angeles Angels at Camden Yards.

“I feel ready to compete,” Kremer said.

Right-hander Albert Suárez, who was an early surprise at Orioles camp with his improved velocity after spending the past several years playing in Japan and Korea, followed Kremer and pitched well for 1 2/3 scoreless before running into trouble in the seventh. He allowed five runs on four hits while walking one and recording just two outs in the frame.

Of the 12 innings Suárez has appeared, he’s allowed runs in just two of them. But in addition to the merry-go-round seventh Friday, Suárez gave up three runs in the first inning of his previous outing.

Also in the loss, which dropped the Orioles to a still-Grapefruit League-best 16-5-1, infielder Jordan Westburg continued his hot spring with a 2-for-4 day, including a double to left-center field and a scorching lineout to left field. Kolten Wong, who is competing for a roster spot as the Orioles’ always-coveted left-handed hitting second baseman, tripled in the fourth and scored on Ryan McKenna’s sacrifice fly.

Jackson Holliday, who could thwart Wong’s roster attempt by making it at just 20 years old, went 1-for-3 with a soft single off right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa in his first at-bat. Coby Mayo, an infield prospect making a roster push despite an outside shot, provided the other RBI for the Orioles with a groundout in the eighth to score Connor Norby.

O’Hearn can chill

A year ago, the thought of Ryan O’Hearn being a lock to make the Orioles’ 2024 opening day roster would have been inconceivable. That’s what happens when you are coming off a season as one of baseball’s biggest surprises.

O’Hearn was considered a candidate to win MLB’s Comeback Player of the Year Award, not because he was returning from an injury, but because he had broken out after years of wasting away on the Kansas City Royals’ bench. The left-handed slugger was one of Baltimore’s best hitters last season, posting an .801 OPS across 368 plate appearances.

O’Hearn was competing for a roster spot last spring as a left-handed bench bat, but he lost that battle. He made a couple trips from Triple-A Norfolk to Baltimore and back early in the season before seizing control of a consistent role as a middle-of-the-order bat against right-handed starters. Now, O’Hearn isn’t competing for a spot or a role. At 30 years old, he is experiencing his first true spring training in which he can work on his mechanics and mental approach without worrying about results.

“It’s a fun change for me because I feel like my whole career I’ve been fighting for one of those last few spots,” O’Hearn said. “It’s been awesome. Still trying to keep up the intensity and get myself ready to go, obviously.

“The last few days, the last week or so, I’m going to crank up the intensity and treat it like a regular game. I feel good.”

Hyde said he hopes the assurance that O’Hearn is a lock to break camp in the majors allows the first baseman to “relax” and prepare for the year the way a veteran should.

“He’s earned it. He deserves it,” Hyde said. “He’s one of the leaders on our team, also. I love the way he goes about his business. He’s a total professional.”

O’Hearn is far from one of the biggest names on the Orioles’ talented roster, but he considers it a privilege to be a leader tasked with helping guide Baltimore’s young players.

“There are only a few guys over the age of 30, and I happen to be one of those guys,” he said. “It’s been fun to have more of a veteran role and be able to speak more freely in team meetings and stuff like that. It’s obviously an honor to have stuck around the game this long to be that presence, so I’m enjoying that.”

Long man musings

In a perfect world, a pitcher like Suárez — or, perhaps more likely, Bruce Zimmermann or Julio Teheran — would be in Baltimore’s bullpen as a traditional long reliever who could be a spot starter if needed. But, as Hyde noted before Friday’s game, the world is not perfect.

“You’d love to have someone down there that could go three or four innings,” Hyde said. “I don’t know how realistic that is.”

In theory, one of the roster battles at Orioles spring training is for a long reliever. But it’s possible, for several reasons, that Baltimore goes without a pseudo sixth starter or someone who can cover more than two innings in relief — at least to begin the season.

The Orioles strangely have five days off in late March and April, including three of the season’s first 12 games. Given that schedule, the Orioles might not even need a fifth starter — nevertheless a long reliever — for the first few weeks of the season.

“We have all these ridiculous off days in April and one in June. It doesn’t make a ton of sense,” Hyde said. “You have to look at the schedule, you have to map out where you’re going to need more help than others.”

It’s also important, Hyde said, to keep the club’s starting pitching depth in Triple-A “stretched out” and able to start games in Baltimore if needed. For example, last season, Bradish was placed on the IL early in the season after taking a line drive off the leg, forcing Tyler Wells, then the No. 5 starter, to come in relief and Rodriguez to be promoted from Triple-A.

The Orioles didn’t have a traditional long reliever for much of 2023, getting by with several relievers who could instead cover two innings. Yennier Cano, Mike Baumann, Danny Coulombe, Dillon Tate and Keegan Akin all have ample experience doing that.

“I think the ideal world is you have as many guys in your bullpen that can go as many innings as possible,” Hyde said.

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