Baltimore Orioles: Orioles hope an improved Gausman turns rotation around
After Kevin Gausman turned things around during the second half of the season, the Baltimore Orioles hope he can boost the rotation in 2017.
One of the biggest obstacles that could keep the Baltimore Orioles out of the postseason in 2017 is their questionable starting rotation.
Last season the Orioles barely made it into the postseason as one of the two Wild Card teams competing in a win-or-go home series. Unfortunately, they were the first team that ended up going home.
While making it as a Wild Card team isn’t anything to be ashamed of, the Orioles could have prevented the Wild Card situation altogether had their rotation pitched better. Their rotation had a combined 4.72 ERA and ranked 24th among the 30 Major League teams.
The Orioles actually lost pitching depth this offseason when they traded Yovani Gallardo to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for outfielder Seth Smith.
While the Orioles are interested in adding pitching depth, they believe their rotation is better than anticipated due to the second-half emergence of Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy.
Gausman showed signs of brilliance when he pitched to a 1.59 ERA from August 18 to September 14. Judging from Gausman’s impressive turnaround, the Orioles believe he’s poised for bigger things in 2017.
“He’s got a little bit more seasoning to him,” Orioles center fielder Adam Jones said. “He’s got a lot more innings as a starter. You see the second half, he turned the corner and just started lighting up that strike zone and using his defense. I know the first half, we didn’t get him the wins and the run support, but his numbers were still pretty strong and it just shows you what he can do.”
Bundy on the other hand didn’t get to pitch in the Orioles starting rotation until after the All-Star break. Bundy went 8-5 with a 4.52 ERA in 25 starts. But in the end, he’s glad he was able to finish the season healthy. Even if it meant the Orioles making a first round exit in the postseason.
“It was disappointing to go home from the playoffs so early but, from a personal standpoint, I thought it was a success for me just to get through the year without any setbacks,” he said.
While the Orioles feel confident about their ace Chris Tillman, the back of the bullpen is a bigger issue. Ubaldo Jimenez went 8-12 with a 5.44 ERA in 29 games and Wade Miley went 2-5 with a 6.17 ERA after he was traded from the Seattle Mariners.
That’s why the Orioles are relying on Gausman and Bundy to bridge that gap between Tillman and the end of the rotation. If you’re worried either will face restrictions, manager Buck Showalter said there will be no innings limit for either Gausman and Bundy.
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“We’ll watch those guys but I don’t want guys thinking about innings limits,” Showalter said. “Every pitcher is different. We monitor all our pitchers carefully but if people think they can give you a number on how many innings a guy is going to pitch at this time of year, it’s a crock. These guys are human beings, not machines.”
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