Tyler Wells wants to be a starting pitcher.
Well, of course he does. Most pitchers prefer starting over relieving. It’s a more glamorous job, and usually a higher-paying one, too.
But for Wells, who won the last spot in the Orioles’ rotation in spring training, his desire to be a starter is more about the pressure than the prestige.
“For me, I think that being in control of a game is one of the biggest responsibilities you can have,” Wells said as spring training neared an end. “I’m a guy who likes to put a lot of responsibility on my back.”
Wells, who will start his first game of the season Sunday, admits that hitting 100 mph fastballs and physics-defying offspeed pitches might be the hardest part of playing baseball. But for pitchers, there’s no greater challenge than being a starter. Taking the ball every fifth day, week after week, and facing a lineup multiple times, throwing upwards of 100 pitches and having a “W” or “L” next to your name — that’s hard.
“It’s a big personality thing of mine. It’s very important to me,” Wells said. “I have high expectations and high goals for myself each time I take that mound. To me, it gives you something to always work for. You’re never going to be at a point where you’re just like, ‘Oh, this is going to be easy.’ This is the hardest thing you can probably do in the game of baseball is being a starting pitcher and surviving and making a career out of it.
“It’s very difficult, and that’s what makes it so fulfilling.”
The decision by the Orioles’ brass in late March to have Wells, a 6-foot-8 right-hander, as their No. 5 starter over Grayson Rodriguez, the organization’s top pitching prospect and a consensus top 10 prospect in baseball, was controversial. However, that controversy ended before Wells even started his first game.
On Monday, starting pitcher Kyle Bradish exited in the second inning after taking a 104 mph line drive off his right foot. The injury had a cascading effect that impacted both Wells and Rodriguez.
Wells volunteered to pitch in relief Monday, a day ahead of his scheduled start and an outing that made him unavailable for the rest of the Orioles’ series against the Texas Rangers. That opened a spot in the rotation, and with the Orioles needing an arm, they called up Rodriguez to start Wednesday’s game in his home state of Texas — with scores of family and friends in attendance.
Both Wells and Rodriguez pitched well, but Wells’ performance is the best of any Orioles pitcher so far this season — not just in his stat line, but in the importance to the team.
With a relief corps that was already fatigued, the Orioles needed a herculean performance after Bradish went down to win the game and save the bullpen. Wells did just that, pitching five innings of scoreless, no-hit relief in the 2-0 win. While Wells was one of Baltimore’s best starters before his oblique injury in July, the outing against the Rangers was the best of his big league career.
The selfless move from Wells earned him effusive praise from his teammates and manager Brandon Hyde, who called him a “team guy.” After Kyle Gibson pitched seven innings of two-run ball the following day, he used his first answer to commend Wells, rather than talk about his own outing.
Gibson said the risk Wells took when he offered to pitch in relief Monday shouldn’t be ignored. The end of spring training didn’t conclude the competition for the rotation. A bad first outing could have put Wells — fair or unfair — a step behind before he even got his first start.
“There’s something on the line behind the scenes every time a guy’s on the mound,” Gibson said. “That put himself possibly in a really tough spot. Obviously, he doesn’t get to start, he doesn’t stay on his routine, mentally he wasn’t locked in when [Hyde] asked him. That puts him in a really tough spot, and I think that shows a lot about his routine and how he stays prepared.”
It appeared entering the spring that Wells was on the outside looking in of the Orioles’ rotation. The repeated comments from executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias during the offseason about how he envisioned Rodriguez breaking camp in the rotation made it look as if Wells’ future was back in the bullpen. But on the final day of spring training, Elias said that Wells simply “earned” the spot in the rotation over Rodriguez — a tough decision that was ultimately made moot a week later when Bradish, who is on the 15-day injured list, went down.
However, the Orioles could be heading toward that same crossroad — Rodriguez or Wells — in 10 days when Bradish is eligible to return off the IL, something that Bradish and Hyde both expect to occur as early as possible.
Wells also has big league experience in the bullpen. The year before he recorded a 4.25 ERA in 103 2/3 innings as a starter in 2022, Wells was perhaps better as a reliever in 2021 as he posted superior underlying metrics.
“Tyler Wells did a great job for us last year. There were a lot of nights I took him out before I wanted to because he was pitching so well,” Hyde said, noting how Wells had a pitch limit in his second year back from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery while also transitioning back to a starter. “I think Tyler has the ability to pitch, which is nice. He’s got multiple pitches he can throw for a strike, he has fastball command and he can get righties and lefties out.”
Wells said throughout camp that he wasn’t paying attention to the competition. Now that he’s won a spot in the rotation to begin the season, he’s still ignoring how secure his place in it really is.
“I was pushing that stuff to the side. It isn’t up to me to say what I deserve and what I don’t,” Wells said last week. “Do I think Grayson is a great talent and do I think he’s going to be a great major league pitcher? Absolutely. But at the same time, too, if I’m focusing on what people are saying and not what I can control, it would be pointless for me to even be here.”
Athletics at Orioles
Monday, 6:35 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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