BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
SERIES-LY: The Orioles defeated the Tigers, 5-3, in Sunday’s series finale to clinch their sixth consecutive series victory…Marks their most consecutive series wins since the team won eight in a row from July 21 to August 13, 2014.
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won 11 of their last 13 games, 13 of their last 16, and 15 of their last 19…The 19-9 record is tied for the third-best start to begin a season in team history (since 1954), also done in 1992, 1997, 2005, and 2012, and trailing only the 20-8 starts in 1969 and 1970.
Baltimore owns the second-best record in the AL, trailing only Tampa Bay (23-6); the O’s .679 winning percentage the third-best in MLB, behind Tampa Bay (.793) and Pittsburgh (.690).
Last season, the Birds didn’t reach 19 wins until the 46th game on May 27; they did not reach 20 wins until the 48th game on May 28.
The 18 wins in April marked the most in team history (since 1954) and the most in a single month by the O’s since winning 19 in June 2016.
AGAINST THE ROYALS: Baltimore and Kansas City begin a six-game season series tonight with the first of three games at Kauffman Stadium…The Orioles will host the Royals in Baltimore for three games from June 9-11…The Birds went 4-3 against the Royals in 2022, going 2-1 in Baltimore and 2-2 in Kansas City.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Orioles are currently on an 11-day, 10-game road trip, their longest of the season, which began Thursday night in Detroit…The O’s went 3-1 against the Tigers and will now play three games at Kansas City from May 2-4 and three games at Atlanta from May 5-7.
ON THE ATTACK: Baltimore is batting .256/.335/.426 (238-for-929) with 50 doubles, three triples, 34 home runs, 147 runs scored, 142 RBI, and 109 walks to start the season…The O’s rank fifth in the AL and ninth in MLB in runs scored after finishing 10th in the AL and 20th in MLB with 674 runs in 2022…The Birds rank among AL teams in walks (1st), on-base percentage (4th), slugging percentage (4th), OPS (4th, .761), and batting average (5th).
The Orioles lead the AL and rank fourth in MLB with 4.03 pitches per plate appearance; the O’s have five players in the top 17 in the AL in pitches per plate appearance: Adley Rutschman (7th, 4.24), Anthony Santander (10th, 4.21), Cedric Mullins (13th, 4.17), Gunnar Henderson (15th, 4.16), and Adam Frazier (17th, 4.13).
HIP HIP JORGE: Jorge Mateo has scored a run in a career-high seven straight games since April 23, the longest active streak in MLB…He is batting .383/.415/.745 (18-for-47) with five doubles, four homers, 14 runs scored, 12 RBI, three walks, one hit-by-pitch, and five stolen bases in 15 games since April 11…Among MLB players with at least 80 plate appearances this season, Mateo ranks third in slugging percentage (.667), tied for third in OPS (1.062), and fifth in batting average (.347)… He currently ranks tied for third in the AL and tied for sixth in MLB with 1.6 fWAR, per FanGraphs.
WELLS, WELLS, WELLS: Tyler Wells leads MLB with a 0.72 WHIP, having allowed just three walks and 18 hits in 29.0 innings of work…He ranks 12th in the AL with a 2.79 ERA (9 ER/29.0 IP)…His 2.9 percent walk rate ranks in the top five percent of MLB, per Statcast…His four-seam fastball has a Spin Rate of 2,465, which ranks in the top eight percent of MLB, per Statcast.
WHAT A RELIEF: The Baltimore bullpen owns a 2.86 ERA (35 ER/110.0 IP) this season, the best in MLB…According to STATS, the Orioles have not led the league in bullpen ERA since 1973 (2.52).
THE CANO SHOW: Yennier Cano picked up his second save Sunday after working 1.1 perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts…Tossed a perfect eighth inning in game two on Saturday in Detroit to break the O’s record (since 1954) of consecutive hitless at-bats to begin a season…He’s now gone 32 straight at-bats without surrendering a hit, the most by an MLB pitcher since Milwaukee’s Josh Hader did not allow a hit in his first 35 at-bats to begin the 2020 season…Cano tied the team record by setting down the first 24 batters he faced to open 2023, joining Fred Holdsworth, who set the record from July 17-24, 1976.
Cano’s sinker has a run value of -6, tied for the 10th-best pitch in MLB this season, per Statcast; the -8.4 run value per 100 pitches on that pitch is the second-best in MLB behind Toronto’s Adam Cimber’s sinker (-8.7).
NEED FOR SPEED: The O’s have 30 stolen bases, third in MLB behind the Pirates (41 SB) and Guardians (35 SB)…The O’s have been caught stealing five times for an 85.7 percent success rate, fourth in the AL and seventh in MLB…Cedric Mullins is tied with three others for second in MLB with 11 stolen bases this season, while Jorge Mateo is tied for sixth with 10…The duo’s 21 combined steals are more than 18 MLB teams; two teams, the Rockies (6 SB) and Twins (4 SB), are yet to reach double digits.
Mullins is the only MLB players with double-digit steals who has not been caught; Mullins’ 11 successful stolen bases are the most to begin a season by an Oriole since Brian Roberts and Corey Patterson, who each swiped their first 13 attempts, an O’s record to start a campaign, in 2006.
STARTING PITCHER – #68 TYLER WELLS – RHP
QUICK HITS: Slated to make his sixth appearance (fifth start) of the season, third appearance (second start) on the road, and sixth career appearance (third start) tonight against the Royals…Went 7-7 with a 4.25 ERA (49 ER/103.2 IP) in 23 starts for the O’s in 2022…Made his first career start on April 10, 2022 at Tampa Bay; dealt the loss after allowing four runs on three hits (1 HR) with two walks and two strikeouts in 1.2 innings…Did not walk a batter in five consecutive starts from April 21 to May 15, becoming the only Oriole starting pitcher in franchise history (since 1954) to not walk a batter in five consecutive games…Allowed three earned runs-or-fewer in 17 straight starts from April 16 to July 15…Ended the 2022 season on the 15-day Injured List with right shoulder inflammation…Originally selected by Minnesota in the 15th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Cal State, San Bernardino before being taken by the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft on December 10, 2020.
LAST TIME OUT: Earned his first win of the season on April 26 vs. Boston, allowing two runs on four hits (1 HR) with one walk and a career-high-tying seven strikeouts (also 7/3/22 at MIN) in 5.2 innings; left with a runner on first base… Struck out the side in order for the second time in his career in the top of the fourth inning (also T4, 5/18/21 vs. TB)…Threw a career-high 102 pitches, 68 strikes.
WATCH ME WHIP: Wells posted a 0.72 WHIP in April, tied for the seventh-lowest mark by an O’s pitcher in a calendar month in club history (since 1954) and lowest since Scott McGregor recorded a franchise-record 0.61 WHIP in May 1978… Wells has issued just three walks and 18 hits in 29.0 innings through his first five appearances (four starts) this season…Entering play today, he ranks among qualified leaders in WHIP (1st, 0.72), opponent on-base percentage (T-1st, .200), BB/9 (3rd, 0.93), OPS (7th, .514), and batting average (8th, .176).
CAREER AGAINST KANSAS CITY: Making his sixth career appearance (third start) against the Royals…Sports a 2-0 record with a 2.51 ERA (4 ER/14.1 IP) and one save in five career games against Kansas City…Earned the win in his last start against the Royals on June 11, 2022, allowing three runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 6.0 innings at Kauffman Stadium…Has logged a quality start in each of his last two outings against Kansas City.
CAREER AGAINST AL CENTRAL: Making his 19th career appearance (10th start) against the AL Central…Owns a 4-3 record with a 3.43 ERA (22 R/57.2 IP) and one save through his first 18 career games against the division…Made seven starts against the AL Central in 2022, going 3-2 with a 4.24 ERA (16 ER/34.0 IP) with three quality starts…Did not factor into the decision in his last start against the division on April 21 vs. Detroit, despite working a career-high 7.0 scoreless innings on three hits with one walk and five punchouts.
ROAD WARRIOR: In 33 career road appearances (13 GS), Wells has gone 5-5 with a 2.98 ERA (30 ER/90.2 IP) and two saves…Has made two road appearances (one start) this season, going 0-0 with a 2.61 ERA (3 ER/10.1 IP)…Made 12 starts away from home in 2022, sporting a 5-5 record with a 3.81 ERA (24 ER/56.2 IP) and 41 strikeouts.
LOVING LEFTIES: Opposing left-handed batters are slashing .184/.216/.317 (54-for-293) against Wells through his first 72 career games (27 GS)…He has recorded more career strikeouts against lefties (79) than hits allowed (54)…Owns the fifth-lowest on-base percentage allowed to lefties (.216) in MLB since the start of the 2021 season (min. 230 BFP), while his batting average against left-handed batters (.184) is tied for the 13th-lowest in the majors in that span (min. 230 BFP).
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
GETAWAY DAY GETS AWAY: The Royals completed their 10-game road trip with an 8-4 loss to the Twins at Target Field on Sunday, in which starting pitcher Brady Singer was tagged for a career-high-tying 8 runs on 5 hits in 2.2 innings…Brady cruised through the 1st and 2nd innings on a total of 24 pitches, and struck out two of the first three batters to begin the 3rd…but with one on and 2 outs, six straight Twins reached safely vs. Singer—including 4 hits, a walk and a hit batter—forcing his exit after 42 pitches in the inning…Josh Staumont allowed his first two batters to reach on an RBI single and a strikeout/wild pitch, before fanning Jorge Polanco, who made the 2nd and 3rd outs in the frame…the Royals outscored the Twins 4-0 from that point on, including a run off starter Sonny Gray, who entered with only 2 earned runs allowed in 29.0 innings… the Royals stranded multiple baserunners in the 3rd, 7th and 9th innings and went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, including a 2-run single by Vinnie Pasquantino in the 9th, his team-high 3rd hit of the game.
Royals pitchers recorded a season-high 14 strikeouts on Sunday vs. the Twins, including 4 strikeouts in Minnesota’s 7-run 3rd inning…Singer struck out 2, as did Staumont, including 1 that allowed the batter to reach on a wild pitch…it marked just the third time in club history that Royals pitchers had a 4-strikeout frame, following May 3, 2017 vs. the White Sox (Nate Karns) and Sept. 3, 1996 at Toronto (Kevin Appier).
ROSTER MOVES: The Royals announced today that infielder Maikel Garcia and catcher Freddy Fermin have been recalled from Triple-A Omaha…Garcia, who hit .318 (7-for-22) in 9 games with the Royals last season, hit .242 (23-for-95) with 17 runs, 16 walks and 22 strikeouts in 24 games to begin this season with Omaha… Fermin, who recorded his 1st big league hit with the Royals on April 23 in Anaheim, has hit .304 (14-for-46) with 5 HR, 11 walks and only 9 strikeouts at Omaha in 14 games this season, with a whopping 1.122 OPS.
In a pair of corresponding roster moves, outfielder Franmil Reyes was optioned to Triple-A Omaha and infielder Nicky Lopez was placed on the 10-day Injured List retroactive to April 30 with appendicitis.
Additionally, left-handed pitcher Daniel Lynch began a rehab assignment today with Double-A Northwest Arkansas…Lynch, who was placed on the 15-day IL on March 30 with a left rotator cuff strain, allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk today over 2.1 innings, with 6 of his 7 outs coming via strikeout.
TRIP TRACKER: The Royals went 3-7 on their 10-game trip to Anaheim (1-2), Arizona (1-2) and Minnesota (1-3), in which two of their three opponents were in 1st place and have a combined record of 48-39 (.552)…despite the stiff competition, 5 of the Royals 7 losses on the trip were by 1 or 2 runs, and they mounted late-inning comebacks in 2 of their 3 wins…on April 22 in Anaheim, the Royals hung a 5-spot in the 9th to erase a 2-run deficit, and on Saturday in Minneapolis, they scored in the 8th and 9th vs. a good Twins bullpen to secure a 3-2 win.
The Royals produced and allowed exactly 83 hits on the trip, and out-hit their opponent in 5 of the last 8 games, but went only 2-6 during that stretch…they are only 3-5 when recording more hits than they allow.
Royals pitchers struck out 85 batters in 83.0 innings on the trip, including a season high 14 strikeouts on Sunday vs. the Twins…they held opponents to a .228 average (18-for-79) in scoring situations on the trip.
The bullpen was a bright spot on the trip, posting a 2.68 ERA (12 ER in 40.1 IP) while allowing 1 run or fewer in 7 of 10 games…that ERA ranks 6th in the Majors since the start of the last trip on April 21, and includes a 1.91 ERA (6 ER in 28.1 IP) over 7 games on the last two stops in Arizona and Minnesota.
Royals relievers combined for 52 strikeouts (11.6 K/9) and just 10 walks (2.2 BB/9) on the 10-game trip.
OLI MOLY!: Edward Olivares played in 9 of the 10 games on the last road trip, and recorded in hit in each game he played, a stretch in which he batted .361 (13-for-36) with 7 extra-base hits and a 1.064 OPS…his 9-game hit streak is tied for the 3rd-longest active run in the Majors, trailing only Robbie Grossman (11) and Masataka Yoshida (11), and it matches his career best hit streak, which he did twice last season from April 27-June 24 and July 14-Sept. 22, although both of those streaks were interrupted by stints on the Injured List.
Olivares led the Royals on the 10-game road trip in runs (8), hits (13), doubles (5) and extra-base hits (7).
HOME: Following a 3-7 road trip, the Royal return home tonight to begin a season-long, 10-game road trip vs. the O’s (3 games), A’s (3) and White Sox (4)…the Royals are 1-12 at Kauffman Stadium this season, which is the worst home record in the Majors…since their lone home win, a 9-5 victory over Toronto on April 3, the Royals have lost 9 straight home games, matching the 4th-longest home skid in club history, trailing 11-game losing streaks from May 6-June 4, 2013 and Sept. 21, 2011-April 23, 2012, and a 10-game slide from April 10-28 (Game 1), 2018…the Royals have been outscored 81-32 (-49) in their 13 home games and have been out-homered 19-7.
Yesterday’s off day was the only break in the schedule for the Royals during a stretch of 27 days, which began with the start of the last trip on April 21 and will run through the next road trip, on May 17.
APRIL SHOWERS: The Royals are thrilled to turn the page on April, a month that has not been kind to them in recent years…including their Opening Day loss on March 30, the Royals are 7-22, matching the worst 29-game start in club history, previously done in 2005 and 2006…Kansas City’s 22 losses are its most ever for the “month” of March/April, and their 21 losses in April alone match the franchise record for losses in any month, a mark set in August 1999 and matched in August 2005, May 2006 and June 2018…the schedule makers haven’t done the Royals any favors either, as seven of their eight opponents—including Baltimore—are over .500 and have a combined record of 132-97 (.576), and five of those eight opponents are in 1st or 2nd place of their division.
VS. ORIOLES: The Royals will begin this season-long, 10-game homestand tonight with the 1st of 3 games vs. the Baltimore Orioles, who have won 11 of their last 13 games following an 8-7 start…the Royals are winless in their last four series vs. the O’s—with 2 losses and 2 splits—including a 3-4 record last season, when they lost 2 of 3 in Baltimore and split a 4-game set here in Kansas City…despite a losing record, the Royals recorded at least 10 hits in 5 of their 7 games vs. the Orioles last season—including all 4 at Kauffman Stadium—and Bobby Witt Jr. hit .423 (11-for-26) in 7 games, marking his highest average vs. any opponent (min. 4 games).
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: LHP RYAN YARBROUGH (0-3, 6.35 ERA)
RYAN YARBROUGH (YAHR-bro) is making his 9th appearance (2nd start) of the season and 136th appearance (61st start) of his career tonight vs. the Orioles…he was originally selected by Seattle in the 4th round of the 2014 Draft out of Old Dominion University (Va.)—the same that Matt Quatraro and Vinnie Pasquantino attended—and he signed a one-year contract with the Royals on Dec. 13, 2022.
TOUGH-LUCK LOSS IN PHOENIX: In his 1st start as a Royal, Ryan suffered his 3rd loss of the season in last Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat in Arizona, in which he allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk in 4.0 innings, with 2 strikeouts…Yarbs faced one over the minimum through 3.0 innings, allowing only a hit batter to begin the 1st…he allowed back-to-back singles to begin the 4th, but induced a double play off the bat of Christian Walker, setting up a pivotal 2-out, runner on third situation, in which Evan Longoria flicked a broken-bat single to plate the go-ahead run…Yarbrough finished the 4th before Amir Garrett allowed 1 run in the 5th, and the trio of Josh Staumont, Josh Taylor and Jose Cuas combined for 3.0 scoreless, 1-hit frames.
Last Wednesday’s start was the 60th of his career and 1st since last Aug. 21 against the Royals…he made 20 outings with the Rays in 2022, including 9 starts. 2023, SO FAR: Ryan has appeared in 8 games (1 start) for the Royals after signing as a free agent last offseason, and has allowed 12 runs on 19 hits and just 4 walks in 17.0 innings, with 7 strikeouts…he had scoreless relief outings in 3 of his 1st 5 appearances with the Royals, but was charged with a season-high 4 runs in 2.1 innings on April 5 vs. Atlanta…following Kris Bubic’s season-ending injury, Yarbs was inserted as the long man for Opener Taylor Clarke on April 21 in Anaheim, where he allowed 2 runs in 4.0 innings…on the next turn in the rotation, Yarbrough got his 1st start, and allowed just 1 run over 4.0 innings last Wednesday in Arizona…although he’s taken the loss in each of his last 2 outings, he’s allowed just 3 runs over 8.0 innings.
WHAT A RELIEF!: Ryan is 40-34 in 135 career outings, and 30 of those wins have come in relief, which are the most in the Majors since 2018, 3 more than Adam Ottavino and Craig Stammen (27 each)…the next closest left hander is Brent Suter (24).
Since his rookie season in 2018, Yarbrough has recorded 274.1 innings in relief, which ranks tied for 16th in the Majors…however, he has done that in just 75 relief outings, and although he trails Stammen by 28.2 innings for the Majors lead, Stammen has appeared in 268 games…Yarbs is tied with his teammate Scott Barlow, who has thrown 274.1 innings of relief in 249 games since 2018.
Yarbrough has recorded 274.1 innings over 75 relief appearances in his career…according to STATS, his 274.1 innings are more than any pitcher in 75 relief appearances or fewer in the Live Ball Era (since 1920)…the next closest pitcher is Wayne Garland, who had 226.1 innings in 69 relief outings with Baltimore and Cleveland from 1973-81…only two other pitchers have eclipsed 200.0 innings in 75 relief appearances or fewer: Fred Hutchison (222.0 IP from 1939-53) and George Smith (200.2 IP from 1920-23).
WALKING THE WALK: Yarbrough enters today with a career walk rate of 5.4% (135 BB to 2,508 BF), which is the 6th-lowest mark in the Majors since his 2018 debut season, trailing only Miles Mikolas (4.4%), teammate Zack Greinke (4.5%), Clayton Kershaw (4.7%), Jacob deGrom (5.1%) and Kyle Hendricks (5.1%), and his 5.4% walk rate trails only three-time Cy Young Award winner Kershaw among left-handed pitchers.
Through 8 outings this year, he’s walked 4 of the 75 batters he’s faced (5.3%).
FLOCK OF ORIOLES: After spending the first five seasons of his big league career with the Rays in the AL East, Yarbrough is all too familiar with the Orioles, a team he has opposed 16 times in his career (9 starts)…overall, he is 5-3 with a 3.72 ERA (35 ER in 84.2 IP), which includes a 1-3 record against them with a 4.56 ERA (26 ER in 51.1 IP) as a starter…his last appearance vs. them was on July 28 of last year in Baltimore, when he pitched 6.0 innings of 1-run ball with 8 strikeouts, but suffered a 3-0 loss because his opponent that night, Jordan Lyles, recorded 5.2 scoreless innings to earn the win.
HOME: In 3 appearances at Kauffman Stadium with Kansas City, he owns a 10.13 ERA (6 ER in 5.1 IP) across 3 relief appearances…for his career, he is 19-15 with a 4.63 ERA (146 ER in 284.0 IP) at home, with 234 strikeouts to just 66 free passes, with all but 3 of those outings coming at Tropicana Field.
Tonight will be his 2nd career start at Kauffman Stadium and 1st as a Royal…his previous start here came five years ago with Tampa Bay, on May 14, 2018, a 2-1 win in which he held the Royals to 1 run—a Whit Merrifield home run—on 5 hits in 5.0 innings to beat Royals starter Eric Skoglund.
