Insider Predicts Newly Acquired Former All-Star Will Have Important Role With Orioles
With Kyle Bradish and John Means missing time early for the Baltimore Orioles, their starting rotation and bullpen has received a major shake up.
After acquiring Corbin Burnes, this looked like one of the best units on paper in the American League.
But with Spring Training comes the unfortunate side of the game as players deal with injuries as their bodies get used to playing the sport of baseball once again.
Tyler Wells and Cole Irvin were projected to be relievers during this season, and when Bradish and Means come back, they'll likely be moved into the bullpen after filling in as starters.
The Orioles signed former All-Star Julio Teheran to a minor league deal, giving them another depth option in case their starting rotation needs it.
However, Roch Kubatko of MASN thinks that he'll be in a different role with Baltimore this year and could be an important part of the pitching staff.
"Teheran could crash the party, but he makes sense as a long reliever/swingman if he's getting outs," he writes.
There can never be enough bullpen arms in a Major League organization.
Predicting how relievers will perform on a yearly basis is hard enough, let alone projecting how they'll do day-to-day.
If the Orioles call up the veteran right-hander to their MLB roster, they'll have to pay him $2 million. It would make sense to use him as much as possible if they're going to pay out that deal anyway.
This would be a role that is new to Teheran.
Out of 254 appearances, only seven of them have come out of the bullpen.
Still, at this point in his career, he hasn't shown the ability to hold down a position in the starting rotation, especially with a team who has championship aspirations like Baltimore.
Using him as a long reliever could be a major benefit for this staff as he would eat up innings throughout the 162-game season.
