Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Oriole #940- Randy Wolf



Randy Wolf became the 940th player to appear in a game for the Orioles when he entered Sunday's game out of the bullpen to replace the injured Chris Tillman in a victory against the Yankees in New York. He is also the 30th new Oriole to debut during the 2012 season and the 50th different player to appear in a game for the O's during this season. That means that 2012 has seen more new players debut in a game for the Orioles outside of the first two year's of the team's existence in 1954 & '55. But if it means making the playoffs, I say let's use 50 players every season!

Randy has been pitching in the Majors since 1999; he spent his first eight MLB seasons with the Phillies before bouncing from the Dodgers, to the Padres, to the Astros, back to the Dodgers, and then has spent the last two plus seasons with the Brewers. They released him on August 22, and he quickly agreed to a deal with the Orioles and spent a few days with the team before officially signing with the O's on August 31, just in time to be eligible for any possible postseason action.

Prior to Sunday's game, Randy had pitched in 371 MLB games (including 365 starts) but had never pitched in an American League game and almost always appeared as a starter. He will now be an American League reliever, so I hope that it helps him turn the corner after a relatively dismal season in Milwaukee. With an admittedly small sample size, it seems to be working, as he pitched 3.1 innings in relief, and gave up three hits, one walk, struck out one, and earned the W. That's a 2.70 ERA and 1.000 winning percentage to start his AL career. Keep up the good work Randy!

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