Oriole # 1033- Gabriel Ynoa

This post will officially catch me up on posts about the 2017 Orioles debuts (not including the two players whose autographs I still need and will wait to post about until I get their autographs).

Gabriel Ynoa has just a single Orioles appearance under his belt, but it was an impressive one to say the least. He made his debut on Friday May 5th at Camden Yards in a game agianst the White Sox. He entered the game out of the bullpen in the first inning after starter Wade Miley was knocked out of the game by getting hit on consecutive comebackers on the mound. Oddly enough, something similar happened to Miley in a Spring Training start earlier this year.

After Miley got the first two outs in the game, Ynoa entered the game and was outstanding. He pitched six innings, allowing just six hits while striking out five to earn the win in his debut with the O's.

The Orioles purchased Gabriel's contract from the Mets on February 10th, and was the second pitcher the O's got from the Mets this past offseason in return for cash or a player to be named later. (Logan Verrett came into the organization pretty much the same way back on November 30, 2016.) The Mets at least thought that they had a surplus of pitching and the Orioles will always gladly acquire optionable pitchers in return for very little as they did with these two transactions.

Ynoa made his MLB debut with the Mets in 2016 and pitched in ten games, including three starts, and was 1-0 with a 6.38 ERA.

As you can see, I had some good success with getting Ynoa to sign for me during my trip to Spring Training. He was one of the more approachable players and gladly signed each time I asked. He seemed to appreciate that I attempted to speak some of my very little Spanish with him while he was signing.

Unfortunately, Gabriel landed on the ten day DL with a right hamstring strain following his sole apperance for the O's, but he is almost ready to come back and help the team. He is yet another member of the 2017 Baltimore-Norfolk relief pitcher shuttle, but if he can pitch like he did in his debut than he certainly can help the team win a few games this year. Good luck Gabriel!

Oriole # 1031- Logan Verrett

Logan Verrett might have one of the longest, strangest trips to make his Orioles debut of anyone I can remember. He was selected by the Orioles in the 2014 Rule V draft from the Mets (the Orioles also took Jason Garcia from the Red Sox) and spent almost the entirety of spring training 2015 with the Orioles. He made nine appearances with the team that spring, and had a 1.93 ERA with two saves, but the team thought that Garcia had more upside (they were wrong) and put Verrett on waivers.

The Rangers selected him and his Rule V status off of waivers and he ended up making his MLB debut with Texas. He appeared in four games and had an ERA of 6.00 when the Rangers returned him to the Mets on May 4th. He went on to pitch in 49 games, including 16 starts, for the Mets over the 2015-16 seasons and was 4-9 with a 4.56 ERA.

The Orioles retained interest in him throughout the years and got him from the Mets on November 30, 2016 in return for cash or a player to be named later. So he was back in the fold for the Birds and destined to make his delayed debut in Baltimore. Except he didn't have so much success in Sarasota this time around, and had an 8.10 ERA over 9 appearances, which wasn't good enough to break camp with the team.

Luckily for Logan, he has options, and a relief pitcher with options is Buck Showalter's best friend, and he has become a member of the 2017 Orioles bullpen carousel. Logan finally made his Orioles debut on April 30, 2017 and pitched the tenth and eleventh innings in a wild game against the Yankees. The O's bullpen had already blown the game once and it looked like Logan might fall apart, but he kept his game together and earned the win in his O's debut. He was then sent back to AAA Norfolk before nearly the identical thing happened and he picked up another win, this time pitching the 10-12 innings against the Nationals. So he has now earned a win in each appearance he's made with the O's. Who's up for Logan pitching every game the rest of the season? This guy!

Obsessive Eagle-eyed readers might recognize the signed Old Man Cards at the top of this post from a post I wrote way back in March 2015 about possible Orioles debuts that could occur that season. I was wrong then, but Logan is finally and officially an Oriole.

Possible 2015 Orioles Debuts- Pitchers

In today's post, I'm going to highlight the pitchers who could potentially be making their Orioles debuts in 2015, once again starting with those who I feel like are most likely to pitch in Baltimore through the least likely.

Logan has two major plus signs in his favor to making the club out of Spring Training; he is a rule V pick who has to be offered back to the Mets if he doesn't make the team, and he has pitched very well this spring. My gut says he is on the Orioles 25 man roster next Monday.

Wesley Wright is a LOOGY (lefty one out guy) who the Orioles signed as a free agent this past off-season for $1.7 million. As I wrote about Everth Cabrera, the O's aren't the type of team to spend $2 million on a pitcher to send them to AAA. So even if Wright doesn't make the team on Opening Day, I would expect to see him in Baltimore at some point. His making the team might be related to Brian Matusz's possibly being traded.

Like Verrett, Garcia is another Rule V pick, so I know that the Orioles would love to keep him in the organization, but he has a few factors working against him. He's been injured for part of the spring, and he has never pitched above single A, whereas Verrett has had success at AAA. Garcia supposedly has the more electric arm of the two, but I don't see how the O's could keep two Rule V pitchers.

Roe, De La Rosa, and Drake have all been sent to the minor league camp already, so are extreme long shots to make the team. Roe was sent out most recently, and could become a bullpen piece at some point this summer. De La Rosa was injured for much of the Spring but has had some Major League success in the past so I don't know what to make of his chances. And the Orioles re-signed Drake to a major league deal this past winter after he had pitched at every level of the team's farm system over the past seven seasons, so there is obviously something they like about him.

As always, a big thanks to my dad for getting all of these autographs on his Spring Training trip, and making all of these awesome OMCs to boot!