Wednesday night Orioles game thread: vs. Yankees, 7:05

Welcome back, Dean Kremer! Hope it’ll be a nice homecoming for ‘ya. It’s only been ten days since we last saw Kremer pitch, his last start coming on April 18th against the Texas Rangers, but it feels like a lot longer than that. Since then, the staff has seen quite a few changes: the Orioles recalled reliever Cole Sulser from the alternate site, DFA’d Wade LeBlanc, called up lefty Zac Lowther and righty reliever Jay Flaa for their major league debuts, and then sent both of them down again.

With Kremer being optioned on the heels of his best outing of the season—4.2 innings of five-hit, one-run ball against Texas—the timing made it sting a little, but it wasn’t a demotion so much as an example of predictable roster shenanigans by a team trying to ensure depth with a revolving door of fresh arms.

That said, the rookie does have ample room for improvement. He’s allowed eight runs and 14 hits in 10 2/3 innings, while walking just over five batters per nine innings. That makes for a WHIP of 1.875, which is . . . high. Against the Yankees, it’ll be key for Kremer to avoid putting free runners on base, stay out of the middle of the strike zone, and try to go deeper than the fifth inning.

Facing him is Domingo Germán, a guy who’s missed time mostly as a result of his own stupid behavior. Back in September 2019, the Yankees put Germán on administrative leave for terrorizing his girlfriend at a CC Sabathia charity gala, and he subsequently missed all of 2020 on an 81-game suspension. (That behavior, by the way, led to some unexpectedly strong language by his teammate, Zack Britton, a long-time Oriole and, it seems, general stand-up guy.) After 19 months off the mound, Germán is off to a rocky start in 2021, with fastball command an issue. Over 13 innings in his first three starts, the 28-year-old righty has allowed four home runs and 10 runs. Personally, I wouldn’t be sad to see the Orioles tee off of him. Of those who have faced Germán in the past, Trey Mancini is 3-for-12 against him, and Rio Ruiz is 3-for-8.

Here are the lineups:

Orioles lineup

1. Cedric Mullins CF
2. Austin Hays LF
3. Trey Mancini 1B
4. Maikel Franco 3B
5. DJ Stewart RF
6. Pedro Severino C
7. Ryan Mountcastle DH
8. Rio Ruiz 2B
9. Pat Valaika SS

Yankees lineup

1. DJ LeMahieu 2B
2. Giancarlo Stanton DH
3. Gleyber Torres SS
4. Gio Urshela 3B
5. Mike Ford 1B
6. Aaron Hicks CF
7. Clint Frazier RF
8. Kyle Higashioka C
9. Brett Gardner LF