Baltimore Orioles: Does Tyler Wilson have a shot?

Does Tyler Wilson have a realistic shot at making the Baltimore Orioles’ 25-man roster?

A lot of folks noticed that Tyler Wilson got the start in yesterday’s game for the Baltimore Orioles against New York. Admittedly, I was as surprised as anyone else, as he was not someone I expected to see in a starting role during Grapefruit League play. He did make a couple of spot starts last season (mostly during doubleheaders), but bearing all of this in mind…does he have a realistic shot at making the 25-man roster?

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I would say that he might have a fringe shot at it. Making it in the bullpen, that is. I don’t see the Orioles tinkering with the rotation, which at this point is shaping up to be Tillman, Gallardo, Gonzalez, Jimenez, and Gausman (in no particular order). You obviously never say never, as Wilson could light up the scoreboard with zeros for all we know, however the odds are probably against it.

The issue with the bullpen of course is that the Orioles’ bullpen isn’t exactly going to be an easy spot to move into either. At this point, it’s shaping up to have the following people without any doubt: Britton, O’Day, Bundy, McFarland, Matusz, and Brach. That leaves one slot which in theory is in play. Wilson, and about two or three other guys are potentially competing for that spot.

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Incidentally, Matusz of course has some injury concerns, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll break camp with the team. In fact, if he doesn’t start getting back into some games soon he might be an ideal candidate for the 15-day DL to begin the season. Of course that also means he’d be eligible for a rehab assignment…the Orioles are masters at roster games.

Here’s the other thing; the O’s will have a day off on day two of the season. They open on April 4th, and the “obligatory” day off after Opening Day is April 5th. So in theory they can break camp with only four starting pitchers because they won’t need a fifth starter until week two. So again being the masters of roster games, the Orioles could just as easily leave a starter such as Gausman behind in Sarasota (by optioning him) and go with an eight-man bullpen during the first week.