Baltimore Orioles: Mike Wright Continues Scoreless Spring Streak

Mike Wright continues his scoreless spring streak for the Baltimore Orioles.

Baltimore Orioles veteran pitcher Mike Wright entered Saturday’s spring training game against the Boston Red Sox with four scoreless innings of baseball under his belt.  Given the ball as today’s starter, Wright extended his spring training scoreless streak to seven innings, holding the defending World Series champions scoreless down in Fort Myers, Florida.

Out of minor league options, this is it for Mike Wright. Four years with the Orioles has resulted in a 5.75 earned run average and 1.52 WHIP in just over 228 innings of work. His 5.55 ERA in 2018 was a career-low while his 1.63 WHIP and 3.8 BB/9 were career-highs for the now 29-year-old RHP out of East Carolina University.

Wright has now made three appearances this spring and has yet to allow a run in seven full innings of work. Adding in today’s outing against the Red Sox, Wright has allowed eight hits and two walks while striking out four, joining Josh Rogers as two Orioles’ pitchers who have pitched at least five innings without giving up an earned run.

Today’s outing wasn’t against a B-squad Boston Red Sox lineup. Yes, it is still spring training, but the Red Sox sent a number of regulars to the plate including Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, JD Martinez, and Xander Bogaerts.

Wright’s afternoon started a little rough, issuing a leadoff single to Gorkys Hernandez, but was saved by his battering mate, Carlos Perez, who cut down Hernandez at second base on a stolen base attempt. Wright then walked Mookie Betts but settled in with a swinging strikeout of Jackie Bradley and forcing JD Martinez to pop up in foul territory.

His second inning of work went much easier, inducing two groundball outs and a weak fly ball out. The third inning started out similar to the second, with a groundball out and a swinging strikeout of prospect slugger Bobby Dalbec.

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Wright then surrendered back-to-back singles before ending the frame with a routine flyball. He’s gotten himself into trouble a few times this spring but has been able to work himself out of these jams every time. That won’t always be the case, but it’s clear that Wright is in the zone and eager to claim a spot in the starting rotation.

Contributing writer Tim Smart recently discussed Mike Wright which I urge you to check out here, so I won’t repeat much of what he said. I’m sure many fans have written off Wright and a few spring training innings won’t rekindle any hope or excitement for a positive 2019, but if Wright can finally find his role under this new regime in Baltimore, I’m all for it.

At the time of publishing, the Orioles are leading the Red Sox by a score of 4-1. The lineup has produced eight hits and five walks through five innings. Drew Jackson has scored two runs and recorded two hits as he continues his impressive spring.