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Baltimore Orioles: 2019 Roster Report Card For Each Player

BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 22: John Means #67 of the Baltimore Orioles in congratulated for his performance in the seventh inning during a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 22, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 22: John Means #67 of the Baltimore Orioles in congratulated for his performance in the seventh inning during a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 22, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
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Baltimore Orioles
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – SEPTEMBER 02: Asher Wojciechowski #29 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches to the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning of a baseball game at Tropicana Field on September 02, 2019 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

John Means sits atop the class for this Baltimore Orioles pitching staff.

Dylan Bundy– B-

Bundy’s overall numbers aren’t great when you pull up his stat line, but he gets a higher grade due to his improvements. He cut his home run rate from 2.15/9 IP to 1.65/9 IP, increased his groundball rate by 7.5%, and was worth 2.5fWAR, just off his 2.8 mark of 2017. He relied on his fastball less and changed up his pitch mix as the season went along, learning to pitch without his high velocity numbers. Bundy will never be a top of the rotation arm, but he can be a backend piece if he continues to improve.

John Means– A+

Means didn’t think he would make the Opening Day roster, no one did. He went from preparing for a life outside of baseball to being named an All-Star as a rookie and leading the Orioles with 12 wins on the year. Means isn’t going to be the ace of this staff that leads Baltimore to a deep postseason run, but he did prove he can be a valuable member of this starting rotation for years to come.

David Hess– F

Hess bounced between the bigs and Triple-A this season, finishing with a 1-10 record and 7.09 ERA. He was on pace to put up some historic home run numbers, before spending a chunk of time in the minors. In 80 innings, Hess allowed 28 home runs. Remember his first start of the year when he was removed in the 7th inning with a no-hitter in tact against Toronto and we were all mad Brandon Hyde would rather protect Hess’ arm? Hyde should have let him go. Everything after was a disaster.

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Aaron Brooks– D

Brooks had his moments, finishing with a 4-5 record, 6.18 ERA (5.17 FIP), and was worth 0.6 fWAR after joining the Orioles. However, he walked more than 3/9 IP and struck out just 5.8/9 IP while allowing a .286 average against. He may get another look in 2020, considering the Orioles aren’t going to spend any money in free agency this year, but there’s not much for Brooks to hang his hat on.

Asher Wojciechowski- B

Wojo earned himself a rotation spot in 2020 and looks to be a respectable stopgap option while the Orioles wait for their top pitching prospects to arrive. He fought through exhaustion at the end of the season (84.2 IP in AAA, 82.1 IP in majors) to finish September with a 2-1 record, 4.44 ERA, and a 19/5 K/BB ratio, a massive improvement from his 0-4, 6.75 ERA, 24/15 K/BB ratio month of August.

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