Baltimore Orioles: Kremer to Rutschman has a strange effect

Once we calm down after that fantastic Baltimore Orioles victory, we find more out there than first meets the eye. The Kremer/Rutschman connection is real.

When it comes to Baltimore Orioles baseball games, I either like them one of two ways. The first is watching a game where each team is on fire like a Hollywood movie and constantly scoring with home runs here, there, and everyone. The other type of game that I love is a pitching duel. The faster, the better, and the move the hitters get fooled, the more I settle into my couch.

Friday night’s duel was the latter of my favorites, and boy, was it a doozy. It had everything from pitching to fielding and even moves on the basepaths. However, as I am sure you are already guessing, my favorite part was the pitching duel between Dean Kremer and Shane Baz.

Coming into the game, you would have been hard-pressed to find someone outside of the Baltimore Orioles fanbase who would see Kremer oust Baz. However, after an hour into the game, that fact was coming to fruition. Once both pitchers came out after the 5th inning, that’s when the Baltimore Orioles bats started clicking, and the Rays stayed the same.

Baltimore Orioles: Kremer to Rutschman has a strange effect

The best initial motive behind the Kremer celebration was thinking, “wow, this Manny Machado deal might actually pan out.” You’re not wrong, I was thinking it too, but realistically, this was Kremer’s best outing in The Show in quite some time. So, was there an underlying factor?

That factor was none other than Adley Rutschman. It’s a tale as old as baseball time; the pitcher finds a catcher he likes, grows into success, and keeps the catcher at all costs. Bull Durham, For the Love of the Game, and countless others all tell the same tale. However, Friday night in Charm City came to life off the big screen and right in front of us.

Kremer has started three games for the O’s this season. All three had Adley behind the plate, and all three times out have gotten better. From allowing three runs to two runs, then zero, and having an ERA start at 6.23 and drop to a 2.35 tells you the pitching story of Dean Kremer through the month of June.

Who was behind the plate again? Oh, that’s right… but what about their connection in the minor leagues? In eight career starts with Adley behind the plate, Kremer has pitched eight outings, going 36.1 innings, allowing eight runs, and punching out 25, all with an ERA of 1.98 and a WHIP of 1.05. To say there’s not a bond between them would be completed foolish.

Maybe it’s the Adley effect, or perhaps it’s just Dean Kremer’s time to shine and glow up, but whatever it was, it was awesome! Keep an eye on this partnership moving forward because one thing is certain; they seem to play well off each other.