Baltimore Orioles: With Zimmermann out, who takes his place?
After yet another disappointing start last week in Toronto, Bruce Zimmermann has been axed from the Baltimore Orioles starting rotation. The O’s have sent him down to Triple-A Norfolk in hopes that he can work on his stuff and help the Orioles again sometime in the future.
After a solid start to the season, the 27-year-old lefty out of Towson University has struggled notably with giving up the long ball in recent starts. Zimmermann has given up 18 home runs this season, leading all pitchers in Major League Baseball, and 14 of those homers have been given up in his last four starts alone.
With his option to Norfolk, a void in the rotation will need to be filled. I believe four candidates are the most likely to fill this spot: Austin Voth, Michael Baumann, DL Hall, and Spenser Watkins.
Austin Voth
On Sunday against the Rays, Jordan Lyles was scratched from his start due to a stomach illness, and in his place, Austin Voth made his first start as a member of the Baltimore Orioles. Voth’s impromptu start went fairly well as he went 2.2 innings pitched without allowing an earned run and striking out four batters.
Voth struggled mightily with the Nationals as he had an ERA of 10.13 with the Nats before being picked up on waivers by the O’s. Despite the horrendous ERA, Voth did have a FIP of 4.95 this season in Washington, which indicates he ran into some hard luck. Since joining the Orioles, Voth has lowered his season ERA to 8.39 and his FIP to 4.71 but has only pitched a total of six innings with the O’s thus far.
Voth could be a viable option for the Orioles to fill the fifth spot in the rotation, but they will likely want him to pitch further into the ballgame than the third inning in starts which he has not yet proven he is capable of in his short time in Baltimore.
He has also only made two starts since the beginning of the 2021 season after making 11 starts in the shortened 2020 season and eight starts for the World Champion Washington Nationals in 2019. After Lyles’ stomach illness subsided, he will make a start tonight against the Nationals with extra rest, and Tyler Wells will make the start tomorrow night.
This option seemed more likely after Zimmermann was initially sent back down to Norfolk. In the corresponding move, the Orioles called up Michael Baumann to the big league club, and it seemed that Baumann was in line to make some starts.
However, Baumann was the odd man out when the Orioles had to get rid of one of their 14 pitchers per MLB rules that now only allows teams to carry 13 pitchers. Baumann has not made a start this season at any level and has struggled in Triple-A Norfolk with an ERA of 7.71 in 16 innings pitched.
With Baumann back in Norfolk and the Baltimore Orioles only allowed to carry 13 pitchers, if the Orioles were to call up Baumann once again, they would have to sacrifice a bullpen arm such as Austin Voth or Bryan Baker.
Despite the struggles in Triple-A, Baumann has been decent in his opportunities, with the big club pitching to a 4.50 ERA in 12 innings this season after struggling last year to a 9.90 ERA in 10 innings. Baumann pitched well on May 21 against the Rays as he pitched the final 3.2 innings for the Orioles and only allowed one earned run after Kyle Bradish struggled through 5.1 innings.
Of the four most viable options, DL Hall is the only pitcher yet to make his big league debut. Hall currently ranks as the Orioles’ 5th top prospect according to MLB Pipeline and has had a successful season so far in Triple-A Norfolk.
Hall was drafted by Dan Duquette and the Orioles in the first round of the 2017 draft out of a high school in Georgia and has since been a centerpiece of the Orioles rebuild and a player who O’s fans have anticipated the debut of for years.
The critical question for Hall is whether or not he is ready to take the next step and make his Major League debut. Kyle Bradish is another starting pitcher who made his debut earlier this season for the Baltimore Orioles, and he has struggled as a rotation member.
In most cases, the Orioles have shown reluctance to push their top prospects to the majors before they are ready, as they seemed to have been overly cautious with Adley Rutschman. Since the Orioles are not likely to compete for a playoff spot this year, it is probably better for the O’s to be patient with Hall and wait until he is clearly ready to be an MLB pitcher.
As mentioned earlier, Hall has pitched well with Norfolk this season. In Norfolk, he has an ERA of 3.82 in 30.2 innings pitched and has an awe-inspiring rate of 15.8 strikeouts per 9 innings. However, the walks have been an issue as he has walked 5.3 batters per 9 innings as well.
Hall has proven he can hit triple digits with his fastball and has been working on his secondary pitches this season. If the Orioles believe Hall is ready to take the next step, then they will not have to sacrifice a player on the 40-man roster since he is already a member. Hall is set to make a start tonight for the Norfolk Tides against the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.
Unlike the other three members of this list, Spenser Watkins has made consistent starts for the Orioles over the past two seasons but has struggled to a career ERA of 7.33 in 84.2 innings.
Watkins was a member of the opening day rotation and saw increased usage after John Means went down for the season with Tommy John Surgery. Watkins himself has dealt with an injury this season as he left a start on May 22 against the Rays and was only recently activated before being optioned to Norfolk.
Despite the struggles, Watkins has shown that he can pitch at a major league level in short spurts. In both of his seasons, Watkins started off strong with the Orioles and had some impressive outings before tapering off and struggling as the season progressed.
Since he has not made a start for the Baltimore Orioles in exactly a month, the O’s may want to go to a player with not much upside but the proven capabilities to pitch in the big leagues.
While these four pitchers seem like the most likely options, it also seems possible that Keegan Akin could jump back into the starting rotation after having an impressive season so far in the bullpen.
Denyi Reyes is another player who is on the Orioles’ 40-man roster and has made a short start for the Baltimore Orioles this season in Boston. Regardless of what direction the Orioles choose to go in, they will need Zimmermann to prove that he deserves another shot in the rotation while he is in Norfolk.