3 bullpen changes Orioles must make after wild month-over-month slide

The Baltimore Orioles didn't pay much attention to their bullpen this past offseason. They made two real moves, signing Ryan Helsley and trading for Andrew Kittredge, but after that, they trusted a group comprised mostly of recently DFA'd journeymen and rookies making their MLB debuts. For the first month of the season, this appeared to be a savvy move as the Orioles' bullpen was one of the best in the league.

Through the end of April, Orioles relievers ranked top 10 in K/9, BB/9, and WHIP as well as opponents wOBA, AVG, and OBP. They weren't a perfect squad, as they did struggle to strand runners, but a lot of that had to do with the defense behind them. They ranked 9th in xERA and 4th in xFIP, which indicates that, whatever the actual ERA ended up being, the Orioles' bullpen's process was solid.

The Orioles bullpen had a moment but that moment appears to be over

That wasn't meant to last, however, and in May, all of the Orioles' bullpen stats took a turn for the worse. They were suddenly a bottom-five bullpen in K/9 and a bottom 10 bullpen by BB/9. They had the third-worst bullpen ERA in baseball, and they had an ugly xERA and xFIP to match, so it wasn't that they were unlucky or the defense butchered some plays; the Orioles relievers were the cause of serious problems.

So what happened? There are a couple of key events that can explain the downturn. One is that Helsley went down with an injury right around the turn of the month, so the Orioles lost their closer, and everyone had to bump up a notch in responsibility. Next was that Keegan Akin returned and, despite being immediately terrible, has remained one of the Orioles’ most used relievers. It's also relevant that after a hot start to the season, rookie reliever Anthony Nunez has been pretty well figured out by opposing batters, and yet the Orioles continue to stubbornly jam him into high-leverage situations.

This bullpen downturn looks bad for two people. Mike Elias and Craig Albernaz. Elias, because anyone with eyes could see that this bullpen didn't have enough depth to make it through the regular season. If your bullpen is one Ryan Helsley injury away from disaster, then you built a weak bullpen.

Albernaz, because even as it's been clear that certain relievers don't have what it takes to pitch in high leverage, he's continued to roll them out there. He needs to adjust the usage of several members of his bullpen.

Keegan Akin cannot be trusted in close games

Akin appears far too often in one-run games and has been asked far too many times to come in with a runner on and get out of a jam. Those are two situations where he's been bad his entire career. Akin can be useful, giving you two innings at a time in a game where you are up four or down four. If that's not a role you want to have in the bullpen, then he should be DFA'd.

Anthony Nunez needs to be protected before his confidence is shot

Anthony Nunez has a lot of promise and showed early in the season that he has the stuff to survive in high-leverage spots. However, he's been brutal for a month now and needs to be given a break from the setup man responsibilities that have been thrust upon him. Either let him pitch in some lower-leverage spots earlier in the game or send him back to Triple-A to get his confidence back. Just stop leaving him out there to die against the heart of the order in the eighth inning.

The Orioles best relievers need to be their best relievers

Lastly, the Orioles need to ramp up the usage of Yennier Cano and Andrew Kittredge in late-game, high-leverage innings. They have each been used far too much in the 6th and 7th innings and in games that weren't close. They have the most experience in those spots and have a track record of success using them there instead of the relievers who are floundering.

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