3 studs and 3 duds: Baltimore Orioles pitching staff

We're winding down with the month of April. So far, the Baltimore Orioles are out to a good start with a winning record in a tightly contested AL East. However, improvements can still be made for a team with playoff aspirations. I decided to do a series called three studs and three duds, for both the lineup and the pitching staff.

I did the lineup last week, now it's time to cover the pitching staff.

Three studs and three duds of the Baltimore Orioles pitching staff

Stud: Tyler Wells, SP

Wells, who somewhat surprisingly won a rotation spot over Grayson Rodriguez in spring training, has been off to a hot start this season. He has a 2.70 ERA and 0.686 WHIP over 23 1/3 innings, making three starts and one emergency relief outing. He's built his bWAR up to 0.9 already.

Wells has his share of strong underlying metrics to back it up. Despite a 29th percentile ranking in strikeout percentage, he boasts a 96th percentile ranking in walk percentage, his best rating. He also sits in the 81st percentile in chase rate and the 93rd percentile in fastball spin.

Stud: Kyle Gibson, SP

Chosen as the team's opening day starter, Gibson has been one of the Orioles better starters at this point of the season. Through five starts, he has a 3.60 ERA and 1.167 WHIP over 30 innings pitched, getting credit for a win in four of his five starts. He's built up his bWAR to 0.8, just behind Wells.

Gibson's best metric rating is his extension, sitting in the 88th percentile. It's a sharp drop after that, with his next best being a 59th percentile walk percentage rating, and a 54th percentile hard hit percentage rating right after that.

Stud: Mike Baumann, RP

Converted to a short reliever in spring training, Mike Baumann has had some spectacular performances since cracking the opening day roster. He boasts a 0.79 ERA and 0.971 WHIP, throwing 11 1/3 innings in nine relief appearances, giving him a 0.6 bWAR. I was considering putting Yennier Cano here, but he hasn't been with the team all season and has six appearances under his belt.

Baumann's best metric is a 93rd percentile rating in barrel percentage. He also sits in the 83rd percentile in fastball velocity, 75th percentile in expected slugging percentage, and 68th percentile in strikeout percentage, among others.

We covered the studs, now let's take a look at the duds.