3 takeaway from Baltimore Orioes' series win against the Rangers

After a rough series for the pitching staff in Boston, the Orioles went into Texas and took two of three from the Rangers behind a couple of dominating pitching performances. The series win sent good vibes for a team heading home for the first time this season.

The Orioles are scheduled to play their home opener Friday at 3:05 p.m. ET against the Yankees as pitcher Dean Kremer tries to rebound from a rough first start at Fenway. If you want to learn more about what to expect, check out Michael Najarian's article previewing the series, but first let's look at three key takeaways from the Orioles' second series of the season down in Texas.

1. The Baltimore Orioles' rotation is in good hands

After the first series in Fenway, many fans were wondering if the Orioles would have a competent enough starting rotation to allow the team to compete in a loaded American League East. The season is still extremely young but this series seemed to quell some of those worries. Despite Kyle Bradish's unfortunate injury that took him out of Monday's game in the second inning, the Orioles got three solid outings from pieces that should help the rotation moving forward; Tyler Wells, Kyle Gibson, and Grayson Rodriguez.

Wells was originally supposed to start Tuesday with Gibson on Wednesday and Kremer in the home opener Thursday. However, an ill-fated line drive and the wrath of mother nature put a wrench in those plans and Forced Wells and Gibson to work a day earlier than originally planned and caused Rodriguez to make his major league debut earlier than anyone thought after he did not make the 26-man roster to start the season.

Despite the early injury, Bradish showed promising signs early in his start as he hopes to build on a strong second half from last season. Bradish struck out two batters in 1.2 innings pitched while allowing one walk and one hit. 17 of the 28 pitches he threw were strikes and he recorded two groundball outs. The fortunate news is that X-rays came back negative, so he hopefully will not miss too much time and can return in several weeks ready to improve the O's rotation even further.

After the first series in Fenway, many fans were wondering if the Orioles would have a competent enough starting rotation to allow the team to compete in a loaded American League East. The season is still extremely young but this series seemed to quell some of those worries. Despite Kyle Bradish's unfortunate injury that took him out of Monday's game in the second inning, the Orioles got three solid outings from pieces that should help the rotation moving forward; Tyler Wells, Kyle Gibson, and Grayson Rodriguez. Wells was originally supposed to start Tuesday with Gibson on Wednesday and Kremer in the home opener Thursday.

However, an ill-fated line drive and the wrath of mother nature put a wrench in those plans and Forced Wells and Gibson to work a day earlier than originally planned and caused Rodriguez to make his Major League debut earlier than anyone thought after he did not make the 26-man roster to start the season. Despite the early injury, Bradish showed promising signs early in his start as he hopes to build on a strong second half from last season. Bradish struck out two batters in 1.2 innings pitched while allowing one walk and one hit. 17 of the 28 pitches he threw were strikes and he recorded two groundball outs. The fortunate news is that X-rays came back negative so he hopefully will not miss too much time and can return in several weeks ready to improve the O's rotation even further.

The star of the show Monday night was Tyler Wells who pitched masterfully in the O's 2-0 victory. After Danny Couloumbe pitched perfectly to get the Orioles through the third inning, Wells entered in the fourth with a 1-0 lead and went on to pitch five perfect innings and set up Felix Bautista for a 9th-inning save. In those five innings, Wells struck out only two batters but commanded the strike zone well as he did not walk a batter and 33 of his 47 pitches were strikes. Command has always been a strength for Wells as he only walked 28 batters in 23 starts last year and 12 batters in 57 innings his rookie year.

A former rule-5 pick from Minnesota, Tyler has been a surprising success story over the past couple of seasons as he was a second-round pick in the 2021 rule-5 draft having not pitched professionally since 2018 before that. He worked primarily as a reliever in '21 before being converted to the starting rotation last year. In 2022, his biggest strength was his fastball spin rate which ranked in the 96th percentile in all of baseball. His walk rate was also better than average as his combination of mid-90s velocity and high spin fastball led to success.

For Gibson, Opening Day was a bit adventurous as he earned the win despite a rocky five innings where he allowed four earned runs on six hits and a walk. Tuesday night was a different story. The O's jumped on Texas pitching early and Gibson took advantage by having an "ultra-quality" start where he worked seven innings allowing only two earned runs on two solo homers. Kyle also struck out five and walked none in the start. Gibson was a free agent signing this offseason as he spent 2022 with the National League champions Philadelphia Phillies after a career-best season with the Rangers and Phillies in 2021.

The Orioles have seemed to find a "type" when it comes to starting pitchers since Mike Elias took over. Most of the pitchers Elias has picked up have not been prone to any of the three true outcomes as they limit walks and homers but also struggle to strike players out. This model has seemed to be effective as the rotation has steadily improved over the past few years and the Orioles have built a strong defense to help pitchers when the ball is in play.

3. Despite early struggles, Grayson Rodriguez is ready to make an impact

The early struggles for Grayson Rodriguez have been two-fold. First, he struggled in Spring Training this year and in his first start in Norfolk last Friday. Rodriguez also struggled early in his Major League debut Wednesday as he gave up two earned runs in the first inning. However, once the first inning ended, Rodriguez pitched masterfully in his debut while completing 5 innings and allowing only two first-inning runs. Rodriguez also struck out five batters and walked only one. The high-velocity fastball that has allowed Grayson to become the best pitching prospect in baseball was on full display as he routinely pitched fastballs 97 mph+ with pinpoint command and struck out four batters with that fastball. His first strikeout came on a sweeping breaking ball that Ezequiel Duran chased after to end the second inning.

Rodriguez's struggles in Spring Training stemmed from an inability to get outs in key moments. He continued to strike out batters as he struck 19 in 15.1 innings pitched in Sarasota while allowing 7 walks and 3 homers. The first-inning struggles on Wednesday were similar in that Rodriguez could not get key outs when it mattered but once he shook off the first-inning jitters he showed his full potential. Grayson will likely make his Camden Yards debut next week against the Oakland Athletics and that should be a sight to behold as the Orioles look to continue playing well as they start a 7-game stretch in front of the home crowd.