Former Orioles pitcher makes positive strides in bout with cancer

Most, if not all Orioles fans would like to forget 2018 through 2021. You wouldn't be blamed for feeling this way, these were the dark years of Orioles baseball, with 100 losses expected as the team went through a full scale rebuild.

One of the countless amount of pitchers used by the Orioles in those years was David Hess, a righty who served as both a starter and reliever for the Orioles. Hess had his MLB career interrupted by a cancer diagnosis, announced the cancer had returned back in May. Hess said the type of cancer was a "very rare and aggressive type of cancer called angiosarcoma."

On Friday evening, Hess posted on social media that his third round of chemotherapy to battle the cancer was complete, a major step in his recovery.

Former Orioles pitcher David Hess continues recovery from cancer bout

Hess said in his post that the next steps are a follow up scan in two weeks before he undergoes surgery in November to remove the tumor. After the 2021 season, Hess was diagnosed with a germ cell tumor. He was cleared to return to baseball in 2022, which he spent in the minor leagues.

In 2018, Hess broke into the majors with the Orioles, posting a 4.88 ERA, 5.80 FIP, and 1.384 WHIP, averaging 1.9 home runs per nine, 3.2 walks per nine, and 6.4 strikeouts per nine over 103 1/3 innings, making 19 starts and two relief appearances.

Hess appeared in 23 games with the Orioles in 2019, starting 14. He had a 7.09 ERA and 1.550 WHIP in 80 innings. He played in three games with the Orioles in the shortened 2020 season, allowing five runs in seven innings pitched.

In July of 2021, Hess was traded from the Orioles to the Miami Marlins, appearing in 14 games before he was DFA'd. The Rays picked him up and he played in one game for them before the intial cancer diagnosis. He played in their minor league system in 2022, appearing in eight games and giving up 15 runs in 10 1/3 innings.

Congrats to David on conquering your latest round of chemo. I hope that you can get back on the mound soon and restart your baseball career!