O's need 'pen early? Wells offers to skip start

ARLINGTON -- For the first inning on Monday, Tyler Wells sat in the third-base dugout at Globe Life Field, taking in the series opener against the Rangers. The 28-year-old right-hander, who was scheduled to start Tuesday, had a prime opportunity to begin thinking over his attack plan for his 2023 debut, in which he’d face Texas’ red-hot bats.

Wells wasn’t wearing his jersey underneath his pullover or donning his pitching cleats. Of course he wouldn’t need either. There was no chance he’d get into this game.

Then, Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish took a 104 mph liner to his right foot. And Wells’ night got a lot more eventful in a hurry.

Bradish exited with a contusion in the second inning, so Wells volunteered to pitch in an effort to save the club’s taxed bullpen. Manager Brandon Hyde took Wells up on that offer, and the righty went out and tossed five hitless innings to lead the O’s to a 2-0 win over the Rangers, who finished with only one base knock on the night.

As soon as Bradish exited and Hyde returned to the dugout, the plan went into motion. For Wells, that meant a quick retreat to the visiting clubhouse.

“I had to run back here, get in uniform, get everything prepared,” Wells said. “Nothing that you can’t throw on a little bit of clothes real quick if you need to.”

Baltimore first inserted Danny Coulombe into the game, and the left-hander escaped a two-on, two-out jam he inherited upon Bradish’s departure. Coulombe worked the third as well, giving Wells the necessary time to warm up in the bullpen.

Then, it was time for Wells to take the mound in Arlington -- roughly 23 hours earlier than he’d expected to.

“When that happened with Kyle, I had no idea what we were going to do at that point,” Hyde said. “We were already really short in our bullpen going into today, and then for Tyler to volunteer, step up -- total team guy, unbelievable character kid. Just awesome.”

It ended up being a low-stress season debut for Wells -- a Rule 5 reliever in 2021, who was converted to a starter in ‘22 and then secured a rotation job again this year with an impressive spring. He retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced, with the lone baserunner reaching on a one-out error in the sixth.

From the fourth through the eighth, Wells cruised, needing only 47 pitches (33 strikes) to carve up a Rangers lineup that had amassed 29 runs in their season-opening three-game sweep of the Phillies. He only notched two strikeouts, instead relying on his defense by recording six groundouts and seven flyouts.

The big question: how challenging was it for Wells to get into a game mindset on a night he never expected he’d need to?

“Sometimes, it’s easier,” Wells said. “You just go out there and you do it. You don’t even have time to think, and it’s pretty quick and it happens really fast. Sometimes, that works out in your favor as well.”

During the Orioles’ three-game season-opening series loss in Boston, starters Kyle Gibson, Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin combined to pitch only 12 innings. That’s why Baltimore couldn’t count on its bullpen to cover 7 1/3 frames on Monday. It wouldn’t be the most likely path to a victory.

Wells’ teammates were quite appreciative of his willingness to step up and sacrifice his scheduled start on Tuesday.

“It really shows the guts he has,” said third baseman Gunnar Henderson, who ensured Wells entered with a lead by swatting a fourth-inning solo homer, his first of the season.

“That’s kind of the M.O. of our team -- anybody at any time, take the ball when you’re asked to, pick up your teammates, pick up the bullpen,” catcher Anthony Bemboom said. “[Wells] did that tonight, and it was great.”

With Wells unavailable for the second game of the series, it’s unclear how the Orioles will map out their rotation plans for the upcoming days. Hyde said he’s “going to go through all scenarios.”

Maybe Gibson gets bumped up from Wednesday to start Tuesday, as he’d be on regular rest because of last Friday’s off-day. Perhaps long reliever Austin Voth makes a spot start. Or Baltimore could end up needing to fill Bradish’s spot for a bit, as his status remains unclear.

None of those were immediate thoughts going through Hyde’s head on Monday night.

“I’m just trying to win the game first,” Hyde said.

And thanks to Wells, the Orioles did just that.