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<\/p>\nThe Orioles intend to build Roansy Contreras back up as a starting pitcher this spring, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun). The 25-year-old righty worked in a multi-inning relief role between the Pirates and Angels last year.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s not clear how long this will last. Contreras is certainly not a lock to stick on Baltimore\u2019s roster through the end of camp. He has changed teams via waivers five times this offseason alone. The O\u2019s have claimed him twice, most recently grabbing him from the Yankees in early February. Contreras is out of options, so teams cannot send him to the minors without running him through waivers. No one has successfully snuck him through the wire unclaimed.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no real path for Contreras to begin the season in Baltimore\u2019s rotation. Hyde confirmed this morning (link via Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner) that he\u2019d have a mostly settled starting five if everyone gets through camp healthy: Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Dean Kremer. Hyde added that righty Albert Su\u00e1rez and southpaw Cade Povich project as his top two depth arms, in that order.<\/p>\n
Even with Trevor Rogers and Chayce McDermott delayed by injuries (knee and lat, respectively), Contreras would be no higher than eighth on the rotation depth chart. He could settle into a long relief role, but even that\u2019d probably require at least one injury to Baltimore\u2019s top eight relievers.<\/p>\n
Andrew Kittredge, Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez, Gregory Soto, Cionel P\u00e9rez and Su\u00e1rez (who\u2019d start the season as a long reliever) cannot be sent down \u2014 either because of their service time or out-of-options status. F\u00e9lix Bautista, Yennier Cano and Keegan Akin are locks. That\u2019s a full bullpen already and would exclude both Contreras and Bryan Baker, neither of whom can be optioned. There\u2019s a decent chance the O\u2019s waive Contreras closer to Opening Day. If he goes unclaimed, they could have him work from the rotation at Triple-A Norfolk.<\/p>\n
A former highly-regarded prospect, Contreras pitched 68 1\/3 innings of 4.35 ERA ball a year ago. He recorded a modest 18.8% strikeout rate while walking 10.4% of batters faced. He\u2019d mostly worked as a starter over two prior seasons in Pittsburgh. He combined for an ERA just south of 5.00 in 163 1\/3 frames between 2022-23. He throws six distinct pitches, per Statcast, so it\u2019s a relatively deep arsenal. His command has been problematic, though, and none of his top four offerings (four-seam, slider, changeup, sinker) were huge weapons last season. The slider was the only of those pitches to miss bats at an above-average rate.<\/p>\n
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The Orioles intend to build Roansy Contreras back up as a starting pitcher this spring, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun)…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n