The news that right-hander Matt Harvey has been suspended for 60 games by Major League Baseball — retroactive to April 29 — for “participating in the distribution of a prohibited drug of abuse” is not a surprise.
Once Harvey, who made 28 starts for the Orioles last year, detailed his own drug use during the trial of former Los Angeles Angels employee Eric Kay in February, it seemed obvious that Harvey would be facing some type of suspension from the league office.
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So, given that, why would a club like the Orioles, a rebuilding squad that won’t compete in 2022, sign a 33-year-old starter to a minor-league deal in April knowing he probably won’t be able to pitch in the majors until, say, late July, after a two-month suspension and a month or so of affiliate progression?
Because by August and September several of the Orioles’ inexperienced starters — hell, maybe most of the rotation — will be on innings limitations.
Orioles general manager Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde prefer to limit the young starters’ innings per outing, so they get the feel of a full season. But there inevitably will be starters who will have to be shut down before the season ends because the organization doesn’t want an individual pitcher to have a colossal jump in innings pitched, especially since most lost a year of competition in 2020 because of the pandemic.
So, Harvey should be able to fill that role. He can make eight to 10 starts down the road, and do it for a prorated, $1 million salary.
In today’s baseball world, that makes sense.
But …
Is Harvey worth the trouble?
By all accounts, including Elias’ and Hyde’s, Harvey was a model citizen last year. He was a good teammate and a mentor to the young pitchers. We have to take them at their word because reporters weren’t allowed in clubhouses last year. But in postgame videoconferences, Harvey answered every question professionally and honestly.
So, I have no issue with Harvey the ballplayer. Except he wasn’t a very good pitcher. He had a 6.27 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP last year. And he rarely pitched deep into games, lasting six innings or more only five times and being pulled before finishing five innings 17 times.
Mix in the drug admission, and I just don’t think what Harvey brings to the table is worth the negative baggage that goes along with it.
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If I were in charge, I would have thanked him for his unselfish work last year and moved on.
Misjudging the Logan Allen signing
I recently waxed poetic about why I thought claiming lefty Logan Allen off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians on May 5 was a smart move. Allen is 24, a former highly touted prospect and under club control for years. He’s exactly the kind of player a rebuilding team should add to its 40-man roster.
Well, hold that thought.
Allen was designated for assignment Tuesday when the Orioles selected the contract of 26-year-old lefty reliever Nick Vespi.
It wasn’t exactly a full audition for Allen. He made three appearances, allowed two runs on three hits and a walk and struck out one in 1 2/3 innings (10.80 ERA). And was gone in a blink.
The problem is that Allen has no minor-league options remaining and the Orioles wanted to give Vespi a shot. So, Allen’s Orioles career lasted two weeks. Maybe more if he clears waivers. Hyde, as usual when someone is designated, said he really hopes Allen can stay in the organization. And if he does, I think we’ll see him again this year.
My guess is that Allen gets claimed again. But I’m also the guy who thought Allen might be part of this club’s future.
The lockout silver lining
This past winter was a stressful time in baseball that may have caused some negative ripple effects in the first month-plus of the 2022 season.
But it also might have allowed the Orioles to keep Vespi, who has not allowed an earned run in 12 games and 14 1/3 innings at Triple-A Norfolk this year.
Vespi and outfielder Robert Neustrom (.244/.308/.435) were the Orioles minor leaguers most likely to be taken in the 2021 Rule 5 draft last December. But the draft was delayed by the lockout. And then the major-league portion was canceled altogether in March. So, Vespi remained in the organization and began 2022 at Norfolk.
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He’s continued to thrive, with 21 strikeouts and four saves as the Tides’ closer. And now, after being in the organization since he was drafted in the 18th round in 2015, Vespi is on the cusp of making his big-league debut.
This spring, Vespi said he wasn’t hoping to be taken in a Rule 5 draft that didn’t happen. He was hoping to pitch for the Orioles. And now he should get that chance.
Bannon’s quick ride in the bigs
In another roster move Tuesday to bolster the bullpen, the Orioles recalled right-handed reliever Logan Gillaspie, who was one of the pitchers the club chose to add to the 40-man roster instead of Vespi last fall.
Gillaspie, 25, made his major-league debut Tuesday night in the eighth inning against the Yankees and, despite giving up two singles, escaped without allowing a run. He then threw another scoreless inning in the ninth.
To make room for Gillaspie, the Orioles demoted infielder Rylan Bannon to Norfolk. Minutes before Bannon learned the news, I was talking to him in the Orioles clubhouse about his ride so far with the Orioles. And although he hadn’t hit like he hoped — two hits in 15 plate appearances — you could tell how much it meant to him to make the majors after being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017.
Bannon barely stopped smiling while talking about his experiences. And though he’s back to the minors now, he’ll always be able to remember his debut Thursday in St. Louis.
In the first inning, on his first defensive play in the bigs, he made a tremendous diving stop and threw out superstar Nolan Arenado at first. Then, in the top of the second, Bannon hit the first pitch he saw into left field for a single. He joked that he got all of his nerves out of the way immediately.
I told him that his stop might have been the best defensive play I’ve ever seen in a debut. And, yeah, Bannon smiled wider.
The Hot Corner isn't too hot for @RBannon4 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/i8wffKXT6P
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) May 12, 2022
A night to dream on
If you’ve gotten this far, you probably know catcher Adley Rutschman is not with the Orioles yet. Not breaking news there. But he did homer in Norfolk’s 4-1 victory over Charlotte on Tuesday. It was Rustchman’s second homer at Triple A this year. He’s now hitting .200 (7 for 35) with a .721 OPS in 10 games for the Tides.
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In the same game, top Orioles pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez, 22, threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings, walking three and allowing three hits while striking out 11. Yes, 11 batters. He’s now 3-1 with a 2.65 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings through eight career starts at Norfolk.
At Double A on Tuesday, 20-year-old infielder Gunnar Henderson hit two homers and is now batting .301 with six homers and a 1.002 OPS in 32 games with the Bowie Baysox.
Rutschman will be up this month. Maybe or maybe not this week. But this month, I promise. Rodriguez, if he keeps pitching this way, could make a case for a promotion around the All-Star break, give or take a few weeks. We likely won’t see Henderson until next year.
That’s my take for now.
Showing the fight, anyway
After the Orioles’ 5-4 loss to the Yankees on Tuesday, a game in which the Orioles strung together three consecutive two-out hits against Yankee closer Aroldis Chapman only to strand runners at second and third when Cedric Mullins popped up, Hyde was asked whether he was encouraged by the ninth-inning rally.
“Yeah, it was great to see the fight in our guys,” Hyde said.
I know that means little when you watch this team lose game after game, year after year. The Orioles are now 14-23, have lost five in a row and are already 13 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East.
But this club is so undermanned against a club like the Yankees, and yet it makes a run at the end against Chapman. There are no moral victories in Major League Baseball, of course.
Still, it’s nice to see these guys are again playing hard for Hyde.
(Photo of Logan Gillaspie: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)