Tyler Wells earns save for second straight day

That’s relatively good news. Helsley will keep resting for now and then aim for a return down the stretch. One imagines he’ll be down for at least another month, and since the Orioles might get Félix Bautista back in September, it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to hold on to Helsley in shallow leagues. Andrew Kittredge seems to have supplanted Tyler Wells as the favorite for saves in Baltimore’s pen for now. The team could trade for another option before the deadline.

Tyler Wells was used against the top of the order in a tie game in the eighth, and wound up allowing a run on a pair of doubles by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki. However, he wound up with the win here as the Orioles plated two in the bottom of the eighth. Kittredge stepped in against 6-8 hitters. He needed some help, as Nico Hoerner was caught stealing ahead of an Ian Happ single, but Kittredge eventually got Michael Conforto to line out to left to end the threat. Don’t be surprised if Wells is used as a pure fireman at points this year, but Wells likely remains the head of the closer committee for fantasy purposes.

It’s the first save for Wells since the 2023 season. The righty was called on to shut the door on the Reds in the ninth inning after the team again lost Ryan Helsley (elbow) to the IL. We’ll see if the Orioles look to deploy Wells as the closer more frequently while Helsley is on the mend, but this could very well be a committee situation.

Wells returns to Baltimore’s relief mix with lefty Grant Wolfram (back) hitting the injured list ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Yankees. The 31-year-old former starter figures to pitch in long relief situations. He’s compiled a serviceable 3.44 ERA and 18/4 K/BB ratio across 18 1/3 innings for the Orioles this season.

Wells heads back to the minors after allowing one run over 1 1/3 innings in relief against the Yankees during Friday’s series opener. The 31-year-old has posted a respectable 3.44 ERA and 18/4 K/BB ratio across 18 1/3 innings this season at the highest level.

Those three batters were Christian Cairo, Trea Turner and Bryson Stott. Although Wells has given up four runs in 7 2/3 innings this spring, his 12/1 K/BB is really nice. His roster spot is assured, and he should be in contention for a setup role in Baltimore’s pen.

The writing was on the wall when the Orioles added Chris Bassitt, and the team has confirmed that Wells will go into the season as a reliever. He’s pitched six scoreless innings with an 8/0 K/BB in five appearances this spring, and he could turn out to be a surprisingly strong seventh- or eighth-inning guy in the Baltimore pen.

The Orioles say they’re still treating Wells as a starter, but he’s seventh or eighth on the depth chart now right there, which suggests that he’s bullpen bound to start the year. He might be the team’s big win vulture while working in the middle innings.

No aces for the Orioles, but this is another strong addition. The 36-year-old Bassitt has made 30 starts each of the last four seasons, going 52-40 with a 3.77 ERA during that span. His stuff did show signs of decline last season and he was left out of the Jays’ postseason rotation, but he wound up looking great as a setup man during the team’s World Series run. He’ll join Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, Shane Baz in the Orioles rotation, leaving one spot for Dean Kremer or Zach Elfin. However, they’ll surely need all six starters in the end. The move does push Cade Povich further down the depth chart, and it would seem to guarantee that Tyler Wells will open up in the pen.

He had been projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $2.7 million via arbitration. Wells looked electric in four starts in September following a return from Tommy John surgery, registering a 2.91 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and an 18/2 K/BB ratio across 21 2/3 innings. Now that he’ll have a full healthy off-season under his belt, it should be all systems go for the 31-year-old hurler heading into 2026.