Dean Kremer lasts just four innings vs. Astros

Kremer struck out six and walked two. It was the first time he struggled in three starts since coming over from the Orioles ahead of this summer’s trade deadline. He had been hit extremely hard in his final outings with Baltimore, so his performance with Minnesota has been encouraging. Consider him a deep-league streamer when he visits the Padres next time out.

Kremer predictably came back to haunt his former team, limiting Baltimore to just a pair of baserunners across seven strong frames. His seven punchouts were his highest single-start total since April 18. He’s allowed two runs over 12 innings since being shipped to Minnesota just ahead of the trade deadline earlier this month. He’ll wrap up a two-start week with a home outing against the Phillies on Sunday.

Kremer was solid in his Twins debut. He drastically pushed up the usage of his four-seam fastball and kept it elevated consistently. That usage especially spiked against left-handed batters where he threw it 54% of the time against them here compared to 27% while he was with the Orioles. That came while he almost completely trashed his curveball and sinker against them. We like that decision for the sinker and also spiked a few curveballs early and floated one in late, so this could have been more about feel than a conscious adjustment. Still, he was effective and is scheduled for a two-start week against the Orioles and Phillies coming up with both starts at home.

Matthews heads back to the minors with veteran Dean Kremer joining Minnesota’s rotation after being acquired from the Orioles in a trade on Friday night. The 26-year-old righty posted a career-high 10 strikeouts and allowed three runs over five innings against the Mariners on Friday night. There’s a chance injuries or ineffectiveness bring him back to the big leagues in a couple weeks, but there simply isn’t a spot for him as the Twins make a legitimate playoff push.

The Twins definitely needed rotation depth, but Kremer has struggled to a 6.50 ERA in his seven starts this year, and while he’s under control for 2027, he seems like a non-tender candidate right now. Maybe he’ll bounce back — he was typically an average starter or a little better each season from 2022 through 2025 — but he’s never been all that exciting with his middling velocity and strikeout numbers. The Orioles could replace him with Trey Gibson or Cade Povich for now, and they should get Chris Bassitt back sometime in August. Zebby Matthews might be bumped from the Twins’ rotation in order to open up a spot.

No word yet on what’s going back to the Orioles in the deal. Kremer finished his Orioles’ tenure on a low note, giving up eight runs over four innings in a miserable effort against the Tigers on Tuesday. That being said, he should help to bring stability to the middle of the Twins’ rotation as they push for a spot in the postseason. Stay tuned.

Kremer gave up a pair of homers, bringing his total surrendered to 12 in 36 innings this season. He’s allowed 21 runs in 25 innings in his five starts since coming off the injured list, and he’s 1-4 with a 6.50 ERA in seven starts overall. If the Orioles can bring in a starter before the deadline, it’s very obvious that it’s Kremer who is going to be bumped from the rotation.

Four of the runs came right away in the first. The Orioles never made up that deficit, but at least Kremer was able to settle down and get through six with the team playing two games today. Kremer finished up with five strikeouts and one walk. He allowed eight hits, five of which came in the first. He is 1-2 with a 5.57 ERA in four starts since returning from a quad strain, and he figures to next pitch Monday or Tuesday in Detroit.

The 30-year-old right-hander will get the ball for the O’s in their second half opener. Injuries limited him to just four starts in the first half where he posted a 4.09 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and a 24/4 K/BB ratio over 22 innings of work. Trevor Rogers will follow on Saturday with Kyle Bradish getting the ball in Sunday’s series finale.

The last three homers came in a four-batter span in the fifth. Of the four, two actually came on balls that fell just short of being hard-hit; Pete Crow-Armstrong’s first homer left the bat at 94.2 mph, and Michael Conforto’s checked in at 94.5 mph. Those probably weren’t homers a month ago. Kremer is 1-2 with a 4.09 ERA in four starts. Between his two outings in April and his two since coming off the IL on July 1, he’s given up nine homers so far but only 10 earned runs. Unless the baseball starts traveling more like it did in April, he’s not going to be a mixed-league option in the second half.