ORGANIZATION REPORTS American League
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Righthander Dean Kremer showed up in spring training with a strained oblique and never made it on a mound in six weeks in Florida. Therefore, the Orioles had to wait a while before they were truly able to begin evaluating the 23-year-old for their rotation.
Kremer has since put his health issues behind him, and the future once again seems bright for a pitcher who last summer led the minors in strikeouts.
Absent for the first month of the season, Kremer needed just two starts with high Class A Frederick before deemed ready to return to Double-A Bowie.
Now just one of the components of a dominant Bowie rotation, Kremer went 7-4, 3.04 with a 1.22 WHIP through 12 starts. He had walked 20 and struck out 66 in 68 innings, including a dominant July 18 start against Altoona, when he tossed seven scoreless innings and registered one walk and eight strikeouts.
“He’s just now rounding into form,” Bowie pitching coach Kennie Steenstra said. “His curveball has really come along, and I think (feel for pitch) was eluding him early on. He’s been really good here lately, and we’re working to get him back to where he was last year. He’s still a little shy, location-wise.”
The Orioles are hoping for a big return on their Manny Machado trade with the Dodgers last July, and Kremer is only one aspect of that return package.
Outfielder Yusniel Diaz ranks as the system’s No. 4 prospect, and reliever Zach Pop allowed only one run and struck out 11 in 10.2 innings with Bowie before having Tommy John surgery in May.
Kremer is trying to beat both of them to the majors, but it’s a task prolonged by the Orioles choosing development in the minors over potentially rushing a prospect and tossing him into the deep end.
Plus, Kremer’s spring injury also provided a good reason to move him along slowly, and he’s still working to get a feel for all of his pitches on a consistent basis.
“He got off to a slow start with the injury,” Bowie manager Buck Britton said. “He’s got a swing-and-miss breaking ball. Because he was slow to start, right now it’s a little inconsistent … He knows how to pitch with that breaking ball.”
—ROCH KUBATKO
BOSTON RED SOX
Scouting relievers is an exercise in persistence and an acceptance in frustration, yet in the case of righthander Thad Ward, area scout Stephen Hargett felt the challenging logistics were worth it.
While Ward started a handful of games during his three years at Central Florida, he mostly worked out of the bullpen, following a somewhat unpredictable usage pattern that made patience a mandatory part of the scouting process.
The effort was worthwhile. The stringy, 6-foot-3 Ward showed command of a low-90s sinker and a swing-and-miss slider, two pitches that Red Sox scouts saw as being of major league quality.
Yet the Red Sox and Ward also wanted to see if he could further develop his pitch mix and stick in the rotation. about developing a cutter. The pitch took quickly, and with it, Ward’s development took off.
