A look at some in-house rotation candidates

The assumption seems to be that the Orioles may leave spring training with at least one in-house pitcher winning a job in their starting rotation come April. And yes, we all know they have just two starters set right now in Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy.

You know what that means, right? If they had to play today, they might need gloves (and I don't mean baseball gloves) first of all, but also they also would need three in-house starters in addition to Gausman and Bundy.

Let's take a look at a few in-house candidates. The disclaimer here to (hopefully) keep some of you from panicking before lunch time is I don't advocate them going only in-house, nor do I expect it. Try not to overreact here. We are just looking at the potential of some of these players right now.

Let's go in alphabetical order by last name.

Jayson Aquino: He was re-signed by the Orioles on Dec. 22 as a minor league free agent and he also has an option remaining. He went 3-10 with an ERA of 4.24 for Triple-A Norfolk and 1-2 with a 7.43 ERA in four games, which included two starts, for the Orioles. They need a lefty, so don't rule him out.

Alec Asher: He had two very promising starts in April for Toronto and Boston. But he had an ERA of 9.86 in four other starts later in the year. Asher fared better in a short sample out of the bullpen last year and his best chance to impact the roster this year may be as a long reliever. He has an option left and is still in the picture pending later moves.

Miguel Castro: He might be the leader in the clubhouse heading into spring training to emerge with a rotation spot come April. The Orioles will take a long look in March at Castro as a starter. They know he threw well as a multi-inning reliever last year and he could always go back to that role. Among the challenges Castro will face - and we addressed some of them , - is how will he fare when facing lineups two and three times. Also how will he handle lefty batters? Last year he allowed an OPS against of .573 against right-handed hitters and .848 versus lefty batters. Castro has an option remaining.

Nestor Cortes Jr.: This Rule 5 pick is a southpaw and they could use a lefty in the rotation. He's posted a 2.08 ERA in 84 career minor league games, including 40 starts. He had an ERA of 2.06 last year between Double-A and Triple-A. He doesn't throw hard, but he sure got outs last year in the International League, going 2-4 with a 1.49 ERA in 11 games and six starts. Over 48 1/3 innings, he walked 11 and fanned 57. Is he ready for the jump to the major leagues?

Hunter Harvey: He turned 23 in December and Harvey is long on talent, but short on innings and experience. Those injuries, including Tommy John surgery, have limited him to 31 1/3 innings in three seasons. But he could move fast this year and impact the big league roster at some point. No reason to rush him here, but he sure has the potential to be a key member of future rotations. His day is indeed coming.

David Hess: The right-hander had a big finish last season for Double-A Bowie, pitching to an ERA of 2.25 his last six starts. It capped a year with an ERA of 3.85, where he finished second in the Eastern League in innings and third in strikeouts. Most likely he moves to Norfolk for this season, but his chance could be coming soon. He features an intriguing four-pitch mix.

Michael Kelly: The 48th-overall pick in the 2011 draft by San Diego, the Orioles signed the right-hander in the Rule 5 draft. He was a minor league free agent, but got a major league deal and is on the 40-man roster. Last year, he pitched to an ERA of 2.98 in Double-A and 6.64 at Triple-A in the Pacific Coast League. He's on the radar but more likely it seems that he would be in the Triple-A rotation than in Baltimore come April.

Chris Lee: The lefty is about to start his third season on the 40-man roster, still looking to make his major league debut. An ERA of 5.11 and WHIP of 1.70 last year for Norfolk was disappointing, but maybe he found something late in the year. Taken out of the rotation, he pitched to an ERA of 1.48 in seven bullpen outings that ranged from two innings to 4 1/3. The talent is there with a fastball touching 94 and 95 mph along with a slider and changeup. Don't write him off yet from helping the big club.

Yefry Ramírez: This right-hander was acquired by the Orioles from the Yankees last July 31 for international bonus pool money. Between two teams in the Eastern League, he went 15-3 with a 3.47 ERA. He led the league in wins and was seventh in ERA.

At the time of the trade, he was on New York's 40-man roster. Baseball America wrote this when ranking him as the Yankees' No. 23 prospect at the end of 2016:

"Ramírez works primarily with three pitches - fastball, curveball and changeup - from a high three-quarters slot. His fastball sat in the low-90s for most of the season, but touched 96 mph during Tampa's run to the Florida State League championship series. His changeup, which sits in the low-80s, and his curveball both rank as average pitches. He effectively used both off-speed pitches to handle both right-handers and left-handers with nearly equal success. The Yankees thought enough of Ramírez to add him to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, and he will begin 2017 in Double-A Trenton."

Mike Wright: Just as some fans have written him off as a Baltimore starter, can Wright prove them wrong? No pun intended. We've seen him have plenty of success at Triple-A. But in parts of three seasons in Baltimore, he has an ERA of 5.86 and WHIP of 1.45. Will this be the year he finally takes the next step? Or might he find future major league success in the bullpen as some scouts believed all along?

Gabriel Ynoa: With others like Castro and Cortes getting some of the recent attention, we should not forget Ynoa. You know? He went 2-3 with a 4.15 ERA in nine games, making four starts for the 2017 Orioles. Last Sept. 21, he allowed one run over eight innings on 94 pitches versus Tampa Bay. His fastball was still touching 94 in the eighth inning and worked well along with a sinker-slider mix. He gave up just a .197 average on his slider last season.

The Orioles' other two Rule 5 pick pitchers, Pedro Araujo and José Mesa, are more likely bullpen candidates, although Mesa made eight starts among 29 appearances last year. The Orioles also are expected to have Tanner Scott and Jesus Liranzo make more three-inning starts in 2018. This will be more about pitch development, however, than transitioning them into starting pitchers. Although the club has probably not ruled that out yet for either.

There are other pitchers that were signed to minor league contracts that could work their way into starting assignments in either Bowie or Norfolk. But even that is not certain and they are pretty much big longshots to wind up starting any games in Baltimore. Especially with most of those we've already mentioned ahead of them. But this list includes Christian Binford, Luis Lugo, Tim Melville, Asher Wojciechowski and former O's farmhand Eddie Gamboa, who was signed yesterday.