An eager student: Tyler Wells excited to learn from new ace Corbin Burnes

This year when Corbin Burnes pitches for the Orioles a lot of eyes will be on their new ace pitcher. And some of them will be coming from his new rotation mates.

On Opening Day, Burnes walked none and fanned 11 over six very good innings where he gave up a Mike Trout homer in the first and then retired the next 16 batters he faced.

If they can get it in today through the raindrops, Burnes is scheduled to make his second O's start in the Orioles-Kansas City series finale.

The 2021 National League Cy Young winner has a lot to offer the Orioles and it’s more than just his own stat line and results.

Right-hander Tyler Wells said for the other young rotation pitchers, it’s a chance to watch and learn.

“I think that Burnes is very insightful in the way that he approaches the game,” Wells said this week in the O’s clubhouse. “His approach is pretty much beneficial for every guy in this rotation. I was able to talk to him after my (first) start. He provided a lot of insight on things I could be better at. Just to take that in and listen to him is very beneficial and I think he’ll continue to be open with us like that. His No. 1 goal is to win.”

Wells made his season debut on Sunday and before he had left the park, the veteran Burnes provided him feedback.

“Honestly it was a little bit of just kind of start the conversation off by talking about a general at-bat. And it ended up leading into a bigger conversation. He has been more than helpful to talk with a lot of us younger guys," said Wells.

Wells said the other rotation pitchers can learn in many ways from Burnes to include everything from his approach to the game to his specific attack plans for an opponent.

“You may see a lot of different approaches from him. He’s got great stuff across the board. Fastball, cutter, sinker, slider, changeup, curveball. All of it – he just knows what he wants to do with it," he said.

For Wells this is three veteran pitchers he could lean on in the last three years. It started with Jordan Lyles in 2022 and was Kyle Gibson a year ago and now Burnes, who has finished in the top eight in the Cy Young voting the last four seasons.

“Getting to learn from a guy like Lyles who has been in the league many years, he had a lot of insight for me in 2022 when I was a first time starter. Kyle Gibson helped me refine my approach. You get unique personalities with all of those guys. Being able to learn from all of them is a cool and unique thing we’ve had here," said Wells.

He added that he's not sure if Burnes would approach him with any tips or input actually during a start.

“I don’t know necessarily. Haven’t had a lot of starts with him. But if there comes a time when he sees something, it may not be directly toward me. Maybe to one of the coaches and then communicated toward me. I think he’s a man of the team. He would say something I think if he finds it beneficial," said Wells.

In the opener, Burnes' 11 strikeouts were tied for second-most in an O's opener, behind only Dave McNally who fanned 13 batters in the 1970 opener.

Burnes has now made 28 outings and 24 career starts versus AL opponents. And he owns a 13-2 record and 2.52 ERA with 189 strikeouts over 157 1/3 career innings against the AL. Burnes is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA (2 ER/18.0 IP) with 25 strikeouts in three starts against the Royals in his career.

Norfolk still raking and Bowie's opening series rotation: The Triple-A Norfolk Tides are still raking. They are now 3-1 and won at Charlotte 10-6 last night to begin the six-game series. The Tides hit six homers in the game, which included back-to-back homers to start the game by Jackson Holliday and Connor Norby.

Heston Kjerstad hit a pair of two-run homers. The first one was hit 451 feet in fifth inning. 

The six homers were one off the franchise record of seven at Charlotte on April 28, 2005.

Lefty Cade Povich pitched a gem for the Tides allowing just one hit over six scoreless innings with five strikeouts on 74 pitches. 

Double-A Bowie will open a new season this weekend at home, hosting Reading. Right-hander Alex Pham is the scheduled starter Friday night with Kyle Brnovich scheduled to pitch Saturday and Trace Bright on Sunday.

Click here to review some notes posted in this space yesterday after Bowie's media day at Prince George's Stadium. 

Click here to see Holliday's leadoff homer and here to see the first Kjerstad blast from last night.