Big Mike had big outing as O's beat Brewers

In an interview before the home opener on Monday, young right-hander Mike Baumann told me how excited he was for opening day in Baltimore. He had heard how special it can be and he was also excited that his mom and some family members were in town to see it.
 
“It will be a day for me to remember,” he said.
 
Then the game started and his day got even better. The guy they call “Big Mike” had a big outing led by a big fastball. After lefty Bruce Zimmermann threw four scoreless innings at the defending National League Central champion Milwaukee Brewers, Baumann took the mound for the fifth inning.
 
He would enter this outing full of confidence. Confidence that had origins in Fort Myers, Fla. On April 3 in a spring training game against the Twins, Baumann fired 2 1/3 scoreless and his fastball touched 98 mph against Minnesota. That day he looked like the pitcher that was a top O’s prospect on his way up through the minors. He looked like the hurler that shared the 2019 Jim Palmer Award as O’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year with Grayson Rodriguez.
 
A meaningless spring game? It was, but not to Baumann.
 
“That felt good. That gave me a lot of confidence going into the season. I felt like everything was working. I felt powerful and strong on the mound. Really just had trust and confidence that whatever I was doing would be working,” he told me of that spring outing.
 
Then yesterday, eight days later, it was another 2 1/3 scoreless, and again he was touching 98 mph. This game was far from meaningless. It was his first opening day in Baltimore. The O’s were clinging to a 2-0 lead and Big Mike had a big outing. He leaned on his four-seamer heavily, throwing the heater 29 times in 37 pitches as he fanned three and averaged 97 mph on the fastball. He was cutting it loose again, just like he had against the Twins in Fort Myers.
 
Baumann pitched in the bigs late last year, but fans didn’t see him put his best foot forward then as he had a 9.90 ERA in four September games.
 
“It was just a good experience,” he said of getting the call to the show. “I was just happy to be here and I really just wanted to go out there and fill up the zone. I didn’t get the results I wanted but there was a lot to learn from and take with me going into the offseason.”
 
And a fastball that averaged just 93.6 mph in those four O’s games then is now back in the high 90s.
 
“I feel a lot better now than I did at the end of last year,” Baumann said Monday. “The coaches in player development got with me and we put together a plan to clean up some things. I was pretty persistent with my work in the offseason, working on stuff during the lockout. I came in feeling good and ready to go.”
 
He said one mechanics issue he cleaned up was that his arm would sometimes drag behind his body. Now he’s more in synch and on time with everything. Body and arm working in concert.
 
Baumann is one of the young pitchers executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was referring to, no doubt, when he said it’s time for some of that group to take steps forward this year.
 
Baumann said he completely concurs with that.
 
“Yeah, for sure," he said. "You know, we haven’t, you know, results speak for itself. He has a job to put together the best roster possible and it’s our job to go out compete and get guys out.”
 
For one day in front of a big crowd that included his family, Baumann sure did that. He picked up his second major league win as the Orioles picked up their first of the 2022 season.
 
A few more notes
 
* The Orioles won their first home opener since 2018, improving to 45-24 all-time in home openers. They avoided falling to 0-4 for the first time since the 1988 season and beat Milwaukee for the first time since May 26, 2014. The Orioles shut out the Brewers for the first time since June 26, 1995 at Milwaukee, when they beat them 2-0. And the win marked the first time the O’s shut out the Brewers in Baltimore since Aug. 21, 1989.
 
* Zimmermann threw 66 pitches in producing his first career scoreless outing. He had an ERA of 3.89 in seven home games in 2021. He is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA in his last five starts at Oriole Park dating to May 16, 2021.
 
* O’s pitchers have allowed just 15 runs for the season and have a team ERA of 4.09.
 
* The Orioles had just five shutouts last year, but in their last six wins, three have come via a shutout. Last season they blanked the Phillies on the road on Sept. 20 and Texas at home on Sept. 23 and won via the five-pitcher six-hitter in the home opener.