Cole Sulser on adjustments that led to his strong start

When you count the growing list of Orioles bullpen pitchers that are throwing well, be sure to include right-hander Cole Sulser. He made a few minor adjustments and tweaks since last season, when he also got off to a good start, in hopes of seeing a solid season through to the end.

The 31-year-old right-hander went 1-5 with a 5.56 ERA last season when his ERA dropped, hitting 8.38 over his last nine games. In 2021 his ERA is 0.00 and he's allowed just 0.789 WHIP thus far. That covers 6 1/3 scoreless innings on five hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts, for a K rate of 14.2 per nine.

He threw two scoreless innings in last night's loss to Oakland, retiring all six batters on 22 pitches with a fastball that topped at 94.5 mph.

"For the most part, it's actually been pretty simple," Sulser said of his solid start. "Some of it's just from an approach standpoint, trying to be more aggressive in the zone early. Especially with multiple off-speed pitches. A few mechanical changes. One of them I just moved over on the rubber a little bit trying to get my breaking pitches a little bit more room on the plate for breaking off. So, trying to attack the zone and then just make everything look more like a strike out of hand. So, mostly an approach standpoint.

"I mean, some of it (the adjustments) was definitely (pitching coaches Chris) Holt and (Darren) Holmes. We talked about it even during last season. A little bit on myself as well. Some of it was just identifying what was happening with my pitches. Why maybe they were being taken out of hand too easily (seen well by the batters). That was kind of the mechanical adjustment. As far as from the approach standpoint, that was definitely something that our pitching coaches are trying to drive home to all of us. That we need to remain on attack and remain aggressive."

Sulser may well prove to be a nice addition to the O's bullpen, and is a pitcher with three options remaining, counting one the Orioles are using for this year. A season where he has already had three stints with the club, once as the 27th man for a doubleheader. He's been with the club since his most recent call-up on April 18.

His 2020 was filled with ups and downs that provided him with perspective on the game and his own performance.

"I learned a lot," he said. "There were definitely some ups and downs. The biggest thing you can kind of do in baseball is try to level those off. You never want to get too high on your good days or too low on the bad days. A lot of that was kind of looking at what I did well and trying to keep that, and looking where I may have faltered or kind of gotten away from my strengths and try to remind myself that, even if your outing is not going the best, to still trust in your stuff and keep your approach simple."

The O's bullpen, after recording five scoreless innings Friday night, now ranks sixth in the American League with a 3.14 ERA. The 'pen is fourth in WHIP (1.20) and sixth in batting average against (.226). That bullpen has gone eight games without allowing any runs, including five times in the past seven games with an ERA of 0.71 in that span.

So just what is the ceiling for this group?

"That is tough to say," Sulser said. "I mean, we have some phenomenal arms in the 'pen. And some are doing a great job. They did a great job last year and are continuing to move forward with that. Paul Fry, Tanner Scott, Dillon Tate, (César) Valdez. We have just a ton of guys that had really good years last year, and they continue to keep excelling. So, I think it's really tough to define where that limit might be."