Dillon Tate on his first two MLB appearances

Right-handed reliever Dillon Tate became the seventh player of 15 acquired in the July 2018 trades to make his way to the Orioles. He followed Jonathan Villar, Breyvic Valera, Cody Carroll, Josh Rogers, Evan Phillips and Luis Ortiz.

Tate's debut came after the 25-year-old was moved from the rotation to the bullpen this year at Double-A Bowie. He's also the only Orioles call-up this season that was not from Triple-A Norfolk.

Tate was drafted No. 4 overall by the Texas Rangers in 2015 and signed to a $4.2 million bonus. He was ranked No. 69 in Baseball America's top 100 prospects at the end of the 2015 season.

While the stat sheet doesn't look good for him right now - a 10.80 ERA after two appearances, clearly manager Brandon Hyde has been impressed with the stuff and potential. A fastball ranging from 93 to 96 mph along with a sharp slider and solid changeup.

"It's been fun really," Tate said this afternoon of his first two major league appearances. "Going out there and competing with the best players in the world. That's all I can really ask for, I don't really need much else."

Said Hyde after last night's 11-2 loss to Toronto: "Dillon Tate's the highlight of the game for me. I thought he threw the ball great. That was really good stuff. That was three pitches - 95-96 mph sinker. Left the slider in the middle part of the plate to Vlad (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.), but this guy threw 41 pitches (Monday). He had two days off and then today, so he threw two innings, two days off, and then today, extending him way further than I wanted to. But we had multiple guys down in the 'pen today, so he picked us up big time. I loved the stuff that I saw."

"I felt like I've done okay," Tate said of his two outings. "I always think it could be better. Think there is always room for improvement. I think last night was better than the first one and that's a good thing to go off of. Just be positive and continue to keep getting better. Looking to just build off my last night one. Make the next one better and go out and have fun."

Tate made his MLB debut in the seventh inning on Monday at San Diego. The first three batters he faced went hit by pitch, infield single and then a three-run homer by Eric Hosmer. So welcome to the show, kid. But he settled down after that and threw a scoreless eighth inning. He gave up three runs in three innings last night, but also fanned two.

But he's slowly finding out that his stuff, when located, can work at the big league level.

"Definitely. I think that is something I started to see when I got that first out a few days ago. I definitely can do this. So just go out and throw my best stuff. It definitely is still a game for me. I'm going out there and having fun and that is when I play my best. Fortunately I can just have fun out there and be myself. Thankful really."

Tate was throwing well out of the Bowie 'pen. He was 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA in 15 relief appearances. Over 27 innings he gave up just two homers with six walks to 24 strikeouts.

He said he doesn't necessarily rely on one of his secondaries more than the other. He reads the bats and relies on his catchers to put the signs for the right pitch at the right time.

"What I enjoy the most is just throwing my best stuff and challenging that batter. I enjoy that. I feel as confident in my changeup as I do with my slider," he said.