Mike Wright on his velocity, his time on the farm and more

He struck out Mike Trout for his first big league strikeout. He pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings on just 90 pitches. He was throwing in the high 90s at times both early and late in his outing.

Mike Wright's major league debut last Sunday at home in a 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels was sensational. Tonight, he makes his second big league start when he takes the mound in Miami against the Marlins.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, Wright became the first pitcher in Orioles franchise history to earn a win as the starter in his MLB debut without allowing any runs or walks. Only two other active pitchers have done this: Anibal Sanchez on June 25, 2006 with the Marlins and Odrisamer Despaigne with the Padres on June 23, 2014.

The Orioles' third-round draft pick in 2011 out of East Carolina, Wright showed velocity in his start against the Angels that exceeded some scouting reports that said his pitches touched the mid 90s, but not necessarily the high 90s. He reached 97 and 98 mph against the Angels.

But Wright said he had touched that velocity in all his Triple-A Norfolk starts this year and also reached those numbers late last year. And he was pretty pumped up in making his big league debut, which didn't hurt either.

"The adrenaline and the type of game I was in probably dictated that (velocity) a little bit," he told me earlier this week. "I would say I have touched that every game this season, but probably a little more consistently during that Angels game.

"Honestly it's the mentality I had at the end of last year to relax. When your muscles relax and everything is working for you everything comes out a lot better."

Wright's debut was impressive to say the least. More so if you think back to late last July when he had an ERA of 6.42 for Triple-A Norfolk. But as he said, he somehow found that relaxed mindset, and some stunning stats soon followed.

Since he had that high ERA, Wright had gone 7-2 with an ERA of 1.62 in his last 13 Triple-A starts, including six this year. He carried that into Sunday's outing, which came on the big stage of the big leagues.

Who knows for sure how Wright will do as a major leaguer? But we do know that he wasn't rushed to the majors. Over the 2012-13 seasons he made 38 starts at Double-A Bowie. Since then, he has made 33 starts at Triple-A. Maybe we saw some of that experience pay off for him last Sunday.

Wright had a classy answer when I asked him which minor league coach helped him the most? He didn't want to single anyone out and said they all had.

"Every pitching coach I've had has helped me in some way. Even coaches I haven't had, like Alan Mills. He's never been my pitching coach, but just talking with him in the spring helped," Wright said.

The Orioles added four home-grown pitchers to their 40-man roster over the winter, and already three have been to Baltimore with Wright, Tyler Wilson and Eddie Gamboa. The fourth, right-hander Oliver Drake, is pitching to an ERA of 0.96 for Norfolk and is headed to Miami to join the Orioles tonight according to several reports, to provide a bullpen reinforcement after last night's game.

Now Wright and Wilson, both drafted in 2011, are on the O's roster at the same time after beginning this season in the Norfolk rotation. In the last week, both earned their first major league wins after Wilson was the winning pitcher last night at Miami.

"That was amazing when I heard Tyler was on the taxi squad here, I was hoping he'd get added," Wright said. "I thought he might possibly go in my spot. But for him to get added and for us to be here together, we had a little celebration a couple of times. We've been through it the whole time together in the minor leagues, so it's good to be up here together."

Hopefully expectations won't spiral out of control for Wright. He's going to soon give up some runs and it might happen tonight.

But, as scouts told me the last few years, he has some numbers in his favor: his 6-foot-6 size and those velocity numbers. Most teams would be excited to have a strong, big and durable pitcher like Wright who throws that hard with sink in their farm systems.

Wright showed talent and poise last Sunday against the Angels. But in the big leagues, there is always another challenge right around the corner. The next one for this O's homegrown product comes tonight in Miami.

Talking O's today on MASN: I'll be appearing on the "Wall to Wall Baseball" show today at noon on MASN with Tom Davis and Mark Viviano. Tune in as we talk about the Birds.

More on the Drake: Drake getting the call to join the Orioles is quite a story. He had shoulder surgery late in the 2012 season. He was also briefly a minor league free agent this winter, and the Orioles re-signed him. Read more on Drake here.