Tyler Wells on battling fatigue and fluke hits

This isn't the first stretch of games that has mistreated Orioles rookie Tyler Wells. He's faced adversity this summer. Head-on and in front of vocal crowds.

He's overcome it, too.

Perhaps it just seems like a new situation for Wells because he's the closer, his jump as a Rule 5 selection from Double-A to the majors requiring more length and with further risk of a rough landing.

Wells has fumbled back-to-back save opportunities, the latest Wednesday night against the Yankees. His ERA in the last two games has risen from 3.27 to 4.17. But he was scored upon in five straight appearances in April - with home runs surrendered in four in a row - while trying to prove to the organization that he deserved to stay on the roster. Runs also scored in four of seven outings the following month.

The story grew much different in June with only two runs allowed in 14 1/3 innings. Those runs, however, came in the ninth inning against the Blue Jays on June 19, the game that featured six Orioles home runs and Alek Manoah's ejection for drilling Maikel Franco on the elbow, and led to Wells' first blown save.

There wasn't a second until the opener of Saturday's doubleheader against Toronto, which included Teoscar Hernández's ball that grazed chalk for a leadoff double. Wells had strung together 11 scoreless appearances in a row, the last nine after he recovered from wrist tendinitis and was reinstated from the injured list.

"I think these situations are a little different because I found, as a pitcher, what my strengths were," Wells said yesterday afternoon. "I went through a span, yes, where I didn't quite feel like I had the stuff that I have now. I think that there is a difference, primarily because I'm being put in these higher-leverage situations and the game's on the line.

"Obviously, the big thing for me is, they are different situations, but at the same time, my mentality needs to be consistent, and it has been. It's just been primarily fatigue and just trying to push through it and continue to get better."

The Yankees' comeback featured Brett Gardner's two-run bloop single over a drawn-in infield, with Richie Martin sprinting into shallow center field, reaching for the ball and coming up short. The rally began with a Luke Voit walk and Gleyber Torres single.

The baseball gods turned on Wells. They can be a fickle bunch. He hasn't been as sharp. He's feeling the effects of his 54 innings after missing the past two seasons with Tommy John surgery and the cancellation of the minor leagues due to COVID-19.

There's more than just one explanation.

"I would say (Wednesday) night with the hits, with Gardner, that feels like bad luck," Wells said. "The last two outings, it's just been primarily fatigue. This has been a long season. I'm now finally kind of getting to the point where, like they always say, the big leagues is a different animal, and you finally start to understand that whenever September rolls around.

"A lot of that is just poor execution on my part. I think there's, like, a mental focus there that I need to get back to. I think the execution of fastballs and sliders needs to be better, and that's a personal opinion of mine. I faced two teams that are in the playoff hunt, and so you're going to get guys who are going to go out there and they're going to put their best at-bats forward and they're trying to win a playoff spot. So, it's been a great learning experience these last two outings.

"I'd like to call them 'growing pains,' and just try to learn as much as I can from them and continue to adjust, and then hopefully I see results from that soon."

Gardner, batting with one out, fell behind 1-2 in the count after two called strikes, fouled off three straight pitches and dumped a 90.6 mph slider over Martin's head as if, as manager Brandon Hyde said, using a sand wedge.

"It was one of those situations when, when you see infield in and then a hit like that happens, you're kind of just like, 'Oh great,'" Wells said. "I wasn't sure if Richie was going to be able to get there or not. I know that Richie's quick and he's a great middle infielder.

"It sucked to see it fall and obviously it is what it is. Baseball works out that way, baseball finds a way to humble you, baseball finds a way to make you realize that there's still more work to do. So, I'm just going to keep taking that mentality into my everyday routine and build on it from there."

Wells said the wrist isn't bothering him. He missed almost a full month with the injury.

"Wrist feels fine," he said. "A lot of it is just primarily muscle fatigue. It's, like, not throwing for two years and then coming into really high, intense situations, which is great. I'm happy that Hyder has that confidence in me.

"There's really nothing that really prepares you to pitch a full season until you've done it, so that's exactly what I'm looking forward to this offseason, is that I can prepare my body for, hopefully, next season and continue to pitch at the high level that I've been throwing at."

Hyde was asked again following Wednesday's loss about his confidence in Wells bouncing back from a tough outing.

"I feel like we talk about that every time he ..." Hyde said, cutting himself off with a chuckle.

"I think Tyler is fine. We all have to remember where Tyler Wells was a couple years ago and how hard the last three outs are in the American League East. That's why closers make money and that's why closers usually pitch for a while before they move into the closer role, and Tyler Wells is just getting his feet wet in the big leagues and I'm putting him in really, really difficult spots. So, that's on me if I'm putting him in a spot.

"I just think the guy can handle it. I love the makeup. I think he's going to be a heck of a major league pitcher for a long time."

"I'm happy that Hyder has confidence in me," Wells said, "and I would say that I have confidence in myself. I know that every single pitcher has gone through these growing pains. I'm just trying to grow from them, I'm trying to learn from them."

Wells turned to the staff ace for assistance.

"I had a great conversation with John Means (Wednesday) night about the adversity he went through and talking about what he went through and his growing pains and how they're pretty similar to what I'm going through right now. I had a really good conversation with him," Wells said.

"I know that Hyder has my back and he's been nothing but supportive of me this year, and he's really pushed me to be a better pitcher, so I have a lot to thank him for and especially for being able to have confidence in me. And I have a lot of players to thank for it, too."