As a Rule 5 pick, pitcher Tyler Wells trying to prove he belongs

As the season goes on, the Orioles seem to be gaining more confidence in Rule 5 pitcher Tyler Wells. The right-hander came on in the sixth inning Friday night with the Nationals leading 2-0.

The game was still very much on the line.

And Wells has been holding his own. Not bad for a young pitcher who had Tommy John surgery in May 2019, so he hadn't pitched in two seasons covering 2019-2020. In 2018, he went 10-6 with a 2.49 ERA for the Minnesota Twins organization, but just 33 of those innings came at the Double-A level.

He's made quite the jump this year to the big leagues, going 0-0 with a 5.14 ERA. In 21 innings, he has allowed 16 hits and has a strikeout rate of 11.1. He's shown some mid-90s fastballs and some decent secondaries.

"Every single day, it gets better," Wells said Saturday during a pregame Zoom interview. "There are a lot of learning experiences that come along with being a rookie. I'm at 20-something innings now. In those innings, you learn so much about yourself, you learn a lot about your stuff and a lot about the hitters. So each time I go out there confidence grows and I definitely learn more about myself as a pitcher."

O's skipper Brandon Hyde likes what he has seen from Wells, 26. If he can stay on the roster all year, the O's could have a future bullpen weapon or maybe even a starter candidate.

"I think possibly (he could start)," said Hyde "Really impressed with Tyler right now. This is a guy that didn't pitch for a couple years. Had a couple major injuries. Hasn't pitched above Double-A and really is holding his own in the big leagues with no Triple-A experience.

"I think the guy has got big-time confidence. His stuff has ticked up. I think you're seeing the command of his off-speed stuff - the slider and the changeup - improve. Which really for me was a question in spring training. I like the guy's fastball, it's 93-96 (mph) and kind of a tough angle for the hitter. But would he command the off-speed enough to get them off his fastball? He's done a really good job with that."

Wells has thrown his fastball 61 percent of the time at 94 mph on average. He has used his slider 20 percent, his changeup 11 percent and his curveball 8 percent.

He seems to be gaining more confidence in a changeup that has helped him hold lefty batters to a .185 average against.

"My changeup used to be my fourth-best pitch," Wells said. "A lot of that came from the lack of actually throwing it. When I got Tommy John surgery, one of the big things that I actually focused on and dedicated that rehab to was obviously health of my arm, but also developing a better changeup.

"Especially when COVID hit and we had a lot of down time. One of my roommates, Tom Hackimer of the Twins organization, he was big into pitch design. So we played around with a lot of different stuff and I just got more comfortable throwing it. Found a grip that was comfortable to throw it full velocity and not have it spin exactly like my fastball. There was a lot that actually went into it, but I was really dedicated to making it a better pitch."

Wells seemed to be gaining confidence as spring training went on. But on the night of March 26, he threw three scoreless innings against the Yankees and fanned six on 41 pitches. He struck out Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in that game with mid-90s heat.

"You are facing the heart of a lineup and you are really pushing," he recalled. "You're building confidence in yourself. At every point in this season, I've never felt like I haven't belonged here. The guys have made me feel extremely welcomed. I am trying to build confidence in the coaching staff to put me in those high-leverage situations. Very thankful for those people and all the learning experiences I've had and the veteran guys who have shown me how to be a big leaguer."