Givens on Britton staying, his big year and more

When the non-waiver trade deadline passed Monday and closer Zach Britton was still an Oriole, his teammates were certainly pleased that he was still among them.

But not just because he is one of the best late-inning pitchers in the game. For 27-year-old right-hander Mychal Givens, Britton has been a mentor and a friend. Someone to help him with whatever he might need - on or off the field.

"He's helped me deal with my transition (from position player to pitcher)," Givens said. "He had to make adjustments going from a starter to a bullpen guy. The bullpen guys all bond together and we work well with each other. Having Zach still here keeps that family feel we have in the bullpen keep going. He has helped me deal with the ups and downs and sometimes failures you have to deal with as a bullpen guy."

Givens said he was prepared in case he would have had to say goodbye.

"It's a business and we all knew what the situation could possibly be," he said. "But we are like a family out there. Even if our guys had gone to another team, we would remain close. For now, we are very happy where we are at and we're going to try and put some wins together."

As for himself, Givens is having a very strong year. He is 7-0 with a 1.89 ERA over 46 games. He has a 0.936 WHIP while averaging 2.2 walks per nine innings and 9.8 strikeouts. He is 17-2 in his career with an ERA of 2.46 since arriving in the big leagues in June 2015.

So yeah, he's a good pitcher. One thing he is not good at is bragging on himself. He deflects credit away elsewhere.

"Having a guy like (pitching coach) Alan Mills that came up from Double-A has helped me through the process of getting to the majors," Givens said. "It has just been fun. I can't ask for a better career path, being around guys like Brad (Brach), Darren (O'Day) and Zach and have Millsy to help me get to where I'm at.

"He (Mills) has been through the experience of being a bullpen guy. He is just a guy that if you have a bad game, he helps pick you up. He is like one of the guys in the bullpen and is just a great part of our team."

Givens has thrown 11 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings over his past 11 games. Over his past 25 games since May 26, he has an ERA of 0.62 with three walks and 36 strikeouts over 29 innings.

On Monday in an interview here about the trade deadline after it came and went, Orioles vice president Dan Duquette referred to Givens as a "closer on the horizon."

It should not surprise that Givens would gladly jump right in and love to get the ball in the ninth if and when that opportunity ever came his way.

"I'd embrace anything - any role or situation," Givens said. "I've had different roles in my career. I was around Andrew Miller, who has closer stuff but had other guys in front of him. You watched him embrace any role he got. Just go out there and compete and embrace any chance you get.

"I actually don't ever think about it. Like I learned from Miller - embrace any role. I will leave those decisions to the manager and I have to control what I can control."