How Darren O'Day was impressed from the start by Pedro Araujo

He has only pitched in five major league games so far, but 24-year-old Dominican-born Pedro Araujo is impressing Orioles fans and is also gaining fans inside the clubhouse as well.

Araujo was charged with four runs in 2/3 of an inning in a game at Houston. Then the right-hander bounced back to pitch 4 1/3 scoreless when he pitched in both extra innings games over the weekend in New York. Friday night he got his first major league win. Sunday he fanned five batters over 2 1/3 innings, his most strikeouts since he fanned five Frederick Keys batters for Single-A Myrtle Beach last July 10.

Yep, this kid is making the leap from the Carolina League and Sunday in the Bronx he replaced Mike Wright in the first inning. He fanned the first three batters he faced over a two-inning span. He got Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

Veteran reliever Darren O'Day has taken time to help Araujo adjust to the majors and he likes what he sees so far.

"He's a good dude, a nice guy," O'Day said. "Which isn't relevant to whether he's a good pitcher but I think what that brings is he's willing to ask questions. He has asked a lot of veterans around here how he can get better and that impressed me from the start.

"In terms of pitching, I think he has two plus offspeed pitches. You watch (New York's Masahiro) Tanaka pitch the other night and that is heady company, but Pedro's got a really good slider and a really good changeup/split that Tanaka works with a lot at the bottom of the zone. He makes hitters make a decision whether to chase or whether it's going to be a strike and then he mixes his fastball in.

"Pedro showed really good fastball command in spring training. First couple of outings that wasn't quite there. But I think as he settled down he kind of figured out that he can pitch here and his stuff plays."

Araujo has fanned 11 over 7 2/3 innings. Lefty batters are just 1-for-11 against him and right-handed batters are 3-for-16 with seven strikeouts. He has given up just one hit in six at-bats when pitching with runners in scoring position.

Some believe that pitchers need an eight or 10 mph difference between their fastball and changeup, but Araujo throws his fastball at 92 mph and the changeup at 87 mph. O'Day said the speed difference is not the real factor here.

"It is about recognizing the difference in spin, that's the big thing," O'Day described. "If the two pitches look so similar in spin, then the hitter has to guess whether it's fastball or changeup. Felix Hernandez can throw a fastball 91, 92 and a changeup 89. They move differently. If you have arm speed and similar spin on the ball, you can get away with a four or six mph difference."

And Araujo impressed by coming back from a poor outing in Houston and pitching so well against the Yankees.

"Look at the schedule we've played and this is a pitcher that has hardly been above A ball," O'Day added. "He has been able to relax and that allows him to manipulate the ball rather then have tension create an issue.

"Sometimes you have one at-bat against a hitter you were watching on TV last year and that can give you confidence. I remember early in my career I struck out Alex Rodriguez on three pitches and thought, 'Maybe I do belong here.' Something as little as that can make a difference."