One step closer to the bigs: Mike Wright gets added to the O's 40-man roster

Mike Wright's chances to help the Orioles in 2015 increased yesterday as the 24-year-old right-hander was added to the 40-man roster.

Wright joined right-hander Tyler Wilson as 40-man additions Thursday and now neither pitcher can be taken by another team in the Rule 5 draft in December.

"It is really awesome that the Orioles like me enough to protect me and I get to go to big league camp again," Wright said. "It makes me a lot more confident that the Orioles added me to the roster. It's very exciting.

"I know when I go to spring training, I have a really good shot to make the team and if I don't, then I'll have a chance to help the team throughout the year."

Wright, the organization's third-round pick out of East Carolina in 2011, went 5-11 with a 4.61 ERA in 26 starts for Triple-A Norfolk last season. Now, he could find his way onto the Norfolk-Baltimore shuttle during the 2015 season. The O's love pitchers with options and Wright will have them for the next three seasons.

"Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter like to use all the tools they have and I'm finally in the tool bag, being on the 40-man," Wright said. "So I feel they will definitely use me if the moment calls for it and I'm pitching well enough."

A starter throughout his O's career, some feel his fastball, which touches the mid-90s now, would gain even more velocity out of the bullpen. If the O's have a 'pen need next season, Wright would be excited to get the call and the chance.

"I would much rather be a reliever in the big leagues than a starter in Norfolk, that's for sure," Wright said. "If they want me to DH in the big leagues, that's what I'll do. Whatever they need me for, I'll do."

Going into the 2014 season, Wright had to figure he might make the 40-man roster this winter. But when his ERA was 6.42 in late July, that was far from a certainty.

At that point, Wright said he realized he just needed to relax more on the mound and let it fly. He did that to the tune of a 0.95 ERA over his last seven Norfolk starts. In his last four starts, he gave up one earned run in 29 2/3 innings for an ERA of 0.30.

Yeah, nice finish.

"The way I ended the season was way better than the way I started it. Hope to continue riding that through the rest of my career honestly," Wright said.

"I changed a few things mechanically, but mainly I think I was trying so hard and wanted to do so well. The more you try to do something, the harder it is to get done. I finally just relaxed and played the way I've been playing since I was a kid. I had fun and got the results."

Wright was ranked as the Orioles' No. 11 prospect by Baseball America after the 2011 season. Since then, he was ranked No. 8 after each of the past three seasons.

As he pitched better late last year, he saw an uptick in his velocity and better quality with his secondary pitches.

"I would definitely say at the end of the year, I got my slider a lot more crisp," Wright said. "It was a little more of an out pitch than it had been. In the last two games against Durham, I threw a lot more changeups and the way it was coming of my hand felt real well. Want to continue throwing it that way and hopefully I take some steps forward with both those pitches."

Over four seasons in the Orioles system, Wright has pitched at every minor league stop from the Gulf Coast League through Norfolk. He is 29-21 with an ERA of 4.08 over four seasons and 447 1/3 innings, averaging 2.3 walks and 7.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Now he knows he will be in major league spring training, but this time as a rostered player and not a non-roster invitee, as he has been the past two years.

His strong finish last year showed the Orioles what he is capable of and probably cemented his spot on the 40-man roster, which became official yesterday.

Now Wright is ready for a chance to pitch in the majors and if that means a ticket aboard the Norfolk-Baltimore shuttle, he's all for it.