Rotation candidate: Dean Kremer posted 3.23 ERA last season for O's

Right-hander Dean Kremer, who had an ERA of 7.55 in 13 starts in the 2021 season, reduced that by over four runs per game last year. It provides hope that he could again this season be a key member of the Baltimore rotation.

No one has won a job yet and a lot can happen over the next few weeks under the Florida sun, but Kremer had a strong season over 22 games and 125 1/3 innings in 2022, going 8-7 with a 3.23 ERA. His 124 ERA+ was 24 percent better than league average.

Kremer did that while posting below-average strikeout rates, but he was above average in walk rate and homer rate, and used solid spin rates to create effective pitches that provided him with a strong season.

His ERA, had he enough innings to qualify for league leaders at 162, would have ranked 11^th last year in the American League. Among pitchers throwing 120 or more innings as a baseline, his ERA was tied for 17^th. Among the 18 pitchers on that list, he ranked last in K rate at 6.2 and his strikeout percentage was 17.0 while major league average was 22.9. His walk rate, though, was 2.4 and his walk percentage of 6.6 topped the major league average of 8.5.

Kremer was particularly good when pitching on exactly four day’s rest, going 3-2 with a 1.77 ERA and .656 OPS against.

Not bad for a pitcher who went on the injured list April 11 with a strained left oblique. He did make his second opening day roster, but he didn't make his first minors rehab start until May 18 and first for the Orioles until June 5. 

His 0.8 homer rate was ninth-lowest in the AL among pitchers throwing at least 125 innings. He recorded eight quality starts with the Orioles, going 6-2 in those games, and they were held to one run in the two losses.

The cutter was again a big pitch for him. He used his fastball 41 percent at an average velocity of 93.2 mph, throwing his cutter 31 percent. He used his changeup 15 percent and curveball 13 percent. He ranked, per Statcast, in the top 22 percent in chase rate, top 21 percent in curveball spin and top 27 percent in fastball spin rate.

To keep the decent stats coming off his strong year, opponents produced a .686 OPS against him the first time through the order last year, and .653 the second time. But that went up to .864 the third time through, showing us another reason managers often go to the bullpen as the lineup turns over a third time.

Kremer turned some heads last year in going 2-0 with an ERA of 0.54 and OPS against of .364 versus eventual World Series champion Houston. He threw his first career shutout and complete game on Sept. 23 against that club with a 106-pitch four-hitter. That was the first shutout by an O’s pitcher since left-hander John Means threw a no-hitter on May 5, 2021 at Seattle.

The Orioles acquired Kremer from the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 18, 2018 in the Manny Machado trade. He will pitch for Team Israel in the upcoming World Baseball Classic after he was the youngest player (age 20) on Team Israel's 2017 WBC roster. In 2016, he became the first Israeli drafted by a major league team when the Dodgers selected him in round 14 out of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Now 27, Kremer took a big leap forward with his pitching last year. The Orioles look for more of the same to bolster their rotation this year.