Wells and Baumann bring their year-round training and friendship to Sarasota

SARASOTA, Fla. – The reasons were plentiful, the incentives as strong as the two men.

Tyler Wells’ fiancée is a native of Jacksonville. Mike Baumann attended the city's university. They’re teammates and friends, putting aside how they’re competing for jobs in Orioles camp and eager to help each other improve. To fix the glitches that might hold them back.

They’ve worked out together the past two winters at Tork Sports Performance in St. Augustine, with its scientific and data-informed approach to training that’s ideal for pitchers in the Orioles organization.

Their photos appear on the facility’s website, along with former Orioles outfielder and first-round draft pick DJ Stewart. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy also is a client.

The Orioles selected Baumann in the third round in 2017 and kept Wells on their roster as a Rule 5 pick from the Twins in 2020, using him first as a reliever, converted him back to a starter last year and unsure of role this season. The pair has developed a bond and maintain a closeness while convening in Florida’s largest city.

“I talked to him about getting into the training facility,” Wells said. “It’s awesome to be able to have another extreme high-caliber guy to train with, especially Big Mike. There’s a reason why we call him Big Mike. He’s a big dude, he’s very strong, just jacked, and he takes everything he does very seriously and he’s very meticulous. A lot of that kind of rubs off on each other.

“My approach is very intense, very, I guess, I don’t want to call it ‘reckless’ but I’m just like, once I get in that mode, I’m going. So we sit there and we talk to each other about pitching, we talk to each other about life, we talk to each other about lifting. Whatever it is. So, it’s always nice to have someone to be able to bounce everything off. And on top of that, he’s seen me throw for quite a while, I’ve seen him throw for quite a while, so if we’re watching each other’s bullpens, stuff like that, we can sit there and be like, ‘Hey, I noticed that you may be doing this a little bit better today,’ or, ‘You didn’t like that? Well, this is what I saw.’ And we bounce that off each other all the time.

“It’s always nice to be able to have feedback from a guy that you’re also good friends with away from just training.”

Baumann is listed at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, but he likes how Wells pushes him in the gym. And how he can do the same to the 6-foot-8, 255-pound Wells.

“It’s fun to be with him,” Baumann said. “He came in in great shape, and that was the main focus, too, getting in better shape, knowing that we have a 15-second pitch clock now.”

They trained at Tork four days a week, throwing and running outdoors and heading back inside to perform total body workouts.

“We’re able to kind of talk to each other when we’re throwing,” Baumann said, “and be there for each other when we’re lifting.”

Wells has a more secure spot on the team, though two injuries following an impressive first half and a crowded field of starting candidates prevent him from being a lock. He could stay in the rotation or go to the bullpen.

The ground is shakier beneath Baumann’s large feet. He’s been a shuttle guy, his role bouncing around as much as he does.

The Orioles are stretching him out to start but 13 of his 17 major league appearances over the past two seasons have been in relief. He’s started in 83 of his 97 minor league games but came out of Triple-A Norfolk’s bullpen 11 times last year.

Baumann has registered a 5.89 ERA and 1.602 WHIP with the Orioles. He’s down to one minor league option before perhaps losing his seat on the shuttle.

Nothing has changed for Baumann regarding how the Orioles are preparing him in camp.

“It sounds like it’s similar,” he said. “Just kind of build up and see where things goes. They’ve got some decisions to make, so we’ll see what happens.”

Baumann can’t assume that he has a spot on the Opening Day roster. He can only fight for it and hope the offseason training gave him an edge.

“We’ll see how things go,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of baseball ahead for the spring and I’m just going to take it one day at a time."

* The Orioles shared yesterday that the Sarasota County government’s annual economic report found that the club has generated $600.5 million in economic impact for the state of Florida since 2015, the first year that comprehensive data became available.

Per the news release, the county’s analysis measures the total impact created by the Orioles’ year-round operations in Sarasota, highlighted by the team’s spring training efforts, state-of-the-art minor league training facility, and numerous corporate events at Ed Smith Stadium and the Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex.

The most recent reporting period, running from July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022, found that the Orioles provided $45.6 million in economic benefits to Sarasota County and $55.3 million throughout the state despite playing only nine home games.

The Orioles also have provided more than $3.9 million to local Sarasota organizations via cash donations and in-kind contributions.