Zac Lowther on O's pitching development and more on last night's win

Coming into this 2021 season, Orioles lefty pitching prospect Zac Lowther had not yet pitched at the Triple-A level. But over his career on the farm since 2017, Lowther was 23-13 with a 2.26 ERA and 1.018 WHIP over 326 innings. He led all O's minor leaguers in strikeouts in 2018 and 2019.

He had pitched everywhere from then short-season Single-A Aberdeen through Double-A Bowie.

During his strong 2019 season at Bowie, he joined pitching teammates like Alexander Wells, Mike Baumann, Dean Kremer and Bruce Zimmermann. Lowther has been there and done that on the O's farm.

But this year, for the first time in his career, he didn't have eye-catching stats and then suffered a strained left shoulder and went to the injured list. He went 0-5 with a 6.53 ERA at Triple-A Norfolk.

Then Lowther put together a strong start on Monday afternoon at Camden Yards. He allowed three hits and one run over six innings for the Orioles against Kansas City with two walks and strikeouts. He threw 92 pitches, 56 for strikes, and was in line for his first major league win until the Royals rally in the eighth. He now has a 6.91 ERA after six big league games covering 14 1/3 innings this year.

It hasn't been the smoothest year for every young pitching prospect on the O's farm. Some have been thriving, some have had their struggles. But Lowther said O's pitching development remains strong. And this year, due a rehab assignment, he's been around to see it various places. He was briefly with the draft picks in Florida and also at Aberdeen, Bowie and Norfolk.

"It's been a frustrating year for a lot of people and a lot of fans," Lowther told me yesterday before the game in the Orioles dugout. "But I know, just being down in Triple-A and seeing those guys, and honestly on my rehab starts in High-A and Double-A, seeing those guys being able to produce. And the development that is going on from the coaches to the players is being implemented in a way that they're not going to have all the success down there. They're being able to grow down there so they don't come up and struggle.

"You know, I struggled early in the year. Maybe it was due to injury, maybe it was due to a lack of the season last year. Whatever the case may be, we are setting guys up for the best possible situation. Now, given another opportunity, I'm able to show the fans maybe that is why they're waiting. Or that we have hope on the way.

"Down on the farm, you've got guys like Alex Wells and Mike Baumann that threw (Tuesday). It's on the way up. It's going to be fun the next couple years. When we get Grayson (Rodriguez) and DL (Hall) back. Those guys that, the highly touted ones, the whole atmosphere that those guys create is pretty fun."

Lowther said he has seen the progress at his various stops on the farm this year.

"Absolutely. When I was in major league camp this spring, I didn't get to see a lot of those guys. To now see how they progressed from spring training is good," he said. "Just the atmosphere that is down there - the coaching staff has created a great presence there. And they are unbelievably talented. And they are developing at a rate that I think that previously wasn't seen. Grayson, his demeanor and how he carries himself, his ability to read a scouting report and execute, that is really cool to see. And it's not just him, it's a lot of guys down there."

The Orioles will need a lot of pitching depth and Lowther said they are developing it, even if it doesn't always show right away on some pitcher's stat sheet.

"We are definitely going to need the depth and we are building that," he said. "It's not just about getting a No. 1 starter, but a two, three, four and five on the way. They are creating that culture that is able to teach the guys that you can get there.

"You have guys working on stuff every single day. You may not always see it in the boxscore. But you go into pitchers' meetings and you can see the coaching from the coaches and the encouragement from them at the younger levels. It's not about just blowing away guys with a fastball. They don't want guys to only dominate down there. They are working on their secondary pitches. You see glimpses of our future and I think the coaches are not coaching one guy like the next. They are working to get the best out of every single guy. It's very individualized on our farm. They want to challenge guys and get them to the next level."

That was a crazy win: The Orioles scored nine runs in the last of the eighth last night - their biggest inning of the year - to come from 5-0 down and beat Kansas City 9-8. They are now 45-93, winning four of the last five and going 7-7 over the last 14 games. It's the sixth one-run game in the last seven games and the Orioles are 3-3 in those games.

After throwing in 490 pro games, covering 1,154 innings since 2007, right-hander Manny Barreda pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning in his major league debut and then got the win, thanks to the big O's rally.

At 32 years and 335 days old, Barreda became the fourth-oldest Oriole to make his major league debut in club history. Then he became part of another cool fact and note. According to STATS, the Orioles are the first team in the modern era to have a reliever earn the win in his major league debut in back-to-back games after Baumann did that on Tuesday.

After Kelvin Gutiérrez had tied the game 5-5 with a two-out, two-run single in the eighth, a dropped fly ball scored two more runs for a 7-5 lead that grew to 9-5 on Ryan Mountcastle's two-run homer. He hit No. 26, third-most by an O's rookie behind Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr. (28 in 1982) and Eddie Murray (27 in 1977).

Right-hander Tyler Wells got the last out to record his 11th straight scoreless outing, covering 10 2/3 innings of two-hit ball.

The Orioles are 14-4 in their past 18 home games against Kansas City dating to 2015.

9-run 8th inning rally 👀 pic.twitter.com/zhVYg6VBkz

-- Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) September 9, 2021