Zac Lowther talks about his call to the major leagues

Pitchers like Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer and Bruce Zimmermann have preceded him. Now 24-year-old lefty Zac Lowther arrives in the majors for the first time. Taken by the Orioles out of Xavier with the No. 74 pick in the 2017 draft, he was added to the big league roster today as Wade LeBlanc was designated for assignment.

Lowther's strong minor league resume includes being named O's co-Minor League Pitcher of the Year with Akin 2018 and a stellar 2019 season when he was one of the best pitchers in the Double-A Eastern League. He's been an All-Star in the New York-Penn and Eastern leagues. He led all O's minor leaguers in strikeouts in 2018 and 2019.

"I feel like I'm really ready," he said in a pregame Zoom interview today. "Just being able to see the competition last year at Bowie and this year again and getting the outings in spring. So the buildup was really good this year for me and knowing what to expect when you go to your second big league camp and you're around the guys that have done it before, asking questions and getting a feel of how things go up here. So when I got here today, it was like I belonged and just being able to kind of find my way."

Lowther was 13-7 with a 2.55 ERA for Bowie in 2019 when he led that league in strikeouts and was second in ERA and wins. He posted a 1.11 WHIP and fanned 9.4 per nine innings.

Today's promotion comes even faster that he might have thought.

"It's a little surprising," he said. "After spring, I went to Bowie at the alternate site and just kept getting my work in. I knew that it takes me a little while to get going. And being able to go down there, more relaxed environment and get the work in, see high-level guys and get my stuff in was going to get me into a better position to be here. So, yeah, it was a little surprising how early it happened but I'm really excited about it."

Lowther will work out of the bullpen starting today as a long relief option. Manager Brandon Hyde said he is also a starting rotation consideration. The O's have listed Wednesday's starter as TBA, but that is also the day Kremer could return to the team.

Lowther was anticipating making his Triple-A debut in early May. That still could happen, but for now he's in the majors before he ever played at that level.

"I think that it's a steppingstone that a lot of people need," he said of Triple-A. "I was ready to go on that path no matter what. But being able to see the level of guys I have this year and last year, I think that gave me a good replacement as best as it could to be able to compete here."

Lowther said the experience at the alternate camp the last two years provided him with, in a sense, some high level Triple-A type of competition.

"They integrated a lot of the video that we have and used a lot of their developmental tools very well and it made our work intentional, but also consequence-free (at Bowie)," he said. "So we were able to grow and try new things that might work in the minor leagues or they might not. But we're ultimately trying to get to Baltimore. So we were trying a lot of different things there to get us here and get us prepared for Baltimore."

In three seasons on the O's farm, Lowther is 23-13 with an ERA of 2.26 in 326 innings. He has allowed a .194 batting average with 3.01 walks and 10.49 strikeouts per nine innings.

Lowther got the news he was headed to the Orioles on the same day his family arrived in Maryland.

"My wife (Brianna) and daughter (Isabelle) just got here yesterday," he said. "So my daughter went to sleep at around eight, so me and my wife crashed right after the Orioles game. I rolled over, put my phone down and the ringer was on loud. So I was scared about waking up my daughter. My wife rolls over and she goes, 'What, what happened?' I go, 'I just got called up.' She's like, 'Is this a dream?' Being able to tell her in person there was really exciting. And then hopped over into the bathroom to make a call to my parents and her parents. They're all making the trip down. It's going to be really fun."