Orioles tap Hammel as opening day starter: notes on Hunter
The Baltimore Orioles have announced that their ace Jason Hammel will be their opening day starter. This does not come as a surprise as Hammel was the Orioles best pitcher until a knee injury sidelined him for a portion of the season.
Buck Showalter also announced that pitcher Tommy Hunter will make the opening day roster as a reliever. Hunter was the Orioles number two starter heading into last season but due to performance was sent back and forth between AAA and the big club.
Hunter gave up way too many home runs last year, most of them coming as a starter, 32 in total. Hunter’s numbers and effectiveness were much better out of the bullpen, he saw an increase in velocity by about 5 mph. Out of the bullpen, Hunter regularly hit between 97-99 mph which was a huge improvement from where he was as a starter.
The Orioles roster is starting to get down to the 25-man roster.
