The Baltimore Orioles are in the thick of a tight American League East race, and they reportedly added pitcher Wade Miley on Sunday to bolster their starting rotation for the stretch run.
The Orioles announced the deal, confirming they sent left-handed pitcher Ariel Miranda to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Miley. Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball first reported the deal.
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports provided the financial details for Miley’s contract as he joins Baltimore:
Sunday’s trade follows Heyman’s previous report that “Baltimore has been seeking a starter, especially a left-handed one, for weeks.” Miley gives the Orioles that coveted southpaw, and Heyman said “there aren’t a plethora of lefties on the market.”
Kenny Ducey of Sports Illustrated said “the back-end of the rotation has been a particularly grand problem for the Orioles” and pointed out that right-handers Yovani Gallardo (5.70 ERA) and Tyler Wilson (4.98 ERA) have been issues.
Baltimore ranks 28th in all of baseball in rotation ERA, per ESPN.com. Despite the pitching concerns, the Orioles are still in first place in the American League East and a half game ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays and 1.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox.
Improving that rotation will be critical for the Orioles if they plan on reaching the postseason for just the third time since the 1997 season, and the acquisition of Miley is a step in that direction.
If Miley’s last start is any indication, the Orioles struck at the right time. He pitched seven innings and allowed one run on one hit Saturday against the Chicago Cubs and was in complete command against a first-place team in the hostile environment of Wrigley Field.
While Miley was impressive on Saturday, he sports a pedestrian 4.98 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 82 strikeouts in 19 starts on the season. However, he appeared to turn the corner Saturday and fills a glaring need for a potentially effective southpaw in Baltimore.
As for the Mariners, they are still within striking distance of third place in the American League West. They are looking up at the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros and are still eight games back of first place.
While trading Miley appears to be a seller move, Miranda is a fellow left-handed pitcher. He has only pitched two innings this year and allowed three earned runs, but he demonstrated strikeout stuff with four whiffs in those frames.
When the Orioles called him up earlier in the season, he hadn’t allowed a run in his previous 19 innings with Triple-A Norfolk, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). He showed potential in the minors and may eventually have the opportunity to fulfill it at the major league level.
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