The Orioles’ bullpen entered last night’s game with 598.1 innings pitched this season. The number, sixth in baseball, signifies the workload that Baltimore’s relievers have faced this year.
The Orioles began yesterday ranked 27th in the bigs with just 39 quality starts. Jordan Lyles has consumed innings, but he couldn’t eat them all. The Birds stretched out Tyler Wells and Austin Voth, and made an effort not to burn out arms early in the season. The bullpen, somehow, has answered the call all season long.
There have been exceptions on both sides. The Orioles put together an absolutely dominant three-game stretch last week that involved three pitchers working into the ninth inning, and the bullpen failed to clinch a pivotal game on Saturday against Houston.