BALTIMORE — A fireman puts himself at risk in dangerous situations in with the goal of keeping everyone involved safe. A’s pitcher J.B. Wendelken is not going through burning buildings, but in a baseball way, he’s quickly emerging as the team’s fireman.
Wendelken has consistently found himself entering games in tough spots early in the 2019 season. The most recent situation came Sunday in Houston when he came on in relief of Mike Fiers with the bases loaded and two outs in the second inning. The Astros were threatening to break it open having already scored a run to push their lead to 6-4, but Wendelken calmed the situation by striking out Max Stassi and followed that up with three more shutout innings.