By Alex Woodward
Both Hunter Harvey and Dillon Tate are former first round draft picks but haven't quite lived up to their draft status. Injuries have been a big cause for their stunted growth over the years and Tate has had to deal with getting sent to two different teams since the Rangers selected him with the 4th overall pick in the 2015 draft.
Once thought of as top of the rotation arms, both pitchers are now adjusting to a new role - coming out of the bullpen. Tate was acquired by the Orioles in the Zach Britton trade last season with the Yankees. After the Rangers tried to change his delivery mechanics, his fastball dipped to the upper 80's. Once acquired by the Yankees they apparently let him go back to his mechanics from his college days which led to an uptick in his fastball velocity. It seems that the Orioles have continued with that approach for Tate as his fastball has consistently sat in the 94-97 mph range.
Tate had a 5.75 ERA in 7 starts last year with the Baysox and he started his season in the Baysox rotation where he continued to struggle - tossing 6.2 innings across 2 starts while allowing 8 earned runs and 11 hits in that span. Since then the Baysox have transitioned him to a bullpen role where he has thrived - pitching to a 1.71 ERA in 21 innings with 23 strikeouts 3 walks and his opponents are hitting .195 against him. Scouting reports said that Tate could locate all four of his pitches for strikes but he didn't miss enough bats with his "pure stuff". That has remained true as he has allowed 26 hits in 27.2 minor league innings this season but it seems a bullpen role is best suited for Tate. There were doubts about Tate after the Rangers traded him along with 2 other prospects to the Yankees in 2016 for an aging Carlos Beltran. Injuries were a concern as he missed time in 2016 with hamstring issues, in 2017 he dealt with a shoulder injury and last season he missed time with a quad injury. Now fully healthy and not much pressure for him to be rushed up to the major league level it seems the Orioles have found a role for Tate to build on.
Harvey was also expected to be a mid-to-top of the rotation starter when he was drafted with the 22nd pick in the first round of the 2013 draft. Injuries have derailed his development and they may have deprived him of being able to continually pitch deep into games moving forward. Like Tate, he started the season in the Baysox rotation and much like Tate he struggled in that role - pitching to a 6.12 ERA in 50 innings as a starter. The bright spot in that span of starts? He had 50 strikeouts in 50 innings of work. On June 14th the Baysox decided to move Harvey to the bullpen and the limited innings have allowed Harvey to ramp up his fastball velocity to the 98-101 mph range. In 3 relief outings for Bowie he tossed 9 innings with 11 strikeouts and allowed just 1 hit. That was good enough for him to get promoted to AAA Norfolk this weekend where he threw two scoreless innings and once again his fastball sat around 98-99 mph. All in all he has tossed 11 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts 2 walks and has allowed just 1 hit in 4 relief outings this season.
The Orioles are revamping the entire organization from the ground up...including the minor league development side of things. It's apparent that this bullpen experiment on Tate and Harvey has worked so far. Neither are expected to be on the major league roster anytime soon and they shouldn't be. It's unclear if they will remain in these new roles but judging by this seasons numbers they should continue to stay in those roles and hopefully develop into two late inning relievers - which is something the Orioles desperately need moving forward.