The Orioles will need more consistency from Dean Kremer
The right hander has hovered around average for years. Could he have a breakthrough in ‘25?
Look: there are worse things than being an average MLB pitcher. Being terrible at baseball, for instance. So we need to clarify that when we say that for the last few seasons, Dean Kremer has been an average starting pitcher, this is still a very good thing.
Sometimes you hope for a breakout anyway, though.
For several years running, the right hander has been a regular fixture in the Orioles’ starting rotation. Come 2025, barring something random or ridiculous happening, that’s where he’ll be again. It’s nice to have, if not particularly exciting.
Over the last four seasons, Kremer has posted an ERA of 7.55 ERA (ouch), then a career-best 3.23 in 21 games in 2022, but then a 4.12 ERA the next season, and last season it was 4.10. This translates to an ERA+ of 59 in ’21, 121 in ’22, 99 in ’23 and 92 in ’24. Overall, his career ERA is 4.28 and ERA+ 94. Like we said, average.
Kremer has done one thing very well for the Orioles, and that’s make himself available. In 2022, Kremer missed a couple of months with an oblique strain, but he managed to give his team 21 starts, anyway. In 2023, Kremer made 32 starts and, despite a just-average ERA, the O’s loved playing behind him, with a stellar 24-8 record in Kremer starts. Last season, Kremer spent several weeks on the IL in May-June with a right triceps strain, but he still completed 24 starts.
