A one time vagabond, Tommy Milone has garnered the respect of Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde and will be your opening day starter.
I would have loved to known what was going through Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde’s mind when he announced Tommy Milone as the opening day starter. Something along the lines of, “well someone has to pitch that day”.
Maybe it’s not uncommon for a pitcher to start on opening day for a team they are making their debut for. Surely it happens all the time when top of the line free agents are signed or top tier pitchers are acquired via trade.
Tommy Milone is neither of those.
When he toes the rubber for the first time in an Orioles uniform on opening day, Millone will be there out of necessity, not something his track record earned him the right to do.
Brandon Hyde announces Tommy Milone will start on opening day in place of John Means. pic.twitter.com/aYv47nruml
— Paul Mancano (@PaulMancano) July 21, 2020
Millone is a journeyman of six major league teams over the course of nine professional seasons. His best years are in the rearview mirror though and he has been pitching out of the bullpen or following an opener, in recent years.
He won twenty-five games in two years with the Oakland A’s, but that was nearly a decade ago. His earned run average hasn’t been south of four since 2015, when he was a member of the Minnesota Twins.
Little did the Orioles know that on Valentine’s Day of this year they would be signing their opening day starter, and to a minor league contract.
That’s baseball though. With injuries, and uncertainty, a shortened season, and the prospects of playing out of the cellar all season, the Orioles had no other direction to go.
For a guy with a lifetime record of 50-47 and a career ERA of 4.47, this is quite a compliment.
Now here’s hoping Tommy goes out and spins a gem on opening day.