Baltimore Orioles: Conner Greene, from living out of an RV to MLB mound

Los Angeles Dodgers

On Aug. 9, Greene was claimed off of waivers by the Los Angeles Dodgers, his hometown team. “I knew exactly what I needed to work on to get to and stay in the game’s highest level”, he said.

Joining a championship-level organization like the Dodgers, Greene knew he had to make mechanical adjustments if he was going to stick with his new club. Already an owner of an above-average changeup, Greene immediately took to work with the Dodgers’ coaches, making minor tweaks to both his change and slider to make the pitches harder to pick up on out of his hand and add some movement on to both. Unfortunately for Greene, his tenure with the Dodgers was a short one, as he made just two relief appearances for the club, allowing zero earned runs and striking out two over two innings. When the Dodgers signed free agent pitcher Shane Greene, it was Conner Greene who lost his spot on the 40-man for the newest member of the team.

Second tenure in Baltimore

Encouraged by his mechanical changes with the Dodgers, Greene was once again optimistic about his chances to continue his major league career. In what was the best possible scenario, the Orioles re-claimed him off of waivers, allowing him to return to the only big league organization he had known before he moved to Los Angeles. “I got to apply the things I learned out west and had a brand new mindset to succeed in the big leagues”, he said on the move back to Baltimore.

After he was added straight to the big league roster, Greene’s numbers began to quickly improve on his stat-line. In 11 games after rejoining the Baltimore Orioles staff, Greene posted a 1.88 ERA in 14.1 innings and lowered his ERA on the season all the way down to 4.05 with a 2.97 FIP. Thanks to a few poor outings near the end of the season, his ERA rose back up to 7.11 but his FIP remained at 3.41, suggesting that his second tenure through the O’s organization was by no means a failure.

On November 3, the Orioles outrighted Greene back to the minors; he rejected the assignment and became a free agent for the first time in his career.

“Believe it or not, the phase I’m currently at has been the peak of my career. More than my MLB debut. It’s been exciting hearing from multiple clubs who want me on their team, it makes me feel like everything I’ve gone through in the past year has been worth it tenfold”, he said.

Just a short while later, news broke that the Baltimore Orioles have once again signed Greene to a minor-league contract. His improved repertoire showed the team all they needed to see before opting to bring him back once more.