BALLER MOVE: Target in drafts ~pick 318
CURRENT ADP: ~413 overall
ANALYSIS: Wells was slated to start the year in the bullpen for Baltimore, but injuries to Kyle Bradish and John Means have opened the door for him to be the fourth starter when the Orioles break camp for the regular season with Cole Irvin likely the fifth starter.
Wells started 20 games last year and put up an impressive 0.99 WHIP and 3.64 ERA. He struck out 25% of the hitters he faced while walking just 7.2%. However, he did have an issue with home runs and a pretty unsustainable BABIP of just .200. He also seemed to hit a wall in the second half of the season as he had an ERA of 7.00 over the final few months of the year.
I'm not sure he can survive as a fly ball pitcher with just a 92.5 mph average velocity on his fastball. But, the good news is that he has four other pitches (cutter, changeup, curveball, and slider) that he can develop and tweak in his arsenal.
This late in the draft, you're just looking for some reliable starters who can take the ball every fifth day without getting blown up, and Wells fits the bill there. If the Orioles rotation gets entirely healthy, there's a chance he moves back to the pen, but if he's pitching well, we could see him stick in the rotation, too.
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