Orioles Bolster Pitching Depth With Jordan Kipper

The Orioles gave righthander Jordan Kipper a chance to hop on the Triple-A Norfolk to Baltimore shuttle after they acquired the 24-year-old in a trade.

The Orioles acquired Kipper from the Angels on May 6 for righthander Damien Magnifico in the latest in a series of trades and waivers claims for the Orioles since the final days of spring training.

“Jordan Kipper is a terrific competitor, and he has a good sinker and slider in combination with very good control,” executive vice president Dan Duquette said.

Kipper recorded a 4.02 ERA in four years in the Angels system while working mostly as a starter. Los Angels drafted him in the ninth round in 2014 out of Texas Christian.

Kipper went 2-1, 1.74 in five starts at Double-A Mobile with 18 strikeouts in 31 innings but an extreme ground-ball rate of more than 60 percent of balls in play.

“We’re going to need all the pitching depth we have,” Duquette said.

The Orioles, who began the season with No. 1 starter Chris Tillman on the disabled list, relied on that depth—but only out of necessity.

Baltimore had called up 10 pitchers by the middle of May, including offseason or in-season acquisitions Alec Asher, Richard Bleier, Paul Fry, Vidal Nuno, Logan Verrett and Gabriel Ynoa.

From that group, Duquette singled out Asher and Ynoa, who had been purchased from the Phillies and Mets, respectively, before the season.

“Because they’re young, they’re developing and emerging as major league players,” Duquette said. “Asher competes. He’s got a couple of pitches, and he’s got a cutter he’s come up with that is a really good pitch for him . . . Ynoa has a lot of talent. And he’s the youngest of the group.”

Perhaps Kipper will soon join that group.

— Roch Kubatko covers the Orioles for MASNSports.com