Félix Bautista: Orioles closer stirs old feelings with rescue on the street

Detroit – the spectacle was not for him. A night earlier, when the floodlights in the national park dimmed and put red strobes onto the bottom of the ninth inner end in a one-run game, Félix Bautista ran with many in the stadium to the hill in the hope that the orioles reliever would fail.

Bautista inherited a lead with a line. Baltimore urgently needed a win. And although the binding run reached the third basis, Bautista deserved the rescue.

There is no simulation of these moments. No number of rehabilitation appearances or inners with a low leval could really be prepared for the ninth inning of a one-run game in an opposing stadium-as he was successful on Thursday.

“If you set up in such situations, it will be a different emotion, a different feeling that goes through your body,” said Bautista by Team Detscher Brandon Quinones.

During this Save in the National Park, Bautista looked more like his old ego than before. Its fastball speed has not reached three -digit numbers, but on Thursday Bautista and his sink repeatedly touched 98 miles per hour and served devastating splinters and sliders.

BauTista is perfect in the three save situations that he has inherited so far, and although some of his excursions have introduced walks and command problems, only seven innings in Bautista also seem to settle in the season. And before he returned to the hill in spring training, he had not played a competition game since the end of 2023 due to a reconstruction of Tommy John Elbow.

In conversations with other jugs that have undergone the operation, he said, said Bautista, that he had trusted in the fact that his experience is not unique. The speed sneaks back up. His shoot improves. The command attracts.

Overall, Bautista has the feeling that this first month was a success.

“It’s a process,” said Bautista. “It’s just about continuing the process and your work, and it will surely return to form.”

From the team’s perspective, the first month was less successful. The rotation fought, the line -up was inconsistent and defensive Misoles left the Orioles with 10 to 14 in front of the Doubleader on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers (the game on Friday evening was postponed due to poor weather).

But if there is something from which it can draw positively, the performance of Bautista – and the Bullpen in general – is one of them. Baltimores Bullpen holds a 4.48 -era and subtracts the nine runs position player Jorge Mateo and Gary Sánchez, who were approved last weekend in two innings of a blowout. The reliever era would be 3.65.

Bautista has not allowed a run in his last five games. He didn’t run a Schlagmann in the last two. And while he is waiting for his Fastball to reach 100 miles per hour, he mixes his slider more often.

“My slider works really well and it is better than before,” said Bautista. “I try to take advantage of this. Whether it uses to start a bat, I created a lot of momentum and miss it, so I use the fact that it works so well.”

Bautista threw its slider 4.8% of cases in 2023. Its use of the field in early 2025 was up to 15%. He also mixed in a cutter with whom he dealt with during his recovery, even though he only thrown it twice this season.

BauTistas sinker achieved an average of 99.5 miles per hour in 2023 and generated heaven to 37.8% of the swings. It has dropped to 97.1 miles per hour with a rate of 12.1%. But BauTistas Splitter and Slider are missing bats in high clips – 65% or 42.9%.

“Two years ago, two years ago, he was mostly just Fastball, splinter,” said Catcher Adley Rutschman. “It seems that he has a balanced behavior for him and he is confident of throwing his slider. He will throw a cutter if he has to. He has his fast ball, change eup (splinter) still as his prim. It is a better presence on the hill.”

Manager Brandon Hyde does not intend to use Bautista on two nights until later this season, but the right -handed man has completed the first steps to prepare for it. Bautista has warmed up on consecutive days. He is warmed, then sat and then warmed again in a single game.

Every time Bautista feels good, Hyde will be more confident in the ability of the All-Star 2023 to be a back-end tyrant.

The flashing red lights, the Hype band, the loud music – National Park tried to become an impressive environment for Bautista. Instead, the final jug was only happy to be back in this situation after so much time. A tight game on the street? Bautista fed the spectacle intended for the rackets and made it his own.