Tommy Hunter started out the year as a member of the Texas Rangers - well, their Triple-A affiliate anyway. When he was called up to the majors at the beginning of July, he was used exclusively as a reliever despite his past experience starting. The Orioles acquired him right before the trade deadline (with Chris Davis) in return for Koji Uehara. I didn't like the move - initially here, and then more here - in part because even though Hunter should provide the team with some value, there isn't much upside there (despite people being excited about him throwing 95 mph out of the pen and the team/announcers even referring to him as a building block).After one relief appearance in Baltimore, the O's moved Hunter to the rotation. He ended up starting 11 games for the team, posting a 5.00 ERA, 4.71 FIP, and 4.38 xFIP in the process. His fastball velocity dipped some - from 92-93 to 90-92 - but was still better than the 89-91 of past seasons (we'll see if he can keep it up ...
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