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It sounds like the Rays could have both Wells and Garrett Cleavinger, also on the IL with forearm tightness, on the ALDS roster against the Yankees, which would be big. Wells had a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings for the Rays after arriving from Baltimore at the deadline.

That’s not good. Wells has been terrific in a setup role since being acquired from the Orioles, allowing only three earned runs in 18 innings. He ends the regular season with a 2.38 ERA in 72 innings overall. No word yet on whether the Rays think he might be back for the postseason, though at least they didn’t put him on the 60-day IL.

With Bryan Baker unavailable with an illness on Saturday, Wells got the call to pitch the ninth in a tie game against the Rangers. He worked around a fielding error to hold Texas off the board and take the game to extras. After Tampa Bay took a three-run lead, he closed out the game with a pair of strikeouts to fall in line for the win.

The ninth inning in this one became a bit of a fiasco when the league-leader in saves, Bryan Baker walked the first two batters before being pulled with an injury. Wells came in to clean up the mess and did so after a sacrifice bunt, sacrifice fly, and pop-up. He earned a handful of saves earlier this season with the Orioles and even grabbed one last week after Baker needed a second day off after working three games in a row. If Baker needs to miss any time, expect Wells to be the Rays’ closer.

Rays closer Bryan Baker was also off on Tuesday, but he had thrown three days in a row prior to that, so the team was likely being cautious with their closer. Baker has an MLB-leading 38 saves, so there is no controversy here. What is worth noting is that Kevin Kelly had not pitched in the last two days, but he was used for two innings in this game, which allowed Wells to get the chance to close out his fifth save of the season.

Wells bolsters Tampa Bay’s relief depth heading into the home stretch after thriving as a full-time reliever with the division-rival Orioles this season, posting a solid 2.67 ERA across 54 innings of work. He’s an interesting pickup for the Rays, who have had plenty of success with turning unheralded names into elite relievers in the recent past.

The Rays had so much success with Bryan Baker that they’re going back to the Orioles for another unheralded reliever. Wells has made the transition to a full-time relief role appear seamless, notching four saves to go along with a 2.67 ERA across 54 innings of work. This qualifies as a savvy pickup for the Rays to bolster their late-inning equation.

Wells needed just 10 pitches to get through the inning and secure the 6-4 victory for the Orioles. Wells was a perfect 4-for-4 in save opportunities for the Orioles this month and posted a 1.10 ERA over 16.1 innings of work in July.

Wells allowed one walk but worked around it. The righty has three saves in July but only one of the team’s past five. He’s part of a closer-by-committee with Ryan Helsley sidelined. If he starts consolidating ninth-inning chances over the season’s final two months, it would do wonders for his fantasy viability.

Wells retired four of the five batters he faced in the seventh and eighth, striking out three of them, but with two outs in the eighth, Caleb Durbin took him out to left to break a 5-5 tie. It was Wells’ third appearances in four days, so he’ll almost certainly be out of the mix on Tuesday. That increases the chances of an Andrew Kittredge save chance.

It got a little stressful, but Wells found a way to dig deep and secure this save. First, Yordan Alvarez came up with the tying run on base and Wells forced him to hit a comically high pop-up. Afterwards, he walked Isaac Paredes to push the tying run into scoring position, but struck Christian Walker out after a seven-pitch battle to end it. Wells has been excellent in relief this season with a 2.96 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 26% strikeout rate, and a true four-pitch mix that’s stuck with him since he was a starter. He’s a capable closer, just be advised that Andrew Kittredge has saved a handful of games as well and it’s likely these two share this job moving forward.

Wells gave up a single to Elly De La Cruz and walked Sal Stewart to begin the inning, but he then retired JJ Bleday, Eugenio Suárez and Nathaniel Lowe in order. Wells is very clearly the favorite for saves in the Baltimore pen with Ryan Helsley down, but he will need Sunday off after this. With Yennier Cano also having worked back-to-back days, Rico Garcia might be the top ninth-inning option then.

It’s the first save for Wells since the 2023 season. The righty was called on to shut the door on the Reds in the ninth inning after the team again lost Ryan Helsley (elbow) to the IL. We’ll see if the Orioles look to deploy Wells as the closer more frequently while Helsley is on the mend, but this could very well be a committee situation.

Wells returns to Baltimore’s relief mix with lefty Grant Wolfram (back) hitting the injured list ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Yankees. The 31-year-old former starter figures to pitch in long relief situations. He’s compiled a serviceable 3.44 ERA and 18/4 K/BB ratio across 18 1/3 innings for the Orioles this season.

Wells heads back to the minors after allowing one run over 1 1/3 innings in relief against the Yankees during Friday’s series opener. The 31-year-old has posted a respectable 3.44 ERA and 18/4 K/BB ratio across 18 1/3 innings this season at the highest level.

Those three batters were Christian Cairo, Trea Turner and Bryson Stott. Although Wells has given up four runs in 7 2/3 innings this spring, his 12/1 K/BB is really nice. His roster spot is assured, and he should be in contention for a setup role in Baltimore’s pen.

The writing was on the wall when the Orioles added Chris Bassitt, and the team has confirmed that Wells will go into the season as a reliever. He’s pitched six scoreless innings with an 8/0 K/BB in five appearances this spring, and he could turn out to be a surprisingly strong seventh- or eighth-inning guy in the Baltimore pen.

The Orioles say they’re still treating Wells as a starter, but he’s seventh or eighth on the depth chart now right there, which suggests that he’s bullpen bound to start the year. He might be the team’s big win vulture while working in the middle innings.

He had been projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $2.7 million via arbitration. Wells looked electric in four starts in September following a return from Tommy John surgery, registering a 2.91 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and an 18/2 K/BB ratio across 21 2/3 innings. Now that he’ll have a full healthy off-season under his belt, it should be all systems go for the 31-year-old hurler heading into 2026.

It’s Wells’ worst showing in the four starts since he returned from Tommy John, but it was still a very positive September for the 31-year-old, who winds up 2-1 with a 2.91 ERA and an 18/2 K/BB in 21 2/3 innings. He should certainly be in the Orioles’ plans for 2026, though if the team adds to the rotation — and it certainly ought to — he might find himself in middle relief or Triple-A initially.