You could sense a different type of energy in the ballpark with two runners on and no outs in the top of the ninth inning against Toronto earlier this month.

The excitement had already returned to Camden Yards, thanks to the Orioles’ 10-game winning streak in early July. But things turned up a notch nearly two weeks ago.

That’s when you heard that distinctive whistle and felt the surge of adrenaline and resulting goosebumps as the Orioles’ imposing, flame-throwing 6-foot-8, 270-pound rookie closer, Felix Bautista, was summoned to the mound by manager Brandon Hyde with the Birds clinging to a 7-4 lead and the potential tying run at the plate.

The whistle, for those who’ve never watched the HBO series “The Wire,” is synonymous with one of the most fascinating characters to ever appear in episodic television, Omar Little.

Omar is fearless as he saunters down the most rugged, dangerous streets armed with a menacing shotgun hidden under his long, loose-fitting, dark brown duster trenchcoat.

People frantically scatter at the mere sight of him. Very few are brave enough to face him.

When you hear them yelling, “Omar comin’!” coupled with that signature whistling rendition of the popular nursery rhyme “The Farmer in the Dell” (”The Cheese Stands Alone!”), the mere sight of him is intimidating, the viciousness of his weaponry frightening.

So when the Orioles’ emerging rookie pitching sensation strode to the mound to close the game against Toronto, accompanied by Omar’s whistle and an unexpected, dazzling light show, the implication was clear.

To paraphrase one of Little’s classic phrases, “Bautista Don’t Scare.”

And neither do these 2022 Orioles.

A season of improbabilities

Bautista and the Birds have been nothing short of a revelation this year. And both stories run along parallel lines of improbability.

Prior to the start of this season, if someone told me the Orioles would be above .500 at 63-58 and in contention for a wild card playoff berth in mid-August, I would have told them I had a bridge in Brooklyn to sell.

And who could blame me? Last year they went 52-110. During the COVID-shortened season the year prior, they were 25-35. In 2018 and 2019, they were 47-115 and 54-108. In layman’s terms, they stank.

But long-suffering fans are rejoicing and harkening back to 1988 and ’89, where the franchise went from losing 107 games, including an abysmal streak of 21 straight, to going 87-75 under manager Frank Robinson and barely missing the playoffs.

In this continuous cycle of despair interrupted by occasional bouts of hope, true fans find a reason to hold on, to ride it out because better days, though not promised, are hopefully ahead. Ironically, something similar could be said about Felix Bautista.

He signed his first professional contract 10 years ago at the age of 17 as an international free agent with the Miami Marlins. Playing for their Dominican summer league team, he showed promise early on, mowing down 17 batters in his first 11 appearances with an ERA of 2.73.

The next summer, he was dreadful. His ERA ballooned up to 12.41 and the Marlins organization cut ties with him. In 2015, he didn’t play any baseball at all.

The Orioles signed him to a minor league free agent deal in 2016. It may have taken him some time to arrive at this juncture as a dominant, imposing closer, but given his size, four-seam fastball, slider, wicked splitter that some say is the best in baseball, and the fact that he throws with much more than impetuous speed on his pitches, the fans are giddy that the franchise has found its dominant closer.

Since taking over the role of the team’s shutdown relief pitcher, Bautista is a perfect 5-for-5 on save chances. In the 14 innings he’s pitched since the All-Star break, he’s struck out 24 batters while only walking three. He’s currently boasting a stingy 1.59 ERA for the season.

He hasn’t just been good — he’s been dominant, with a strikeout percentage in the 97th percentile and a fastball velocity that’s in the 99th percentile of all Major League pitchers.

The man is slinging some serious heat, bringing an intimidating aura as the kind of true power pitcher from the bullpen that all championship teams need. In a 5-3 win against the Cardinals on May 10, the Dominican native unleashed the fastest pitch ever by an Oriole in the Statcast era at 101.9 miles per hour.

What adds to the degree of difficulty in facing him is the off-speed stuff that he’s incorporated into his repertoire. His performance in his previous save prior to last night, a 4-2 win over Toronto on Tuesday, Aug. 16, is starting to become par for the course, striking out two in a perfect ninth inning. Two of those pitches clocked triple digits on the radar gun, with nine of his 11 throws hurtling through the strike zone.

Last night against the Red Sox, after giving up a home run to Xander Bogaerts to start the ninth inning, which shrunk Baltimore’s lead to 5-3 in MLB’s Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Bautista struck out Rafael Devers with a sinister splitter, then got J.D. Martinez and Christian Arroyo to ground out to seal the victory.

With the cancellation of the minor league season in 2020, Bautista spent the entire year in Santo Domingo being mentored by Ramon Martinez, the former All-Star pitcher who was the Orioles’ senior advisor in Latin America. The results have been eye-opening.

It’s difficult to fathom that last year, Bautista began the season in Aberdeen with the IronBirds, the O’s High-A affiliate.

That began his meteoric ascension through the farm system as he appeared in 40 games for Aberdeen, the Double-A Bowie Baysox and the Triple-A Norfolk Tides, pitching 46.2 innings, striking out 77 hitters and posting an outstanding 1.54 ERA.

Coming into this season, he was relatively unknown as a surprising addition to the Opening Day roster.

Today, he just might be the most-feared closer in baseball for a fun team that has mildly astonished its fan base with this current season of rejuvenation and regeneration.

Theatrics and music are reserved for baseball’s most authoritative closers, who walk out to the mound in the tense, late-inning moments looking to shut the opposing team down and secure another victory.

The Yankees Sparky Lyle started the tradition in 1972, with Mariano Rivera’s “Enter Sandman” as the most legendary and well known.

Today, the Mets’ exceptional reliever Edwin Diaz has what many consider to be the best entrance. He jogs out to the mound with trumpets blaring over the loudspeakers.

But the more Felix Bautista, and the entire Orioles squad for that matter, continue on their current ascendant trajectory, the more excitement their prodigious closer’s entrance will engender.

It’s undeniable at this point.

Can you hear that whistle?

Bautista and the Orioles are coming.

alejandro.danois@thebaltimorebanner.com

This story has been updated to reflect that Bautista has a strikeout percentage ranking in the 97th percentile, not a strikeout percentage of 92%.

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