How will back end of O's rotation look when Rodriguez returns?

Earlier this week, MLB.com Orioles beat reporter Jake Rill held an Ask Me Anything on Reddit with O’s fans at r/orioles. This mailbag features questions and answers from there. The full AMA can be read here.

Any sense of how the back end of the rotation is going to shake out once Grayson [Rodriguez] returns? Presumably it's between [Dean] Kremer and [Cole] Irvin right now for the #5 spot, and neither of them seems to want to give it up. -- boofoodoo

A good problem to have, right? That's how general manager Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde constantly refer to it.

If each of the six (Corbin Burnes, Kyle Bradish, Rodriguez, John Means, Kremer, Irvin) stays healthy, I could see the Orioles using some type of pseudo-six-man rotation to help ease the load throughout the summer.

Burnes will pitch every fifth game -- he's a workhorse ace, and they're going to get the most out of him. But maybe Irvin makes occasional spot starts to help keep Bradish, Rodriguez and Means fresh after each has already spent time on the injured list this year.

The O's play 29 of 30 days in June, so definitely can't have too much pitching for a stretch like that.

What do you think of how the Orioles are handling Heston Kjerstad right now when he's basically just a [Ryan] O'Hearn duplicate? Ryan McKenna appears to be the better fit off the bench and has played more games recently. If they can't play him more often, why not just send him back down? -- isestrex

It's tricky to manage playing time on a team with so many talented players (and so many more waiting in the wings). I thought Hyde was incredibly candid when he was recently asked about Kjerstad and he said he has "a pretty good club right now" and is trying to mix the club’s No. 4 prospect (per MLB Pipeline) in as best he can.

Can't start Kjerstad without cutting into playing time for Anthony Santander (a proven run producer), O'Hearn (based on advanced metrics, one of MLB's top hitters so far this year) or Colton Cowser (an early American League Rookie of the Year front-runner). But also, I'm not sure there's much more Kjerstad can get out of playing at Triple-A Norfolk, where he's proven he's too good for the quality of pitching he faces there.

At this point, Kjerstad is a valuable bat to have on the bench because of his power potential, and he can also give other outfielders a day off when the team faces right-handed pitching.

Given John Means' first starts in his Triple-A rehab stint, a lot of fans were essentially writing him off as a meaningful contributor to the rotation this year and beyond. Then he goes out and pitches one of the gems of the season so far. Was anyone in the organization ever concerned too, or was it always, "Nah, he'll be fine?” -- captain_rex_kramer

No concern at all. Those rehab outings were like Spring Training starts for Means -- results didn't matter as much as how the pitcher was feeling. And Means was always feeling strong. His velocity was also consistent with his career averages.

The team was confident Means could return and make a positive impact, as he did by tossing seven scoreless innings in Cincinnati last Saturday.

What is the path for Coby Mayo at this point? Any sorta timeline? -- floridacardinals

It would greatly surprise me if Mayo (the Orioles’ No. 3 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 26 overall prospect) does not make his MLB debut this year. If he continues putting up big numbers at Triple-A, he'll force his way to the big leagues.

Elias said a couple of weeks ago that the team is having active discussions about Mayo, which is always a good sign that a prospect is getting close. They're still trying to decide whether his future is at third base -- he's shown a lot of improvement there (a big talking point this spring), but he's also worked at first (although that path is currently blocked by Ryan Mountcastle and O'Hearn).

Like I mentioned in the earlier reply when discussing Kjerstad, the O's have a lot of good players right now, and it's hard to find spots for all of them. But Mayo is doing everything he can to put himself in the mix. My prediction is we see him sometime in the second half.