Kyle Gibson, Trevor Rogers and Brandon Young will all have an opportunity to help right the ship in Baltimore. Will any of the three make a positive impact?
There’s really nothing else worth focusing on at this point. It’s not fun, but it’s the biggest story in Birdland. The Orioles rotation is far worse than anyone could have imagined heading into this season, and there does not appear to be a solution in sight.
The injury to Zach Eflin really opened the floodgates. Without Eflin, there’s nobody to play stopper for this brutal collection of arms. Charlie Morton holds the most experience, but he’s been the textbook definition of a 41-year-old problem child this season.
Tomoyuki Sugano holds a respectable 3.43 ERA, but his FIP sits much higher at 5.61. Even after some modest success, it’s difficult to picture a guy like Sugano starting a playoff game against a competent offense. Imagine the 2023 Texas Rangers facing Sugano’s 92-MPH fastball in the ALDS.
Cade Povich and Dean Kremer possess big-league caliber stuff, but it’s difficult to trust either to deliver on any given night. The Orioles hoped to come out strong after the Easter Massacre and an off day, but Kremer spotted Washington a two-run lead before recording the first out of the game.
The Orioles looked the part of a bad baseball team last night. They took bad routes to balls in the field, missed the cutoff man, and failed to string together quality at bats. Kremer immediately placed a weight on a struggling offense, and the presence of Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad against a lefty failed to make a difference.
Brandon Hyde sent Kremer back out to the mound with Baltimore trailing 5-0 after five frames. A good baseball team doesn’t send its starter back out in that situation, but the Orioles have no reason to believe that Sugano or Povich will eclipse five innings today or tomorrow. Hyde attempted to preemptively rest his bullpen after a day off, and Kremer immediately served up a leadoff homer in the sixth.
Mike Elias could have done a better job preparing the team for this season. He couldn’t anticipate the injuries to Eflin or Grayson Rodriguez, but he knew that Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells would miss the first half. He was aware Trevor Rogers and Chayce McDermott would not be ready to start the season, and he knew an aging Morton and an inexperienced Sugano were risks in 2025.
To his credit, Elias inked Kyle Gibson to a one-year deal in late March. At best, Gibson profiles as a backend starter capable of eating innings at 37-years-old. However, the arrival of a league-average fourth-starter would represent a significant addition to this struggling club.
Gibson posted a 98 ERA+ over 169.2 innings last season. He could start for Baltimore as early as Friday, and his contract requires a promotion to the major-league roster by the end of the month.
Rogers will make his first rehab appearance today against Double-A Altoona. Even an expedited effort would require three rehab appearances before Rogers joins the Orioles. He made only four starts for Baltimore last year before a demotion to the minors.
Any optimism with Rogers dates all the way back to the beginning of his career. The front office obviously felt they could fix the lefty when they sent Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers to Miami, but Elias is running short on public trust at the moment.
The Birds recalled Brandon Young when they placed reliever Cody Poteet on the injured list retroactive to April 21. Young allowed three runs in four innings during his major league debut last week.
Young became the “next man up” by default, but he earned the opportunity with a strong string of Triple-A starts dating back to last season. He threw a four-pitch mix with a 94-MPH fastball and a decent curve against the Reds.
McDermott should make a rehab appearance soon, and Eflin could return next month, but Gibson, Rogers and Young represent the closest thing to “reinforcements” that the Orioles have right now.
Are you confident that any of these three starters can make a difference in the short term? If so, which one?