The 2025 season may already be a lost cause, but the Orioles are still acting like they want to compete. If that’s the case, they must replace Kyle Gibson with an MLB-caliber starter.
There seems to be a general consensus that while Brandon Hyde may not have caused the problem, he failed to play a part in the solution. Hyde helped lead the Orioles out of their rebuild ahead of schedule, but the Birds fell well short of expectations this season. The guy handing in the lineup card is often the first to go in that situation, and that’s what happened here.
That’s all well and good. Hyde, while surely disappointed, can probably live with it at the end of the day. But what can the Orioles do now?
Baltimore had to hope that firing the skipper would generate some type of wake up call, but the immediate results marked another letdown. The actions over the next week will indicate just how serious the Orioles are at turning things around this season.
If Mike Elias and leadership collectively believe that the third wild card spot is still achievable, they need to acquire a starting pitcher right now.
Baltimore entered the week 0-12 when Charlie Morton pitched in any capacity. The O’s hoped that Kyle Gibson would provide a steady hand, but the veteran had the opposite effect. Gibson did not provide the Orioles a chance to win in any of his first four starts, and Baltimore made the decision to move on before things got any worse.
So here we are. Gibson is gone, Morton has been reduced to mop up duty, and the Orioles offense remains incapable of offsetting poor performances from the rotation. It doesn’t matter who is calling the shots, that’s not a recipe for success.
The Orioles took the first step by designating Gibson for assignment. The 37-year-old posted a 99 ERA+ just last season, but he did not resemble anything close to a league average pitcher in 2025. Gibson insisted that an abnormal spring training did not impact his performance on the field, but the proof was in the pudding.
Baltimore added a reliever as a short term move, and Kade Strowd allowed a run over two hits in his major league debut. The Birds, lacking internal options, flew Chayce McDermott to Milwaukee.
Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, Tyler Wells and Albert Suárez will not be ready to pitch any time soon. Trevor Rogers has disappointed, and Brandon Young joined the laundry list of starters on the injured list. McDermott made the most sense.
Only Orioles’ leadership knows the plan for the remainder of the season. Tony Mansolino said the right things about getting back to .500, but he really didn’t have a choice. Elias can’t come out and say the team is packing it in before Memorial Day, but he does have a decision to make.
Either the front office believes this team can still make any type of push toward a wild card spot, or they are already preparing to maximize value at the trade deadline. One thing is clear, a half measure will not yield positive results.
The Orioles can no longer wait for a regression to the mean. They cannot wait for a starter to get healthy, and they cannot wait for McDermott to potentially figure things out. If Baltimore holds any hope for 2025, the team needs an external starting pitching option ASAP.
The writing appears to be on the wall, and the Orioles will have an opportunity to retool by exchanging players like Cedric Mullins, Zach Eflin and Ryan O’Hearn in July, but Hyde was fired in an effort to improve the current situation. If Elias determines there’s no point in leveraging the future for a lost cause, then so be it. But if he still wants to compete this season, the Birds need help now.
It’s rare for teams to acquire talent before the trade deadline, but it’s certainly not impossible. The Brewers acquired Quinn Priester early in the season. Priester, a former top prospect in the Pirates organization, was in his third season in the big leagues.
Priester will never be confused with a savior, but the Brewers were desperately in need of pitching help. Priester limited opponents to two runs or fewer in five of his first seven starts with the Brewers.
Milwaukee had to pay a high price for Priester. The Brewers sent their fifth and seventh best prospects, along with a competitive balance pick, to Boston for the 24-year-old. There’s no point in parting with legitimate prospects if the season is a lost cause, but it’s foolish to expect change without action.
The Pirates could be one of the few MLB teams already looking to sell. Paul Skenes is justifiably out of reach, but Mitch Keller has received modest trade buzz this year. Pittsburgh signed Keller to a five-year, $77-million extension prior to the 2024 season. He sits below Skenes and an injured Jared Jones in the rotation hierarchy, but his 102 ERA+ this season makes him an average MLB pitcher.
Ryan Mountcastle, Heston Kjerstad, or Coby Mayo would immediately slot into the heart of Pittsburgh’s lineup. The Pirates need controllable bats more than any team in the majors, and Keller is under control until 2029.
Keller represents one of several starting pitchers that could be available in the right situation. Several teams have sixth and seventh starters capable of yielding better results than Morton and Gibson. If the Orioles want that type of performance right now, they likely need to look outside of the organization.