Brandon Young makes his MLB debut against one of the best pitchers in the majors. Good luck!
Just when it looked like the Orioles were making some progress, they went out and played a stinker of a game in front of a sellout crowd. And the grumbling from O’s fans has begun anew.
If the 8-11 Orioles are going to turn things around today, they’ll have to do it against one of the best pitchers of 2025 so far in Reds ace Hunter Greene. The 2024 All-Star, coming off a 6.2 WAR, 2.75 ERA season, has burst out of the gate with a 0.98 ERA in his first four starts of this year. It’s a small sample size, but in 27.2 innings he’s allowed only three runs, struck out 31, and walked just four. He leads MLB in pitcher WAR (1.5), ERA+ (442), WHIP (0.578), and H/9 (3.9). It’s extremely tough for any lineup to get on base against Greene, let alone an Orioles lineup that’s filled with struggling hitters. But hey, at least he’s not a lefty!
It’s a tall task for the Orioles’ Brandon Young to face in his major league debut. The O’s recalled the right-hander from Triple-A Norfolk earlier today to replace the injured Zach Eflin in the rotation. Young, signed as an undrafted free agent in 2020 from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, opened eyes last year with a 3.97 ERA and 10.7 K/9 across Norfolk and Double A Bowie, prompting the O’s to add him to the 40-man roster after the season. He began this year with two straight scoreless starts for the Tides before giving up five runs last Saturday.
Young is the first pitcher signed as an amateur by Mike Elias ever to debut with the Orioles. That’s cool for him, but also kind of pathetic for the Birds, who have had six drafts under Elias and never had a drafted pitcher make it to Baltimore. That’s in contrast to the 12 Elias-drafted position players who have made it to the majors, seven of whom are currently in the organization.
If Young pitches well today, he could stick in the rotation for a while; if not, he could be returned to the minors when Kyle Gibson is ready. The O’s made roster room for Young by designating Scott Blewett for assignment after just two appearances, including 2.2 innings of long relief last night. Between the Twins and Orioles, Blewett has allowed only one run in nine innings this season. I thought he was worthy of a longer look, but Cionel Pérez survives again. Cionel might have saved his job last night by retiring all six batters he faced in mop-up duty.
Today is also David Rubenstein Bobblehead Day at Camden Yards. That’s a promo that seemed questionable even when it was announced three months ago and only seems more ill-advised now. I’m not saying that angry fans are going to throw their Rubenstein dolls onto the field or anything, but a bobblehead of the guy who owns an underachieving, frustrating team is maybe not the great collector’s item the O’s had imagined.
Orioles lineup:
CF Cedric Mullins
SS Gunnar Henderson
C Adley Rutschman
1B Ryan O’Hearn
RF Tyler O’Neill
LF Heston Kjerstad
DH Jordan Westburg
2B Jackson Holliday
3B Ramón Urías
RHP Brandon Young
Reds lineup:
CF TJ Friedl
2B Matt McLain
SS Elly De La Cruz
LF Austin Hays
DH Gavin Lux
3B Santiago Espinal
RF Jake Fraley
1B Jeimer Candelario
C Jose Trevino
RHP Hunter Greene