With Baltimore’s all-world closer back on the mound, the benefits of his presence will be felt throughout the Orioles bullpen
After 556 days of waiting, recovering and hoping, Félix Bautista finally made his return to the mound yesterday in Sarasota. Any time a major pitcher returns from injury, it’s a big deal. Bautista returning to the Orioles feels all that much bigger of a deal—and not just because of his Mountainous frame.
When the Orioles’ King Félix was at the height of his powers in 2023, the Orioles had a certain aura of invincibility in close games. Despite missing the last month of the season with an elbow injury that ultimately required Tommy John, Bautista took home AL Reliever of the Year. The Mountain put up 110 Ks in 61 IP, putting up a strikeout rate only ever equaled by a select group of receivers. Bautista led a bullpen that guided the Orioles to an AL-best 30-16 record in one-run games.
In 2024, without Bautista holding down the closer role, the Baltimore bullpen took a giant step backwards. After finishing with the fifth-best bullpen ERA (3.55) in 2023, that number ballooned to 4.22 in 2024, giving the O’s a bottom 10 pen. Craig Kimbrel, who was brought in to try and ease the pain of Bautista’s absence, only added to fans’ suffering. The former nine-time All-Star blew six saves in 29 chances and had a 5.33 ERA when the O’s DFA’d him in September.
Baltimore replaced Kimbrel with deadline acquisition Seranthony Domínguez, and while the former Philly provided an upgrade, he was still nowhere near the dominant force that Bautista can be for the O’s. That uncertainty at the back end of the pen saw the Orioles go 14-18 in one-run games.
Bautista coming back restores the mental edge that comes from having an elite closer and gives the Orioles the kind of bullpen depth they lacked in 2024. With the Mountain back, Yennier Cano can return to his role as full-time setup man—the role that transformed him into an All-Star in 2023. For his career, Cano has a 2.35 ERA in the eighth compared to a 4.78 ERA in all other innings. Due to the uncertainty facing the bullpen, only 48% of his innings came in the eighth last season—and with change, Cano’s ERA increased from 2.11 in 2024 to 3.15 in 2025.
The return of his closer also means that Brandon Hyde can turn to his high-leverage relievers earlier in games in 2025. The offseason addition of Andrew Kittredge means that, along with Cano, Domínguez and Gregory Soto, the Orioles have four relievers with closing experience.
That quartet gives Hyde a reliable bridge to Bautista that he can turn to as early as the fifth or sixth inning most games. A great bullpen can shorten games because if you take a lead into the sixth, the game is basically already won. The 2025 Orioles’ bullpen, with Bautista as the centerpiece, has all the makings of one that can shorten games.
The domino effect of Bautista’s return will also have a positive impact on some of Baltimore’s less-heralded bullpen arms. Keegan Akin has been a dependable long reliever for much of the last three seasons, but has shown he struggles in higher leverage situations. In those high leverage situations last year, opponents hit .278 off Akin with a .836 OPS, compared to a .181 average and a .557 OPS in any other situation.
With Bautista holding down the 9th and the group of Cano, Dominguez, Kittredge and Soto taking the lion’s share of the opportunities in the seventh and eighth, Akin’s exposure to high leverage situations should be much more limited.
The depth created by Bautista’s presence also means that more volatile relievers like Cionel Pérez and Bryan Baker can be used more judiciously. Both Pérez and Baker have the stuff to be late inning guys, but just aren’t as reliable as you’d like your late inning relievers to be.
Overall, the return of Bautista means this bullpen should be the best pen of the Brandon Hyde/Mike Elias era. That’s good news for an Orioles team that still has World Series aspirations, as a great bullpen is practically a prerequisite for a true pennant contender. Both the Yankees and Dodgers’ bullpens finished in the top 10 for bullpen ERA, and they used those pens to overcome questionable starting pitching depth en route to the World Series.
The Orioles’ bullpen ERA of 4.22 ranked dead last among playoff teams in 2024 and they were one of only three playoff teams with a bullpen ERA above four. With the Yankees trading for Devin Williams, Emmanuel Clase leading baseball’s best bullpen in Cleveland and the Astros, Mariners and Twins all potentially having elite closers, the Orioles needed to upgrade their bullpen if they want to play deep into October.
Bautista’s return to full strength would give the Orioles a chance to return to the ranks of baseball’s most lights out relief corps. Monday’s outing showed he’s well on his way to a full return to form, which means opponents should once again have a mountain to climb when trying to come back against Baltimore’s bullpen.