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Orioles Activate Zach Eflin

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The Orioles have activated right-hander Zach Eflin from the injured list ahead of his start against the Angels this afternoon, per a team announcement. Right-hander Colin Selby was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk to make room for Eflin on the active roster. In an additional move, southpaw Trevor Rogers was activated from the injured list and optioned to Triple-A.

Eflin, 31, went on the shelf just over a month ago with what was described at the time as a “low-grade” lat strain. The right-hander has been a revelation for the Orioles ever since he was acquried from the Rays ahead of last year’s trade deadline. He pitched to a 2.60 ERA in nine starts down the stretch last year, and his first three starts of 2025 saw him post a 3.00 ERA despite an unusually small 11.8% strikeout rate. The Orioles were 5-6 after Eflin’s last start with the club, but since losing him from the front of their rotation the wheels have come off. The club has posted a brutal 9-18 record since then, however, and much of those struggles have been attributable to lackluster performances in the rotation.

Since the day Eflin went on the shelf, Baltimore has the worst rotation in baseball by FIP (6.10), and the third-worst by ERA (5.97). Tomoyuki Sugano has pitched quite well with a 2.72 ERA despite his 4.61 FIP and 14.2% strikeout rate, but that doesn’t appear to be particularly sustainable and the rest of the rotation has ERAs north of 5.00 across the board. Perhaps adding Eflin to the rotation ahead of Sugano can help stabilize things, particularly if he rediscovers the bat-missing abilities he flashed when he struck out 21.0% of opponents down the stretch last year. Even so, more reinforcements appear to be necessary if the Orioles are going to have a serious chance of getting back into the playoff picture.

One other potential rotation option was also activated from the IL today alongside Eflin: Rogers. Acquired from the Marlins in exchange for Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby at last year’s trade deadline, Rogers struggled badly in four starts for the Orioles before being optioned to Triple-A late last year. He could have been in the mix for a rotation job this spring had he not suffered a kneecap subluxation in January that slowed his start of the season. He’s been ramping back up ever since, and is finally healthy enough to be activated from the shelf. With that being said, he’s currently set to act as Triple-A depth for the club rather than come up and pitch in the majors immediately. Perhaps that’s a sensible decision, seeing as he’s struggled to a 7.50 ERA across four rehab starts this year.

Making room for Eflin on the active roster is Selby, who made his big league debut with the Pirates back in 2023. He struggled to a 9.00 ERA in 24 innings of work, and since then has bounced between the Royals and Orioles organizations with just 10 2/3 frames in the majors total over the past two years. Most recently, he’s logged 3 2/3 innings of 4.91 ERA ball for Baltimore this year. He’ll head to Triple-A as a potential depth option for the birds going forward.

Orioles Outright Matt Bowman To Triple-A

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TODAY: Bowman accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A after clearing waivers, the Orioles announced.

MAY 8: The Orioles announced Thursday that they’ve designated right-hander Matt Bowman for assignment and recalled fellow righty Colin Selby from Triple-A Norfolk. Selby will give the O’s a fresh arm for today’s series finale in Minnesota, which is set to begin at 12:10pm CT. Selby was already on what was a full 40-man roster, so Baltimore now has a vacancy after designating Bowman.

Bowman, 33, pitched in each of the past two games against the Twins and now finds himself on the outs in Baltimore as the O’s look to get some reinforcements for a beleaguered pitching staff. Bowman actually came to the O’s last summer after opting out of a minor league deal with Minnesota. The Orioles eventually passed him through waivers but re-signed him on a new minor league deal after he opted for free agency.

Baltimore selected Bowman to the major league roster late in spring training. He’s been a heavily used arm for manager Brandon Hyde, appearing in 16 of the Orioles’ 35 games (46%). The journeyman right-hander posted a sparkling 1.98 ERA through his first dozen appearances but has hit a rough patch of late, surrendering seven runs across his past four outings. Overall, Bowman carries a 5.19 earned run average with a sub-par 15.2% strikeout rate but a terrific 3.8% walk rate.

Bowman pitched for four teams in 2024, including both the Twins and Orioles. He’s now suited up for seven teams across parts of seven major league seasons. In 233 1/3 frames at the MLB level, he’s produced a 4.24 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate. Bowman doesn’t miss many bats and has never thrown hard — his 91.3 mph average on his sinker in 2025 is an exact match for his career mark — but he’s consistently proven capable of avoiding hard contact. Opponents have mustered a putrid 86.3 mph average exit velocity against Bowman in his career and posted similarly bleak barrel and hard-hit rates of 5.1% and 29.6%, respectively.

Because he’s out of minor league options, Bowman couldn’t simply be optioned to Norfolk to bring up a fresh arm. The O’s will have five days to find a trade partner for him before they have to place him on outright or release waivers (which is another 48-hour process). He could be waived at any point prior to that, of course, but his DFA will be resolved within a maximum of one week.

Orioles Outright Walter Pennington

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The Orioles announced on Friday that lefty reliever Walter Pennington cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk. He’d been designated for assignment on Wednesday as the corresponding move when the O’s acquired Luis F. Castillo from Seattle.

Pennington, 27, had been designated for assignment and released by the Rangers at the end of April. Baltimore grabbed him off release waivers. He made one appearance apiece at High-A Aberdeen and with Norfolk. Pennington hasn’t been able to find the strike zone, walking six of 10 batters faced while allowing seven runs (five earned) in one combined inning.

Initially drafted by the Royals, Pennington was traded to Texas last summer in the Michael Lorenzen deadline deal. He’s only a season removed from posting a 2.13 ERA with a 32.2% strikeout rate over 63 1/3 Triple-A innings. Pennington had been pitching at the Rangers’ complex before they moved on, and his pair of appearances with Baltimore affiliates were alarming.

Now that he’s cleared waivers, the O’s can keep Pennington in Norfolk without carrying him on the 40-man roster. He’ll obviously need far better control than he has shown in his limited work so far, but he’d be a solid depth arm if he can find last year’s form. He recorded an even 3.00 earned run average with 17 punchouts and 11 walks over his first 18 big league innings last season.

MLBTR Podcast: Replacing Triston Casas, A Shakeup In Texas, And The Blue Jays’ Rotation

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • What does the trade deadline look like for the Orioles if they’re out of contention? (37:10)
  • Can the Tigers extend Tarik Skubal and what does his contract look like? (45:05)
  • Who are some fun under-the-radar contributors this year? (51:05)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Eric Canha, Imagn Images

Orioles Acquire Luis F. Castillo From Mariners

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The Mariners announced that they’ve traded righty Luis F. Castillo to Baltimore for cash. Seattle had designated him for assignment yesterday as the corresponding move for the Leody Taveras waiver claim. Baltimore optioned Castillo to Triple-A Norfolk and designated lefty Walter Pennington for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot.

Castillo, the now-former teammate of the Seattle All-Star starter of the same name, has five major league appearances under his belt. He signed a minor league deal over the offseason and was selected onto the big league roster in early April. Castillo took a pair of turns through the rotation. He surrendered seven runs (six earned) on 12 hits and seven walks across seven innings. He struck out five.

Those were Castillo’s first two major league starts. His previous big league experience consisted of a trio of relief outings for the Tigers in 2022. Castillo spent the next two seasons in Japan. He didn’t miss many bats but managed a 2.96 ERA over 94 1/3 innings for the Orix Buffaloes a year ago. The 30-year-old has made four starts for Seattle’s top farm team in Tacoma. He has managed a 12:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio while surrendering eight runs through 14 1/3 frames.

Castillo sits in the 91-92 MPH range with both his four-seam fastball and sinker. There’s not much swing-and-miss upside but he has a full slate of minor league options. He’ll join Brandon Young and Chayce McDermott as depth starters who are on optional assignment to Norfolk.

Pennington, 27, heads back into DFA limbo for the second time in as many weeks. He was designated for assignment and released by the Rangers at the end of April. Baltimore grabbed him off release waivers. He made one appearance apiece at High-A Aberdeen and with Norfolk. Pennington hasn’t been able to find the strike zone, walking six of 10 batters faced while allowing seven runs (five earned) in one combined inning.

Initially drafted by the Royals, Pennington was traded to Texas last summer in the Michael Lorenzen deadline deal. He’s only a season removed from posting a 2.13 ERA with a 32.2% strikeout rate over 63 1/3 Triple-A innings. Pennington had been pitching at the Rangers’ complex before they moved on, and his pair of appearances with Baltimore affiliates were clearly alarming. He’ll likely wind up back on waivers in the next few days. If he goes unclaimed, he would not have the requisite service time to decline an outright assignment.

Orioles To Sign Naykel Cruz

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The Orioles have agreed to a deal with Cuban left-hander Naykel Cruz, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. The contract is pending a physical. Cruz is expected to report to High-A or Double-A once the signing is official, Romero adds.

The 25-year-old Cruz held a showcase for big league teams back in November. He pitched in parts of four seasons in the Cuban National Series — Cuba’s top professional league — and was a member of Team Cuba in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (though he only pitched two-thirds of an inning in that tournament). The southpaw has also briefly appeared in the Mexican League, pitching in seven games back in the 2022 season.

During his four seasons in Cuba’s top league, Cruz posted a 4.18 ERA with shaky strikeout and walk rates of 19.1% and 15.4%, respectively. Prior to that offseason showcase, Romero wrote that Cruz had bumped his velocity from the 91-92 mph he averaged during his days pitching in the CNS to 94-95 mph.

Cruz’s age and previous experience in CNS make him eligible to sign as a professional rather than an amateur. That doesn’t mean he’s required to sign a major league deal, however. In all likelihood, he’s signing a minor league pact for a yet-unknown bonus.

By all accounts, Cruz isn’t an especially high-profile prospect, though that hardly means he can’t contribute at the big league level. Plenty of players who signed as international prospects and received middling bonuses have developed into major leaguers. Given his age, prior experience, the fact that he was eligible to sign as a professional and the fact that he could potentially go right to Double-A, Cruz is a bit more notable than many shot-in-the-dark international signings. It’s hardly likely that he pitches for the Orioles later this season, but it’s also not entirely out of the realm of possibility, especially given the state of Baltimore’s pitching staff at the moment.

Looking Ahead To Club Options: AL East

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MLBTR wraps our division by division look at next year’s team/mutual option class with the AL East. Virtually all of the mutual options will be bought out by one side. Generally, if the team is willing to retain the player at the option price, the player will decline his end in search of a better free agent deal.

Previous installments: player options/opt-outs, NL West, AL West, NL Central, AL Central, NL East

Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore signed Kittredge to a one-year, $10MM free agent deal over the winter. He’s making $9MM this season and has a matching club option or a $1MM buyout for 2026. Kittredge was supposed to be a key setup man in front of Félix Bautista, but he suffered a left knee injury early in camp and required a debridement surgery. He began a rehab stint at High-A Aberdeen on Sunday. While there’s plenty of time for Kittredge to turn things around, it hasn’t been the start to his O’s tenure that he envisioned.

Laureano, who was non-tendered by the Braves, signed a $4MM contract with Baltimore in February. That came with a $6.5MM team option without a buyout, giving the Orioles an extra season of club control. Injuries to Tyler O’Neill and Colton Cowser have pressed him into everyday work, mostly in left field. He hasn’t provided much through his first 24 games. Laureano is hitting .185 with a .237 on-base percentage through 59 plate appearances. He has hit a trio of home runs but struck out 18 times while drawing only four walks. Laureano has generally been a below-average hitter since being suspended following a positive PED test in 2021. He’ll need much better production over the next few months for the Orioles to exercise the option.

Boston Red Sox

Buehler signed a one-year, $21.05MM free agent deal to match the price of the qualifying offer — which the Dodgers had declined to issue when he hit the market. It’s a relatively expensive pillow contract. Buehler was coming off a dismal regular season, in which he’d posted a 5.38 ERA with a career-worst 18.6% strikeout rate over 16 starts. He finished his Dodger tenure on a high note, though, closing out the World Series while pitching to a 3.60 earned run average in 15 playoff innings.

An ace-caliber pitcher early in his career, Buehler hasn’t looked the same since undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career in August 2022. His stint in Boston has gotten out to a shaky start. While his 4.28 ERA through 33 2/3 innings is serviceable, he’s striking out just 20.7% of opponents while averaging a personal-low 93.5 MPH on his fastball. Shoulder inflammation sent him to the injured list last week. The mutual option was always an accounting measure designed to push the $3MM buyout to the end of the year rather than disbursing it throughout the season as salary. The team seems likelier to decline its end than the pitcher does.

Giolito signed a two-year, $38.5MM deal during the 2023-24 offseason. He negotiated an opt-out clause after the first season and hoped to retest the market after one strong year. Instead, Giolito’s elbow gave out during Spring Training and he required UCL surgery that cost him the entire season. The veteran righty made the easy decision to stick around for year two.

By exercising his player option, Giolito unlocked a 2026 option for the team. It’s valued at $14MM and comes with a $1.5MM buyout. If Giolito pitches 140 innings this year, it’d convert to a $19MM mutual option (still with the $1.5MM buyout). That’d give him a chance to test free agency if he wants. Giolito has an uphill battle to 140 frames. A hamstring strain cost him the first month of the season. He finally made his team debut last week, working six innings of three-run ball with seven strikeouts in a no-decision against Toronto. The Rangers tagged him for six runs on 10 hits in just 3 2/3 frames tonight.

The Red Sox added Hendriks on a two-year, $10MM deal over the 2023-24 offseason. They knew they wouldn’t get much in year one, as Hendriks had undergone Tommy John surgery the prior August. He attempted to make a late-season return last year but was shut down after a minor flare-up of elbow discomfort. Elbow inflammation shelved him for a couple weeks to begin this season, though he made his team debut in mid-April.

Hendriks allowed two runs on three hits in one inning during his first appearance. He has rattled off five straight scoreless outings since then, albeit with four walks in five frames. His 95 MPH average fastball is solid but below the 97-98 range at which he sat during his elite seasons with the White Sox.

Note: Jarren Duran’s arbitration deal contains a ’26 club option with an $8MM base salary. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the Sox decline the option.

New York Yankees

  • Tim Hill, LHP ($3MM club option, $350K buyout)

Hill finished last season with the Yankees after being released by the White Sox in June. He’d allowed nearly six earned runs per nine with Chicago but managed a tidy 2.05 ERA over 44 frames for New York. He’s out to a similarly productive start to the ’25 season. Hill has surrendered five runs through 17 1/3 innings (2.60 ERA).

While the soft-tossing lefty has managed just 11 strikeouts, his game has always been built around ground-balls. He’s getting grounders at a massive 81.6% clip thus far. Only nine of the 40 batted balls he’s allowed have been hit into the air. It’s easily the highest grounder rate in the majors. The Yankees value this skillset as much as any team, and the $2.65MM option decision is a drop in the bucket for them.

Loáisiga is still working back from last April’s elbow surgery. The righty has generally been a productive reliever when healthy, but he’s only once managed even 50 MLB innings in a season. He’s on a rehab stint with Low-A Tampa and will need another few weeks before he’s built into MLB game shape. Loáisiga is making $5MM this season. The option has a matching base value and could climb by another $500K if the Yankees exercise it. He’d earn $100K each at reaching 50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 innings in 2026.

Tampa Bay Rays

Fairbanks is in the final guaranteed season of the three-year, $12MM extension that he signed before the 2023 campaign. That includes a $1MM buyout on a club option that comes with a $7MM base value. That’s a bargain for a quality high-leverage reliever, but the deal includes various escalators that could push the option price above $12MM.

The option value would climb by $500K if he gets to 125 combined appearances between 2023-25 and another $1MM apiece at 135, 150 and 165 combined outings. Fairbanks made it into 95 games over the first two seasons. He’d trigger the first $500K escalator at just 30 appearances this year and would max it out if he makes it into 70 games. He can boost the option price by another $2MM based on this year’s games finished total: $500K apiece at 25, 30, 35 and 40.

Fairbanks has never reached 50 appearances in a season because of various injuries, but he’s already at 14 games through this season’s first six weeks. Fairbanks has finished 11 of those contests while working as Kevin Cash’s primary closer. He has recorded 13 strikeouts against six walks while allowing three runs over 13 1/3 innings. The option price should remain solid value, though the escalators might eventually push it to an area where Tampa Bay would rather explore deadline or offseason trades rather than having a reliever projecting as one of the highest-paid players on the roster.

Jansen seemed to be pulling away from the rest of a weak free agent catching class early last season. His production tanked from June onwards, leaving him to sign an $8.5MM pillow contract with Tampa Bay. He’s making an $8MM salary and will collect a $500K buyout on a $12MM mutual option at year’s end. Last summer’s offensive drought has carried into 2025. Jansen has only one home run with a .147/.301/.221 batting line through 83 plate appearances. He remains a very patient hitter, but the Rays would have an easy decision to decline their end of the option if he doesn’t find the double-digit home run power he showed during his best seasons in Toronto.

Lowe has had a rare extended run with a Tampa Bay team that is almost always willing to trade any player. He’s in his eighth big league season and in year seven of the extension he signed in Spring Training 2019. Lowe collected $24MM for what would have been his standard six seasons of team control. The Rays exercised a $10.5MM option for this year and can retain him once more at an $11.5MM price. It’s an $11MM decision after accounting for the $500K buyout.

While injuries have been a recurring issue, Lowe has been one of the better offensive middle infielders in the sport when healthy. His 39-homer season in 2021 is an outlier, but he has tallied 21 longballs in each of the past two seasons. He’s out to a much slower start this year, batting .203/.258/.305 with four homers across 128 plate appearances. The batted ball metrics are still solid, but his career-worst 20.1% swinging strike rate is the fifth-highest among hitters with at least 50 PAs.

This one can still go a few different ways. If Lowe hits like this all season, he’d be bought out. If he finds something like his 2023-24 form (.238/.319/.458), then $11MM is reasonable. It’d keep him as one of Tampa Bay’s highest-paid players, though, so there’s a decent chance he’ll be traded at some point this year. The 16-18 Rays look like fringe Wild Card contenders for a second consecutive year. They could again try to walk the line between buying and selling come deadline season.

The Rays signed Waguespack to a restructured deal early last offseason. He’s making $1.3MM this season and has a $1.5MM club option for next year. That’d escalate to $2MM if he reaches 20 “points” this season. Waguespack would receive one point for each MLB relief appearance and two points per big league start. He has spent the ’25 season to date on optional assignment to Triple-A Durham.

Working as a pure reliever for the Bulls, Waguespack has reeled off 14 innings of two-run ball. He has fanned 15 hitters against three walks while getting ground-balls at a lofty 60% clip. It hasn’t earned him a major league call yet, but he should be up before too much longer if he keeps performing at that level. Waguespack spent the 2022-23 seasons with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan. He made four MLB appearances with Tampa Bay last year but lost a good portion of the season to a rotator cuff injury.

Note: Taylor Walls’ arbitration deal contains a ’26 club option with a $2.45MM base salary. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the Rays decline the option.

Toronto Blue Jays

  • None

Orioles Notes: Eflin, McDermott

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  • It has been almost a month since Zach Eflin was sidelined by a right lat strain, but the Orioles right-hander has now started a rehab assignment with the team’s high-A affiliate.  Eflin looked sharp in tossing four scoreless innings on 58 pitches for Aberdeen today, and while we’ll know more once Eflin recovers, he told the Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich on Saturday that he was hopeful that he’d just need the one rehab outing.  While the O’s aren’t going to rush a player back from the IL, the team obviously needs all the help it can get, given how the rotation has been ravaged by injuries and poor performance.
  • One of those injured Orioles pitchers came off the 15-day IL today, as Baltimore activated Chayce McDermott and optioned the righty to Triple-A Norfolk.  McDermott suffered a right lat strain early in Spring Training and didn’t throw any Grapefruit League innings, and his 2025 workload to date has consisted of two appearances and 5 2/3 innings during a minor league rehab assignment.  This assignment to Triple-A will give McDermott more time to fully build himself up, with an eye towards possibly returning to the Show later in 2025.  McDermott is a well-regarded pitching prospect who made his MLB debut last July, tossing four innings in his lone big league appearance to date.

Orioles Recall Coby Mayo

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3:27pm: The Orioles have officially announced Mayo’s promotion. As noted by Kubatko, Urias was in fact placed on the 10-day injured list with what the Orioles have termed a “mild” hamstring strain. Manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Kubatko) that the club expects Urias’s trip to the IL to be a short one, and then he’ll resume a running progression after resting for a couple of days.

1:00pm: The Orioles are bringing infield prospect Coby Mayo back up to the majors. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reported that Mayo was on his way to join the team. Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun confirmed that Mayo would indeed be recalled to the active roster.

Mayo, 23, is one of the best prospects in baseball but he has struggled to find playing time in a crowded Baltimore infield. He made his major league debut last year but was optioned back to the minors multiple times and only got 46 plate appearances over 17 games.

He came into camp this year with a shot at earning an Opening Day job but was optioned to the minors in mid-March. Mayo is only really a viable option at the corners. Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn have been sharing first base and the designated hitter spot.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson started the season on the IL but the club decided to go with a rotation of Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, Jorge Mateo and Ramón Urías to cover the three infield spots to the left of first base. Henderson was off the IL after missing just seven games. That left Westburg and Urías sharing third while Holliday and Mateo shared second.

Though Mayo expressed some frustration with getting optioned, he has continued mashing in the minors. He already has six home runs and has been drawing walks at a 12.6% pace. He has a .252/.346/.523 line and 130 wRC+ for the year. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has 1,147 minor league plate appearances with a .287/.390/.570 line and 149 wRC+.

Though he has been doing everything in his power to push for a promotion, the O’s seemed content to wait. Yesterday, general manager Mike Elias spoke on the situation, per Jake Rill of MLB.com. “He’s going to be a big part of this team,” Elias said, though he added that Mayo needed the “right opportunity” or the “right pathway”.

It seems that injuries have finally created that pathway. Westburg landed on the 10-day injured list earlier this week due to a left hamstring strain. Urías was scratched from last night’s game due to right hamstring tightness, leaving Emmanuel Rivera to play third base. With Mayo’s reported recall, perhaps Urías will land on the injured list. Presumably, Mayo will take over at the regular third baseman, with Rivera serving a bench role.

Perhaps that means this will only be a brief promotion. Mayo only hit .098/.196/.098 in his debut last year. If he struggles again this time, he could end up optioned back to Norfolk when Westburg and Urías get healthy, though it’s also possible that he hits enough to stick around. Mountcastle is having an awful year, so perhaps there’s a scenario where his playing time goes to Mayo even with Westburg and Urías on the roster.

Time will tell how that plays out, which will impact Mayo’s future contractual status. He came into this year with 43 days of major league service time, putting him 129 shy of the one-year mark. There are still 148 days remaining in the regular season, meaning Mayo can get over the one-year line if he’s up the rest of the way. That would put him on track to qualify for arbitration after 2027 and free agency after 2030. However, getting optioned back down to the minors later in the year could prevent him from getting over the one-year line and could push those timelines.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Orioles Move Charlie Morton To Bullpen

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The Orioles used veteran starter Charlie Morton out of the bullpen last night when Kyle Gibson’s first start of the year was shorter than hoped, and it seems that’ll be the continued plan for Morton — at least in the short term. Manager Brandon Hyde announced today that Morton will pitch in relief for the time being (link via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner). The O’s haven’t closed the door on the 41-year-old returning to a starting role, but they’re hoping a change in role can help get him back on track.

It’s a disappointing outcome for both the team and for Morton personally. The 18-year big league veteran signed with the O’s on a one-year, $15MM contract over the winter. Morton was one of several one-year acquisitions for the Orioles’ rotation, joining Tomoyuki Sugano and Gibson in that regard. Baltimore’s baseball operations staff hoped that the infusion of aging veterans, paired with steps forward from young pitchers like Grayson Rodriguez and Cade Povich, would help them overcome the loss of ace Corbin Burnes, who signed with the D-backs in free agency.

Virtually nothing has gone right for the Orioles’ staff in 2025, however. Morton is hardly alone in terms of struggles, but his have been the most glaring. He’s appeared in seven games — five starts, one bulk appearance following an opener, and last night’s mop-up work — and been tattooed for a 9.45 ERA in 26 2/3 frames. His 15.2% walk rate is a career-worst, while his 18.8% strikeout rate is his lowest since 2015. Morton’s typically strong ground-ball rate has evaporated; he’s sitting on a career-low 36.7% mark and has averaged a career-worst 2.03 homers per nine innings pitched. He’s also displayed career-worst marks in average exit velocity (91.6 mph), opponents’ barrel rate (11.1%) and hard-hit rate (48.9%).

The rest of Baltimore’s rotation hasn’t been quite as bad, but it’s still been a mess overall. Dean Kremer has been torched for a 7.04 ERA while working with career-worst strikeout and swinging-strike rates. Povich was terrific his last time out but still has an ERA of 5.04. Sugano boasts a sharp 3.00 ERA, but it’s hard to see that continuing when he has the fourth-lowest strikeout rate among all qualified big league pitchers.

Injuries have hit Baltimore’s staff hard. Zach Eflin has been out since mid-April due to a lat strain. Rodriguez initially hit the IL with elbow inflammation but has since been diagnosed with a lat strain of his own; he was recently moved over to the 60-day injured list. Trevor Rogers, Albert Suarez, Chayce McDermott, Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells have all yet to pitch this season. Rogers dislocated his kneecap in January. McDermott suffered a lat strain in February. Suarez’s shoulder flared up in March. He’s now on the 60-day IL, too. Bradish and Wells had UCL surgeries performed just days apart last June.

There’s little recourse for the Orioles at the moment. Rookie Brandon Young made his MLB debut earlier this month but has struggled in both of his outings (6.23 ERA, eight walks in 8 2/3 innings). Gibson made his season debut last night and was promptly shelled for nine runs in 3 2/3 frames. Triple-A starters Kyle Brnovich, Cameron Weston and Thaddeus Ward have posted results that range from underwhelming to ugly.

Right now, the hope will be that Povich can build on his last solid outing in tonight’s series finale versus the Yankees. Baltimore has announced that Kremer, Sugano and Gibson will start this weekend, in that order, against a Royals club that has struggled to score runs in 2025. Baltimore is off again next Monday. That gives them the short-term luxury of skipping the fifth spot this next time through the rotation, but the O’s only have one off-day from May 6-28, so that’s a short-term reprieve.

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