The Orioles have three projected starters for their rotation — Shane Baz, Kyle Bradish and Brandon Young. They’ll seek others by trade or free agency between now and the expected early December lockout.
This week, president of baseball operations Mike Elias and new general manager Jared Banner will attend the GM meetings in Las Vegas, and they’ll be on the hunt for pitching.
“We’re talking about that right now,” Elias said at Banner’s introduction on October 27th. “We have, I think, a really promising internal group of arms, both at the major league level and in the minor league level, but as we were talking about it upstairs, looking for upgrades in the rotation is absolutely at the ready.”
It will be interesting to see if the Orioles will aggressively pursue Trevor Rogers, expected to be one of the top starters on the market. They’ve extended a $23.15 million qualifying offer, which Rogers has until November 17th to accept or reject.
Some of those “really promising internal group of arms,” could be these three, all with Orioles experience.
Left-hander Cade Povich, who had surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow, has the most major league time. Povich has appeared in 46 games with 43 starts, and he’s 8-18 with a 5.07 ERA.
In 2026, Povich was 2-1 with a 4.37 ERA in eight games, seven starts. This past season, his strikeout rate was down—falling from 9.5 per nine innings to 6.8. His walks per nine innings have been stable throughout his three seasons. This year, he walked 3.6 batters per nine innings.
Povich was part of one of Elias’ better trades when he, Yennier Cano and minor leaguers Juan Nunez and Juan Rojas were acquired for Jorge Lopez in August of 2022.
Cano has been a standout, earning a two-year extension during the season. This year, he was 4-3 with a 2.90 ERA and there saves.
Rojas was 2-1 with a 7.62 ERA in 26 games for Double-A Chesapeake and High-A Frederick. Nunez pitched two games, one for the Florida Complex League Orioles and another for Single-A Delmarva before he was released this year.
Povich has been shuttled between the Orioles and Triple-A Norfolk over the last three seasons. This year, he missed two months with left elbow inflammation, and while there’s been talk of moving him into the bullpen, he remains a starter for now.
With one option remaining, it’s possible the Orioles could use him as a starter both at Norfolk and Baltimore. He also could be packaged as part of a deal.
Trey Gibson, who was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2023, pitched in nine games, starting eight times, one more than Povich did.
In his first big league experience, Gibson was 2-3 with a 6.13 ERA. He pitched 39 1/3 innings, just under the 45-inning maximum for rookies. Gibson is the 17th-rated prospect by MLB Pipeline
Gibson’s control left something to be desired. He walked just over six batters per nine innings, striking out 8.4 batters per nine innings.
His best outing was his last one. In the second game of a doubleheader, Gibson pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings against Toronto on September 23rd, giving up just three hits, lowering his ERA from 7.36 to 6.13.
The Orioles didn’t make it easy on Gibson, scheduling his first major league start at Yankee Stadium on May 3rd when he gave up three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings in an eventual 11-3 loss.
Luis De León’s first major league games were in the bullpen, and while he was impressive, with a 1.93 ERA in eight outings, the Orioles still look for him to compete for a starting spot.
In the minors, De León, who’s the eighth-ranked prospect, had control problems, allowing 5.5 walks per nine innings at Norfolk and Chesapeake while striking out 11.
It’s possible that Gibson or Povich begins the season with the Orioles while De León is held in reserve at Norfolk.
The Orioles could add right-handers Braxton Bragg, Michael Forret, Nestor German and Levi Wells, all top 30 prospects to the 40-man roster, but they’re unlikely to begin the season with the Orioles.
Some of these arms could be used in the trade market.
Elias and new general manager Jerad Banner are expected to be busy between now and December 1st at 11:59 p.m., when the lockout could begin.
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