Orioles don’t want to get caught short on starters again

As Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias contemplates the 2026 team, he’ll start with the starters.

The Orioles started 16 different pitchers in 2025. Five openers — Keegan Akin, Scott Blewett, Dietrich Enns, Rico Garcia and Albert Suárez — combined to start seven games, mostly late in the season.

It’s possible that the 36-year-old Suárez could be a contender for a starting role again next season, although it’s more likely that when he recovers from his forearm flexor strain, he’ll be a swingman.

Chayce McDermott started one game, but the Orioles moved him to the bullpen while he was at Triple-A Norfolk.

Of the 10 starters, 37-year-old Kyle Gibson and 41-year-old Charlie Morton won’t be back. Gibson was released after four ineffective starts and subsequently announced his retirement. Morton, who was traded to Detroit at the July 31^st deadline, presumably ended his career with a brief start with Atlanta on the season’s last day.

It seems unlikely that the Orioles will re-sign 36-year-old Tomoyuki Sugano, who pitched well for stretches but had a 6.61 ERA in four September starts.

Zach Eflin, the Opening Day starter, made only 14 starts and had three stints on the injured list. The 31-year-old Eflin is recuperating from back surgery and while signing him later in the offseason could be a possibility, it’s not likely a priority.

The Orioles already have seven potential starters for the rotation. Tyler Rogers’ exemplary 2025 should give them hope as should the 10 late-season starts by Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells, who recovered successfully from elbow surgeries.

Grayson Rodriguez is rehabbing from surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow. He hasn’t started since July 31^st, 2024, and while the Orioles are hoping for a full season from him, they’ll have to be cautiously optimistic.

Dean Kremer had an acceptable 2025 with an 11-10 record and 4.19 ERA, and he fits in neatly at the back of the rotation.

While it seems that Bradish, Rogers, Rodriguez, Wells and Kremer could be a good rotation for 2026, the team will have to tread lightly with Bradish, Wells and Rodriguez.

Elias is expected to seek multiple starting pitching candidates for the rotation once free agency begins next month

There are two other internal candidates who combined to start 32 games. Cade Povich started 20 games, trailing only Sugano’s 30 and Kremer’s 29. Brandon Young started 12. Neither was spectacular.

Povich, who gave the Orioles a second left-hander in addition to Rogers, was 3-8 with a 5.21 ERA. Young was 1-7 with a 6.24 before his season ended in late August with a strained hamstring.

Povich and Young could wind up as bullpen arms or part of a deal. Elias knows how many starters the Orioles went through in 2025, and he doesn’t want to get caught short again.

Young was the Orioles’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2024 and signed after the truncated five-round draft in 2020. His ascension was delayed because of Tommy John surgery.

His only major league win was an exciting one, when he pitched 7 2/3 perfect innings at Houston on August 15^th. Former Oriole Ramón Urías broke up Young’s perfect game with an infield single. Six day later, Young’s season ended after he allowed seven runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings against the Astros and left the game with the season-ending hamstring injury.

Povich’s starts just weren’t long enough. Only four of the 20 lasted six innings, though he did strike out more than a batter per inning (118 in 112 1/3 innings). He missed seven weeks with a hip injury and had a 5.15 ERA before he was on the injured list and 5.29 after that.

The Orioles don’t seem to have any potential starters at Triple-A who could provide help early in the season.

Trey Gibson, who won this year’s organizational pitching award, had his troubles with Triple-A Norfolk, pitching to a 7.98 ERA in seven starts after a 1.55 ERA in 10 starts at Double-A Chesapeake.

Other prospects promoted from Chesapeake to Norfolk later in the season were Levi Wells (4.79 ERA in five starts) and Nestor German (7.04 ERA in two starts).

The Orioles have been less aggressive in promoting pitching prospects than position players, so it doesn’t seem likely that Gibson, Wells and German will be in Baltimore early in the season if there’s a need.

Elias will promise he won’t get caught short on starters again.

Note: The Orioles have interviewed New York Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas, a former Mets manager for their manager’s job according to SNY’s Andy Martino. …Left-hander Luis De León, who’s pitching for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League, was named the league’s pitcher of the week.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.