Are Oriole pitchers throwing more pitches this year? | MAILBAG

Question: Seems like our new manager is letting pitchers throw more pitches this year. Granted, we aren’t getting many quality starts but starters seem to have a longer leash in terms of pitch count. Is that true? From: Scott

Answer: Scott, the Orioles have 10 quality starts, which ranks 25^th this year, entering Thursday’s games. In addition, Chris Bassitt pitched six innings, allowing one run as the bulk pitcher after Keegan Akin opened.

Last year, the Orioles had 54 quality starts, which tied for 17^th. Trevor Rogers had 13.

Bassitt and Shane Baz weren’t with the Orioles last season. Kyle Bradish started only six times in 2025 after rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and didn’t throw more than 91 pitches. Bradish has thrown more than that five times in eight starts.

Rogers threw more than 90 pitches in 12 of his 18 starts last year, and he’s done that in four of nine starts.

There are times when manager Craig Albernaz has extended starters just because he didn’t want to overload his bullpen, but I don’t see a great deal of difference between starting pitcher usage in 2026 compared to 2025.

Question: What was the reason behind the Orioles’ decision to designate Lou Trivino for assignment? From: Dennis Applegarth

Answer: Dennis, the Orioles have gotten a large number of short starts, and their bullpen has had to pitch more innings than they wanted to. Trivino was signed because they needed a fresh arm after four straight starts of fewer than five innings.

He allowed six runs on four hits and three walks, retiring only two batters on May 4^th. On May 9^th, he pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in a game that Shane Baz pitched 4 2/3 innings.

Trivino has been in the major leagues long enough so that he’s exhausted his minor league options, and when the Orioles needed another fresh arm on Sunday, he was designated for assignment.

Only Yennier Cano, Anthony Nunez and Grant Wolfram had options at the time when Trivino was DFA’d, and they weren’t going to be sent in the minors.

If you pitch effectively and eat innings in a game where the starter doesn’t pitch long, it’s possible you’ll be DFA’d or sent to the minors to make room for a fresher arm. It’s not a fun part of baseball, but it’s reality.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.