BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles and general manager Mike Elias could have used a fast start this year.
Instead, most of their biggest offseason questions are still pertinent.
The Orioles entered Tuesday night’s game against Cleveland at 6-9, in last place in the AL East. That’s after some second-half struggles in 2024 and a first-round loss to Kansas City in the playoffs. Baltimore still has plenty of talent, but also some real issues — perhaps more than seemed likely after the Orioles won 101 games in 2023 and had a farm system still churning out standout prospects.
“I certainly haven’t seen any signs of panic, and we’re continuing to retain the same approach on a night-to-night basis. I try not to get too high when things are going great, and try not to get down when we’re losing,” Elias said Tuesday. “That’s how you have to approach baseball.”
The Orioles lost Corbin Burnes in free agency, and the three main starters they added were all older players on one-year contracts. So there was some skepticism about whether the rotation would hold up.
And that was before the injury bug went to work. Grayson Rodriguez hasn’t pitched at all this season, Zach Eflin went on the injured list last week, and Albert Suárez will miss significant time. Plus, neither Kyle Bradish nor Tyler Wells has returned from elbow surgery.
So the new arrivals — Tomoyuki Sugano and Charlie Morton — have needed to perform, and it hasn’t gone great. They were a combined 1-4 with a 6.26 ERA entering Morton’s start against Cleveland on Tuesday.
“I feel like we’ve already tapped into, basically, the depth,” Elias said. “To say that on April 15 was not the plan. Obviously, we knew Bradish was going to be out. But to have Grayson and Eflin on the shelf simultaneously this quickly into the season, at no point were we forecasting that, or expecting that. And that’s just the truth.”
Kyle Gibson, the third significant starter added, signed in late March and is in the minors. He’s expected back with the Orioles by May. As for Baltimore’s brigade of injured pitchers, Elias said Eflin will start playing catch in a few days, Rodriguez has thrown a couple bullpens, and Bradish threw a bullpen recently. Wells is expected to start his mound progression in the next two weeks.
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