We need to talk about the Orioles rotation. This is a team that traded quite the package to land ace pitcher Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers. Burnes pitched every bit like an ace and the team did not land an extension. The offers made weren’t close to what he was looking for and ultimately he landed in Arizona. Now, you cannot fault this front office for guys like Blake Snell, who made it abundantly clear he wanted to stay on the west coast. But this team did very little to address the position.

Sure, they added aging veteran Charlie Morton and signed Sugano from Japan, but none of those moves are screaming, “we got our guys”. Instead, whatever concerns anybody had about the Orioles rotation going into the 2025 season and they have been validated early on into the season.

Orioles Rotation Struggling Early On

Losing Burnes was quite the blow. Kyle Braddish is already on the shelf for the year and they were dealt a massive blow regarding Grayson Rodriguez. Rodriguez was pegged to take the mantle and be the ace of this rotation, but is now having an MRI done on his shoulder. Let’s just all exhale and hope it’s nothing too serious, but that doesn’t sound good on the surface.

So instead, this Orioles rotation is being held by duck tape and paper clips. Zac Eflin is leading the way and then in behind is Cade Povich, Deam Kraemer, Morton, Sugano, and even saw Young make his debut. Oh, not to mention this team is coming off a horrendous 24-2 defeat to the Reds. Talk about being embarrassing. What’s been more embarrassing is the rotation and they are at the bottom of the league.

As it currently stands, the Orioles rotation is the worst in baseball with a 6.11 ERA. Furthermore, they have the fewest K/9 and the lowest strikeout rate. They aren’t walking guys a ton, so there’s that, but it’s been a disaster for the position.

Morton himself, has a 10.89 ERA, which ya don’t love to see that. He is walking batters at a 6.53 rate, which is not very good and not what you expected. It’s a bad look when that was the big addition to bolster the rotation. Sugano has put together better starts, so that’s a work in progress. Povich has also not been great having a 6.38 ERA and Kremer as well with a 6.41. Thankfully Eflin has held this thing together, but they need more.

Front Office Needs to Be Active

The Orioles front office needs to change their operative methods. They are one injury away in the rotation from being in deep trouble and they are already having to dig themselves out of a hole in what’s been a very good AL East. The offense has not been great and has had its struggles, but this front office needs to address the weaknesses.

This team has its core players already in place. The guys that were “on the way” are already here. Now it’s time to add and build around them and begin winning ways.

Hang in there Birdland.