Where team could look to fill out their starting rotation after injuries
It always takes more than five starting pitchers to get an MLB club through a full season, but the Orioles are going to have to dig into their cupboard earlier than expected this year. Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias revealed Thursday that right-hander Kyle Bradish and veteran lefty John Means are nursing injuries heading into spring training.
Bradish, who finished fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting last season, sprained the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow while ramping up for the season in January. He received platelet-rich plasma injections in an effort to speed up his recovery. Though the Orioles plan to start the 27-year-old on a throwing program Friday, Bradish is expected to begin the season on the injured list.
The same is likely true for
Starting pitcher Blake Snell, the 2023 NL Cy Young Award winner, remains unsigned.
Means, 30, who is still dealing with elbow discomfort related to his comeback from his own UCL reconstruction surgery. Hindered by his Tommy John recovery and a back strain, Means didn’t make his 2023 season debut until September and only lasted four starts before the Orioles shut him down.
Without Bradish or Means, the Orioles’ opening day rotation will look a bit different from what fans expected before camp. Assuming Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer are locks for the top three spots, here’s a look at who could join them in Baltimore on March 28.
Internal veterans
All offseason, Elias touted the depth the Orioles have in their rotation.
The immediate in-house favorites to fill in for Bradish and Means are and both of whom bounced between the rotation and bullpen for the Orioles in 2023.
Wells enjoyed the greater success of the two, posting a 3.64 ERA with 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 25 appearances (20 starts). Irvin finished with a 4.42 ERA and 7.9 K/9 across 24 games (12 starts).
It’s possible both could make the rotation out of camp, though the Orioles don’t have to pick a fifth starter right away.
Baltimore’s early-season schedule includes enough days off early on that it could roll out a four-man rotation for the first three turns.
History and tradition.
Both are on display in abundance every year at the Touchdown Club of Annapolis football awards banquet and were again again at the 69th annual edition of the event Thursday night at the DoubleTree Hotel in Annapolis.
One of the banquet’s great traditions is that all the awards are named in honor of people who made an impact on or had great meaning to the Touchdown Club of Annapolis.
Yours truly presents all the high school awards and I make sure to tell the audience about the individual for whom each is named.
Chesapeake’s Wyatt Ferguson was presented with the Al Laramore Memorial Award as the most outstanding lineman in Anne Arundel County. Laramore is one of the most legendary coaches in county history, compiling a 155-66-2 record at Annapolis High. The Anne Arundel County Sports Hall of Fame inductee led the Panthers to the Class AA state championship in 1978.
Laramore was an All-State two-way tackle at Caesar Rodney High in Delaware and played collegiately at Wesley College and West Virginia Wesleyan University. He personally coached the linemen at Annapolis High and had great appreciation for the men in the trenches.
Archbishop Spalding quarterback Malik Washington was a repeat recipient of the Jim Rhodes Memorial Trophy as the most outstanding player in Anne Arundel County. Rhodes was a founding member of the Touchdown Club of Annapolis, which was formed for the purpose of honoring the 1955 Navy football team that beat Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl. That famous group of Midshipmen was referred to as “A Team Named Desire.”
Spalding, which captured its second consecutive MIAA A Conference championship, earned the Jerry Mears Memorial Trophy as Anne Arundel County team of the year. Mears ranks right alongside Laramore when it comes to football coaching legends in Anne Arundel, compiling a 129-68 record at Arundel and Meade.
Mears, who led Arundel to the Class AA state championship in 1975, was also a Delaware native and was credited for bringing the Wing-T offense to the county. He helped form the Maryland State Football Coaches Association and served as its inaugural president.
Terry Oliver, who has been coaching youth football for the Severn Athletic Club since 1996, received the Vince DePasquale Memorial Service to Youth Football Award. DePasquale was the longest-tenured president in Anne Arundel Youth Football Association history.
DePasquale served as commissioner of the Cape St. Claire youth football program for decades and was so well respected in that role he was asked to lead the countywide organization.
The earliest the Orioles would need a fifth starter is April 15 against the Minnesota Twins, their 16th game of the year. As a result, they could name one of Irvin and Wells a starter with the other ready to provide bulk innings out of the bullpen if needed.
Other starters who could get a look for a rotation spot in spring training include
who started doubledigit games for Baltimore in 2021 and 2022, and offseason trade acquisition
Manager Brandon Hyde also told reporters Thursday there are some nonroster invitees “we’re going to take a close look at.” is a name to monitor from that group; he’s coming off a series of impressive stints in Japan and South Korea.
“This allows us to give other guys some opportunities and we do feel confident and comfortable with the guys that we have in camp that are rotation candidates so I think we’ll see how it goes this spring,” Hyde said.
Prospects
Award winner remains the top pitcher available on the open market. Snell’s holdout for a long-term deal of his liking means the Orioles won’t be able to get him for cheap, even if he winds up settling for a one-year deal. The same goes for
who carries less upside than Snell but has a steadier track record.
While the Orioles of years past would never be serious suitors for either starter under normal circumstances, incoming owner David Rubenstein could opt to make an immediate splash if he’s approved quickly enough by MLB. If Elias decides he needs to address the rotation sooner than that, and
are a tier below the superstars but have shown flashes of front-end rotation production during their careers.
expressed his interest in a deal with the Orioles on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, but his upside also comes with the backlash Baltimore would face for signing a player tied to sexual assault allegations. Bauer, who won the NL Cy Young Award during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign with the Cincinnati Reds, denied any wrongdoing but served a 194-game suspension before pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league last year.
and each struggled in 2023 but were productive in 2021 and 2022. and
have proven to be capable back-end starters even as they’ve reached the latter stages of their careers.