It was just over a month ago that the Orioles limped home a season-worst eight games below .500 after a 1-5 road trip.
Fifty games in, the season was threatening to unravel, and the rotation was a big reason why with Baltimore sporting the worst starter ERA (5.11) in the American League. That group’s improvement over the last month is a big reason why the Orioles still have an opportunity to make something of 2026.
With Kyle Bradish again looking the part of an ace with eight shutout innings in Monday’s 6-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels to lower his season ERA to 3.64, the Orioles sport an AL-leading 3.27 starter ERA over their last 30 games. And they’ve done that with four of their top seven projected starters in spring training — Chris Bassitt, Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer, and Cade Povich — either on the shelf or ineffective most of the season.
Even with a pair of ugly starts to begin his June, Bradish has pitched to a shiny 2.78 ERA, struck out more than a batter per inning, and averaged more than six innings per start over his last nine outings, which has led to Orioles wins in six of those contests. Regardless of what president of baseball operations Mike Elias did — or didn’t do — with the starting rotation this past winter, Bradish’s upside was always going to be critical to this club’s success, and he’s now more than two years removed from Tommy John surgery and looking like the guy who finished fourth in 2023 AL Cy Young Award voting.
Bradish hasn’t done it alone, of course, as Brandon Young has been this club’s best story with a 3.07 ERA over 12 starts in which Baltimore owns an outstanding 10-2 record. If someone had told you in February that Young would have logged 12 starts to this point in 2026, you’d have correctly predicted the Orioles’ sub-.500 record overall, but the 27-year-old’s efforts instead have helped keep them afloat when others have struggled.
Shane Baz has pitched to a 2.62 ERA and completed seven innings four times over his last seven starts, and Opening Day starter and 2025 Most Valuable Oriole Trevor Rogers owns a 2.22 ERA over his last four starts and just turned in his best performance of the season with seven one-hit innings against the defending World Series champions. Even rookie Trey Gibson has given the Orioles a chance more often than not despite limited experience.
Will the group keep it going?
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It’s fair to note that while the ERA has been terrific over the last month, Baltimore’s rotation still ranks 14th in the AL in strikeout rate over that same stretch. That doesn’t disqualify future success by any means, but it’s generally going to be more difficult to sustain that level of run prevention without missing more bats, especially when it’s not a secret that the Orioles are below average defensively.
More rotation options being available should also help, especially when remembering the Orioles may need to massage Bradish’s workload after he pitched so little over the previous two seasons. The 29-year-old is currently on pace for 180 innings, which would mark a career high.
Kremer and Povich both started minor-league rehab assignments this past weekend, and Bassitt is continuing a throwing progression after receiving an injection for his lower back earlier this month. There won’t be room for everyone, of course, but the Orioles will inevitably face some more health challenges the rest of the way, which is why rotation depth is so important.
Some of the peripheral numbers might suggest this rotation will be closer to middle of the pack moving forward than the elite ERA it owns over the last month, but the Orioles can still win with that formula if the offense sustains its own progress. Either way, the starting pitching has come a long way from where it was over the season’s first two months.
Shorthanded bench
Thanks to the efforts of Bradish and the offense scoring six runs Monday night, veteran outfielder Leody Taveras serving as an emergency third baseman will be remembered as a fun footnote and answer to a trivia question rather than something that could have cost Baltimore a game.
It reinforced the perils of playing shorthanded in hopes of having someone avoid the injured list, which is something the Orioles have done frequently in recent years despite many instances of players ending up on the IL anyway.
8Manager Craig Albernaz confirmed after Monday’s win that Jackson Holliday was “absolutely not” available as he continues nursing a groin injury that forced him out of Saturday’s game. It remains to be seen whether Holliday will avoid the 10-day IL, but Albernaz at least indicated the knee discomfort that forced Blaze Alexander out of Monday’s game wasn’t serious.
Still, with Coby Mayo serving as the designated hitter and the Orioles activating a third catcher rather than an extra infielder ahead of Monday’s game, Alexander’s injury suddenly forced someone who had never played the infield in his professional career into a very uncomfortable position.
That’s never what you want.
Keep it going
Monday marked the sixth time the Orioles have secured a three-game winning streak this season.
They’re 0-for-5 in their attempts to win a season-high fourth in a row.
While Baltimore deserves credit for steadying itself with a 17-13 record over the last month, the recent stretch of losing nine of 13 — which dropped the season record back to seven below .500 — reminded how modest and fragile this perceived turnaround still is. The Orioles haven’t been above .500 since mid-April or even at the .500 mark since April 30.
The next step is extending the winning peaks, taking series more consistently, and minimizing the valleys.
