After much discussion of a possible six-man rotation to open the 2026 season, the Orioles have decided to go with five starting pitchers.
It’s just not the five most anticipated.
In a surprising move before traveling north to Baltimore, the Orioles optioned starting pitcher Dean Kremer to minor-league camp on Saturday. That paves the way for veteran Zach Eflin to open the season as part of the rotation after making a full recovery from August back surgery. Many had expected Kremer to be the No. 5 starter behind Opening Day pitcher Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, and Chris Bassitt, which would have allowed the soon-to-be 32-year-old Eflin to continue ramping up with a rehab assignment on the 15-day injured list. However, Eflin tossed 5 1/3 innings of one-hit ball and struck out seven against the New York Yankees on Friday to all but confirm he’s ready to go for the start of the regular season.
It’s a tough development for Kremer, who led the Orioles in innings pitched (171 2/3) and logged a respectable 4.19 ERA last season. But it also speaks to the improved state of Baltimore’s starting rotation with Rogers and a healthy Bradish expected to lead the way and the offseason acquisitions of Baz and Bassitt raising the ceiling and the floor of the group. Even if an injury concern doesn’t surface in the immediate future, the 30-year-old Kremer wouldn’t figure to be in the minors for too long as new manager Craig Albernaz and the Orioles could always revisit the idea of a six-man rotation in the coming weeks.
With the Opening Day rotation seemingly set ahead of Thursday’s opener against Minnesota at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the attention how shifts to the makeup of a presumed eight-man bullpen. With new closer Ryan Helsley, Keegan Akin, Yennier Cano, Tyler Wells, Rico Garcia, and Dietrich Enns perceived to be locks or very close to it, the final two spots in the bullpen could come down to lefty Grant Wolfram and right-handers Albert Suarez, Jackson Kowar, and Yaramil Hiraldo. Veteran setup man Andrew Kittredge (right shoulder inflammation) is expected to open the season on the 15-day IL, but his absence isn’t expected to be much more than the minimum requirement.
In other injury-related news, outfielder Dylan Beavers is dealing with right quadricep tightness that prompted him to be scratched from Friday’s Grapefruit League game. It’s unclear if that will impact his availability for Opening Day. Though not expected to be on the 26-man roster to begin the season anyway, outfielder Heston Kjerstad is currently sidelined after hurting his hamstring a couple days ago.
