The Orioles closed the book on April as a mediocre 15-16 ball club.
Hardly a disaster, but not all that encouraging, especially considering the forgiving slate of early opponents.
Baltimore hasn’t done anything terribly well — though the bullpen has been better than anticipated — to this point in 2026, but a big reason for the lack of overall consistency has been the rotation, which has dealt with both injuries and ineffectiveness to sport the 25th-worst starter ERA (4.60) in the majors entering Friday. Opening Day starter and 2025 Most Valuable Oriole Trevor Rogers just became the third starter — joining Dean Kremer and Zach Eflin — to land on the injured list, which was a decision based more on playing Thursday’s doubleheader against Houston and not having another off-day until May 14 than the flu that knocked him out of commission in the short term.
So much for all that spring chatter about a six-man rotation, right?
It’s one thing to temper expectations for rotation fill-ins Brandon Young — who was battered in the nightcap of the doubleheader split — and Cade Povich, but Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, and Chris Bassitt are off to disappointing starts with each sporting an ERA of 4.20 or higher. Of course, Rogers and Bradish were expected to be the headliners while president of baseball operations Mike Elias acquired Baz and Bassitt to raise both the floor and ceiling of the starting rotation.
That early disappointment apparently led to some difficult conversations earlier this week, so it’s interesting that Baz just turned in arguably his strongest start as an Oriole in Tuesday’s win over the Astros and Bassitt easily pitched his best game of the season to secure a series win on Thursday afternoon. Houston might be off to a lousy start overall, but the offense hasn’t been the reason why with the Astros leading the AL in runs scored, which makes those starts look even more promising.
So, what was said among the rotation members?
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“I’m not going to give you our secrets, but I think all of our starters have been pretty poor throughout the year,” said the 37-year-old Bassitt after tossing 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball Thursday afternoon. “I thought we kind of had a ‘come to Jesus’ before Shane’s start and just had some talks — hard talks — about kind of how we were pitching, our mindset of pitching.
“And then Shane went out there and did his thing. I thought he was on the attack, and it was just, that’s how we want to be we. I think overall we’ve been too cute throughout the year, and we didn’t do well. We have guys — bullpen-wise and obviously starters — that are way too good to be being cute out there. Honestly, between [pitching coach Drew French] and what he’s been doing behind the scenes, and obviously Shane, it was just kind of passing the baton, so to speak.”
In Baz’s case, it was interesting to see him increase the use of the sinker he added to his repertoire this spring, throwing the new pitch a season-high 13 times to help him toss 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. He credited that pitch for helping him keep Houston hitters off balance with his upper-90s four-seam fastball and above-average knuckle curve, so it’ll be interesting to see if he continues using the sinker as more than just a rare “show-me” pitch moving forward.
Bassitt showed much improved command as he walked only one, which was a pleasant departure from the 5.5 walks per nine innings — way up from his career numbers — he averaged over his first five starts. He also struck out seven after striking out only 10 over his first 21 1/3 innings of the season.
It will be Bradish’s turn to step up against the first-place New York Yankees this weekend as the Orioles need him to start pitching like an ace, especially with Rogers sidelined for the time being. The strikeouts are down from where they were in his return from Tommy John surgery late last season, but much more problematic have been the walks (5.1 per nine innings) and the second-worst first-pitch strike percentage in the majors among those throwing 30 innings. Whether that’s “too cute” or the product of a more complicated issue, Baltimore needs better from the 29-year-old who finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting back in 2023.
The Orioles haven’t been above .500 since April 15 and are now embarking on a stretch that includes seven games with the Yankees over the next two weeks. After a mediocre opening month, the last thing you want to see is this club to fall on its face against New York and suddenly be several games below .500 and well behind in the division face in mid-May. That would be much closer to what happened last year that the promise that 2026 was supposed to bring under new manager Craig Albernaz.
Baltimore needs to be better across the board — pitching, hitting, defense, and baserunning — to get on a roll and inspire confidence that this can be a fun 2026 season resulting in October baseball. The injuries haven’t helped, but those players projected to be a critical part of any success need to start living up to expectations.
That certainly includes the healthy members of this starting rotation, which prompted the tough talk that’ll hopefully pay some dividends.
