The Orioles Are Perpetually Let Down By Their Rotation

If there were one word that could describe the Baltimore Orioles‘ season so far, it would be this: inconsistent.

The team’s April 30 doubleheader against the Houston Astros was a great example of this inconsistency.

In game one, Adley Rutschman and Jeremiah Jackson both hit grand slams, while Chris Bassitt tosses 6.2 innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts. However, in game two, Brandon Young gives up seven runs across four innings of work while the offense strikes out 14 times en route to a 11-5 loss.

While both sides of the ball deserve some blame for the wonky start, the pitching staff, specifically the starting rotation, has been mostly at fault.

Rocky starts to the year have made each starter’s outing unpredictable each time they toe the rubber. Couple that with injuries that are already testing the depth of this group, and the first month of the season has not exactly been what O’s fans were hoping for coming into the season.

So, what exactly has troubled Baltimore’s starters so far and is there any hope that things can turn around?

Stats were taken prior to play on May 5.

Shaky at the Top

They biggest struggle that the rotation has faced is not being able to string together good starts. When one starter rebounds one night, the following night the next guy struggles to get outs.

Let’s take a look back at the O’s weekend series against the Boston Red Sox. On Friday, Young had a solid start, going 5.2 innings with five strikeouts and a walk in a 10-3 win. Going into Saturday, the Orioles had a chance to win their first AL East series with ace Trevor Rogers set to take the mound.

Instead of a securing a series win, Rogers failed to get out of the second inning, throwing 62 pitches in 1.2 innings of work while surrendering three runs. Instead of putting the Red Sox away, the O’s let them back into the series, eventually losing the series to a team that fired most of its coaching staff in the middle of the series.

The Red Sox series is just one example of what has been an underwhelming start to the year for Rogers and Kyle Bradish. At the top of the rotation, the duo has not lived up to preseason expectations. What fans thought would be two ace-caliber talents has been anything but that.

For Rogers, 2026 has been much more of come-back-down-to-earth year compared to 2025.

A .170 opponent batting average, 84.2% left-on-base and .226 BABIP have ballooned to .279, 68.6% and .337, respectively. Rogers is also allowing more home runs, forcing less ground balls, and walking more batters.

While the southpaw was probably due to regress toward the mean in 2026, things have not been very smooth sailing so far.

For Bradish, the 2026 season has been uncharacteristic for the 29-year-old.

The righty has struggled with his command to start the year, which is not something Bradish has had trouble with in the past. Through 34 innings, Bradish has posted a 5.56 BB/9, over two batters higher than his previous career high.

Between 2024 and 2025, the former New Mexico State Aggie surrendered 25 walks across 71.1 innings. In 2026, Bradish has already given up 21 walks in less than half the innings.

With Bradish being unable to consistently being able to find the strike zone, he has struggled to get deep into games and put batters away quickly. While his longest start of the year was six innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bradish has only managed to get past five innings of work one other time.

Like what Andy Kostka with the Baltimore Banner said, it is only May 2. There is plenty of time for the duo turn this ship around. However, if the Orioles are going to turn their rotation around, it has to start with them.

Free Agency Frustrations

While Rogers’ and Bradish’s recent performances may be in the spotlight, Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt have not held up their end of the bargain either.

For Baz, 2026 has not started the way that you would hope it would for someone that the team signed to an extension before pitching in the regular season.

The Orioles have spent lots of resources on Baz to both bring him to Baltimore and keep him here. The trade they made with Tampa Bay included two former first-round picks, a Competitive Balance Round A pick, and two top 30 prospects. The O’s also signed Baz to a five-year, $62 million dollar deal before his first start of the year.

Everyone in the baseball world knows how much Mike Elias loves his prospects. So, the team making that kind of move proves that they saw great potential in what he could do in Baltimore.

So far, the righty has not managed to live up to what was given up for him. While his walk and homerun numbers are down, a 7.49 K/9 and 4.52 xFIP do not scream game-changer.

Depsite the unimpressive numbers, Baz recently put together one of his best performances of the year against the mighty Astros offense. While Baz has not been the weakest link in the rotation, it would help if he could find that next gear.

However, as has been the theme with Baz this year, he struggled in his next start out against the Yankees, allowing six runs (five earned) across 5.2 innings. Consistency is something he is still working through as he gets settled in Baltimore.

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For Bassitt, 2026 got off to a rough start to say the least. In his first three starts, the veteran righty gave up 11 runs in 11 innings of work.

The veteran arm, who had been signed to shore up the rotation, had done everything but that.

However, since those opening three appearances, the 37-year-old has looked much better. His previous three starts have lowered his ERA from 9.00 to 5.46 and his FIP from 6.14 to 5.14.

Like Baz, Bassitt is also coming off his strongest start of the season, tossing 6.2 innings of one-run baseball with seven strikeouts.

With the rotation’s rocky start to the season, getting Bassitt to find his groove should help the group overall find its footing. That needs to happen sooner rather than later to prevent this team from falling too far down the standings.

Injury Bug Infestation

As if the poor performances were not enough, a sweeping case of the injury bug has visited the Orioles’ clubhouse.

With Rogers recently going on the IL due to an illness and Zach Eflin requiring Tommy John surgery, two of the O’s Opening Day rotation members are missing time. Add in Dean Kremer, who is on the IL with a quad injury, and three of Baltimore’s top six starters are incapacitated.

In the wake of those injuries, the team has called on Cade Povich, Brandon Young and now Just Baseball’s top Orioles prospect, Trey Gibson, to patch the holes.

Early on, Young and Povich were leaving their unspectacular 2025s in the rear view mirror. The young duo combined for six runs over their first 23 innings of work combined. However, that success has waned in their most recent starts, surrendering 15 runs across just eight innings.

Barring these injuries, Young and Povich would be in Triple-A, working on the issues that we saw last year when they were pieces of the rotation. Instead, they have been thrown into the mix during a time when the whole team is in a rut.

Getting more efforts from Young and Povich that resemble their first two respective starts is critical while the team awaits Rogers and Kremer from the IL.

Another piece that could help jump start the rotation is Trey Gibson.

The Orioles’ top prospect shot through the O’s farm system in 2025, cementing himself as the organization’s top arm. With a funky Friday to Monday four-game series against the New York Yankees, the team threw Gibson into the fire in the Bronx on Sunday.

When it was all said and done, the 23-year-old’s MLB debut turned out pretty well. Three runs over 4.2 innings is absolutely acceptable when you are facing a team that has stomped you in the previous two games of the series.

While Gibson’s role outside of this start is unknown, his injection into the rotation might be what’s needed to get this group into shape.

Can Things Turn Around?

There is no denying that 2026 has not started the way both those within and outside the organization believed it would. Currently, it appears that the team is headed onto a similar 2025 trajectory where an early slump buries the team early in the year.

While frustration is certainly warranted for the slow start, the new coaching staff deserves a longer leash to figure out how to get this team where it needs to be.

On the pitching side of things, a mixture of up-and-down starts coupled with seemingly new injuries every day is not the recipe for sustained success.

The main concern that the starting rotation faces is whether or not this is rock bottom. Their group has too much talent, on paper, to struggle like this for an entire year.

If this is the worst it gets, the O’s will have a pretty potent rotation as the games start to weigh more. However, if these issues do not get addressed, it is going to be a long season of thinking what could have been.