Anthony Eyanson’s path to becoming the Orioles’ top pitching prospect barely feels believable, and the wild part is how fast it happened.
Seven months ago, most of Birdland didn’t know his name. He wasn’t in the Orioles organization at the start of the 2026 season, and now he’s being talked about as Baltimore’s No. 1 prospect after a minor league year that stacked up with just about anybody’s. The 22-year-old right-hander came over in the August 3 trade that sent franchise cornerstone Adley Rutschman to the division-rival Red Sox, with Eyanson serving as the centerpiece of Baltimore’s return.
Before that move, Eyanson had already spent 2025 helping LSU to its second national championship in three years, working as the Tigers’ No. 2 starter behind future No. 3 overall pick Kade Anderson. Boston took him in the third round of the 2025 MLB Draft, and he climbed quickly through the Red Sox system before the Orioles pulled off the stunning deal.
The numbers he put up before arriving in Baltimore were eye-popping: a 1.32 ERA, a .152 batting average against and 94 strikeouts over 68.1 innings between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland. Then he joined the Orioles and kept rolling.
In six starts for Chesapeake, Eyanson logged a 2.03 ERA, a .221 BAA and 47 strikeouts in 31 innings. His best showing came against the playoff-bound Richmond Flying Squirrels, when he worked seven innings for the first time as a professional and finished with 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB and 8 Ks.
By the end of the year, the accolades caught up to the performance. Eyanson was named Portland Sea Dogs Pitcher of the Year and was a finalist for Minor League Pitcher of the Year alongside winner Anderson and Orioles prospect Joseph Dzierwa. He closed his first pro season with a 1.54 ERA and 141 strikeouts in 99.1 innings.
The one thing holding back the excitement is the workload. One minor league season, no matter how dominant, is still a limited sample, and Eyanson hasn’t exactly been flooded with innings.
That said, the comparison points are hard to ignore. Paul Skenes reached Pittsburgh after throwing just 34 minor league innings, and Anderson got to Seattle after 93.1 innings, all in Double-A.
On the other side, Jacob Misiorowski and Cam Schlittler both needed more than 200 minor league innings before debuting.
What makes Eyanson stand out is the pitch mix. He has a true four-pitch arsenal, led by a plus-plus slider he can use in any count against lefties and righties.
He pairs that with a slower curveball that carries sharper downward break, a fastball that sits around 95 and can reach triple digits, and a splitter that is still developing but has the chance to become another above-average weapon. At his best, he looks like a mix of Kyle Bradish and Félix Bautista in the way he goes after hitters.
Where he starts next season may depend in part on whether major league baseball happens in 2027, but the Orioles’ pitching picture already has some openings. Bradish, Shane Baz and Brandon Young are locked in for next season, while Cade Povich and Trey Gibson could move into the big league rotation on a full-time basis. That would leave Triple-A room for Eyanson, though he’d still be competing with Dzierwa and Orioles No. 4 prospect Caden Hunter for a spot in Norfolk.
For years, Baltimore has looked outside the organization for rotation help. Now the organization’s own arms are starting to change the conversation, especially if the Orioles bring back ace Trevor Rogers.
That’s what makes Eyanson such an important development: to matter in Baltimore, he needs to be more than good. He needs to be special.
And Eyanson has already shown that kind of ceiling. He wasn’t an ace in college, but his first pro season screamed ace-level upside.
With the pending lockout, he’s likely to keep developing in Double-A and Triple-A in 2027. By 2028, he should be ready for the majors and could give the Orioles a true frontline talent.
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For the Orioles, it is a useful little snapshot of how talent can move on and still make an impact in October. Wells and Baker are doing it in relief, where one clean inning can tilt a playoff game, while Mullins and Mateo add to the sense that Baltimores recent roster churn has spread its imprint across contenders. It does not change what the Orioles have in front of them, but it does add another layer to the division rivalry: the next time these clubs cross paths, some of the names haunting one dugout may look awfully familiar. [Read more 🡒]