The Orioles are getting Chris Bassitt back, and they’re slotting him right into the middle of the action.
Baltimore reinstated the right-hander from the 60-day injured list on Thursday, with the club clearing room by optioning Yaramil Hiraldo to Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so the move only required a change on the 26-man side. Bassitt is expected to start tonight against the Rays in the series opener, which would push Kyle Bradish to Saturday and Trevor Rogers to Sunday.
Bassitt, 37, has been sidelined since June 3 because of a back issue that led to a procedure to remove a bone spur from his lumbar region. He went out on a rehab assignment and made three minor league starts, allowing three earned runs over 13 2/3 innings while striking out 12.
The timing matters for Baltimore, because this isn’t the same roster Bassitt left behind. The Orioles moved several veterans ahead of the deadline, with Adley Rutschman the biggest name in that group. President of baseball ops Mike Elias also dealt Taylor Ward, Tyler Wells and Dean Kremer in a run of sell-side moves that brought back prospects and helped restock the farm system.
On paper, Bassitt is walking back into a rotation that still has a familiar look. He’s set to join Bradish, Rogers, Shane Baz and Brandon Young. But the bigger question is which version of Bassitt shows up after a rough first half and the back trouble that may have been part of the problem.
The veteran signed a one-year, $18.5MM deal last winter, but he hasn’t come close to the standard he set over the previous seven seasons. From 2019-25, Bassitt ranked sixth in games started with 188 and seventh in innings pitched with 1087 1/3, all while working to a 3.60 ERA. In that span, he never posted a single-season ERA above 4.16.
This year was a different story. Before landing on the injured list, Bassitt made 12 appearances, including two behind an opener, and put up a 5.27 ERA.
His 14.2% strikeout rate was a career low, and his 8.4% walk rate, while better than average, was still his second-highest since he became a full-time major league starter. He had sat at 7.3% during that 2019-25 stretch and dipped below 7% three times.
The stuff has backed up some too. Bassitt’s sinker averaged 91.9 mph, which was only a touch better than its 2025 mark of 91.6 mph, but still down from the 92.6 mph he averaged over the prior six seasons. He’s also gotten fewer whiffs and chases than usual.
Even so, the results haven’t been all bad luck. Bassitt’s .340 BABIP is nearly 50 points higher than his career .294 mark, but opponents haven’t exactly been squaring him up.
His 87.4 mph average exit velocity, 4.1% barrel rate and 34.5% hard-hit rate are all strong numbers, and the barrel rate is the best he’s ever posted. The exit velocity and hard-hit figures are close to his career-best marks, which suggests the ERA may be running a bit hot despite the missing bats.
If Bassitt can look more like the pitcher Baltimore expected when it signed him, he could be a major lift in the stretch run. The Orioles are five games under .500, but they’re only two games out of the final Wild Card spot in an AL race that’s been controlled by the Rays, Yankees and, lately, the Red Sox. And for Bassitt, a strong finish would also help as he heads back into free agency this winter before his age-38 season.
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