The Orioles have spent most of this season getting by without a real closer. That arrangement is starting to look fragile, and the timing could not be worse.
Baltimore is 69-72 and has dropped three straight, with all three losses coming by two runs or fewer. Two of those games included blown leads, and they nearly coughed up another Monday in Colorado before escaping thanks to a ridiculous game-saving catch. In other words, the margins are disappearing fast.
The bullpen’s biggest issue is simple: the Orioles do not have a proven ninth-inning answer. Ryan Helsley was paid to try to fill that role on occasion, but he has not actually been doing the job. Felix Bautista is working his way back in Triple-A after successive major surgeries and could eventually be part of the mix, but he is not the same pitcher he once was, nor should he be expected to be after so much time away.
That leaves Baltimore leaning on a group that is already under stress. Andrew Kittredge, Yennier Cano and Rico Garcia are the preferred options right now, and they’re going to have to hold up. The Orioles do not hit consistently enough to keep covering for late-inning problems, and the Wild Card race is getting messier by the day.
Kittredge has been better than expected after a slow start, but he has also been living on the edge. He was helped Monday by the Colton Cowser catch in center field at Coors Field, because without it his numbers would look very different.
Over his last nine appearances, Kittredge has allowed at least one hit in each outing, giving up 13 hits in 8 2/3 innings. He has not been walking many batters, but the contact has been too loud: 22 fly balls and 11 line drives over his last 40 batters faced.
Cano’s recent stretch has been even more concerning. He has finished an inning just once in his last nine outings, and the workload from the first half may be catching up with him.
Boston’s Nick Sogard jumped on a sinker for a home run Thursday to put the Red Sox ahead, another inherited-runner situation that went sideways. Since Aug. 1, opponents are hitting .438 against Cano’s sinker.
He has thrown 152 pitches in that span and generated only 17 swinging strikes. His August line is ugly on the surface - a 9.00 ERA - even if the 3.67 FIP offers a little cover.
Still, he has allowed 10 hits in seven innings, and too many balls are being put in play.
In his last nine appearances, Cano has logged four total innings, faced 23 batters and produced just seven ground balls against 14 line drives and fly balls. That is a major warning sign, especially on a club whose defense can struggle with the kind of contact he allows.
Garcia has steadied himself after a midseason slump and is back to being useful. The problem is the home run ball, which makes any closer discussion uncomfortable.
Even so, he may be the best fit Baltimore has right now. He owns a 0.90 ERA over his last 10 innings, and there are not many alternatives.
The concern is obvious: four walks in that span and only one strikeout per inning is not the profile you want at the back of a bullpen.
The Orioles have also been one of the league’s worst teams in strikeout rate in the ninth inning and extras, averaging 8.2 strikeouts per inning in those spots this season, which ranks in the bottom 10 in baseball. Since Aug. 1, that number has dipped to 8.1.
Tyler Wells would have helped, and that trade now looms larger by the day. He is closing games for the Rays, while Baltimore is left trying to patch together the innings that matter most. And with the way this bullpen is trending, Bautista may be asked to step into the fire sooner than anyone planned.
In Other News...
Taylor Ward Has Already Become A Mariners Frustration
Taylor Wards move from Baltimore to Seattle was supposed to give the Mariners a bat that could steady the lineup after the deadline deal that sent three prospects back to the Orioles. Instead, his start in Seattle has only sharpened the hindsight around the trade, because the production the Mariners were counting on has not followed him west. For Baltimore, the deal already looks like one that brought in a useful package of young talent while moving on from an outfielder whose value had been climbing.
What has made the early returns sting for Seattle is how sharply Wards offense has dropped off compared with what he showed in Baltimore. His lower OPS and bWAR with the Mariners have turned the trade into an easy target for criticism, especially as the deadline moves are being graded in real time around the league. For the Orioles, it is the kind of transaction that can age well if even one of those prospects develops into a meaningful big-league piece, while Seattle is left waiting for Ward to justify the cost. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Young Core Is Suddenly Facing A Debate Fans Feared
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Rutschmans move to the Red Sox in August only sharpened the conversation around what the Orioles actually have now versus what they were supposed to have. Some of the young bats have flashed the upside that made the organization so optimistic, while others have had a harder time turning promise into consistency. For a fan base that spent years waiting for this exact moment, the debate is no longer about whether the talent exists - it is about which pieces can still be counted on to carry the group forward. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Fans Just Got Another Reason To Believe In That Trade
The trade deadline deal already looked promising on paper, and these past few weeks have only added to the buzz around the Orioles side of it. Eyanson, now Baltimores No. 2 prospect, keeps piling up impressive outings in Double-A, most recently striking out eight over six innings even in a 5-4 loss. For a pitcher in his first professional season, the early returns have been hard to ignore.
Since the move, Eyanson has turned in 40 strikeouts against just eight walks over 27 innings, and he has fanned at least seven hitters in every outing. The 2025 third-round pick has shown the kind of consistency that tends to make a front office feel better about a deadline swing, even if the full payoff is still ahead. For Orioles fans, it is another reminder that this trade may have given the organization a real arm to dream on. [Read more 🡒]