With the 2026 season in the books, the Orioles are moving on to their bigger names, but the year was also packed with a whole second tier of players who barely registered before disappearing. Baltimore used 60 different players this season, down from the 70 it needed a year ago, and a lot of those bodies were here for a blink and gone.
Some of the most painful absences came from veterans the Orioles were counting on. Zach Eflin’s year turned after just 3.2 innings in his season debut, when elbow soreness sent him toward season-ending Tommy John surgery.
That came after he’d worked back from 2025 back surgery, impressed in spring training, and earned a rotation spot. The Orioles may still have interest in bringing him back, with a return possible early next season.
Ryan Mountcastle’s season ended almost as abruptly. Baltimore kept him on a $6.7 million deal last offseason, and after signing Pete Alonso, the hope was still that Mountcastle could handle right-handed power against lefties.
Instead, he broke his foot while running the bases in April in just his 15th plate appearance, then strained his oblique while getting ready to rehab in July. He never made it back, and his seven-year run in Baltimore looks finished.
Félix Bautista was a different kind of surprise. After torn rotator cuff and torn labrum injuries in Aug. 2025 were expected to wipe out his 2026 season, he managed to return in late September, though the Orioles were already out of the race.
He allowed three runs in two appearances, and his velocity was down. The hope now is that a full offseason can help him come back stronger in 2027.
The bullpen shuffle brought plenty of names that didn’t stick. Dietrich Enns, a 35-year-old lefty who had pitched well for Baltimore late the previous season, walked 11 batters in 16 innings and was sent to Triple-A.
He never got back after posting a 6.13 ERA in 31 games for Norfolk. Yaramil Hiraldo had an even rougher time, giving up nine runs and 10 walks in 9.1 innings across three major league stints.
Lou Trivino made just two appearances before getting shelled for six runs and heading back to the Phillies. Nick Raquet logged four outings, Jose Espada had one, and the Orioles also cycled through two right-handers named Cameron.
Cameron Foster, part of the Gregory Soto trade return, pitched six forgettable games. Cameron Weston threw a scoreless inning in his big league debut before the Mets claimed him on waivers.
Behind the plate, things got ugly whenever Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo weren’t available. Carlos Narváez deserves his own separate chapter, but he wasn’t the only rough stopgap.
Sam Huff’s plate appearances were especially hard to watch. Chadwick Tromp came back for a second straight season, then got cut loose after going 3-for-24.
Yohel Pozo brought good vibes but mostly rode the bench, appearing in only 16 of the Orioles’ 51 games in August and September.
Maverick Handley fit the category too, even though he never actually caught an inning for Baltimore this year. He made one pinch-hit appearance before being waived.
Jake Rogers had an even stranger run: the Orioles briefly brought in the longtime Tiger to help the catching situation, then sent him to Boston in the Rutschman trade after only three games. He wound up with four teams in less than two weeks.
The Orioles’ bench construction had its own problems, especially with the constant search for right-handed outfield bats that couldn’t hit. Rece Hinds may have made the strongest case for one of the worst short-term Orioles ever.
In his final game last Friday, he struck out five times in five at-bats and made multiple misplays in the outfield. He finished 5-for-28 as an Oriole, and when his work with the Reds and Marlins is included, he was 2-for-28 against lefties.
Christian Franklin, acquired from the Nationals at the trade deadline, didn’t solve anything either. He hit .180 in 21 games overall and .167 against lefties.
Baltimore eventually added Luis Robert Jr., the one player in this group who might have helped in that split, but he got hurt after only three games. The Orioles’ $3 million waiver claim went nowhere.
Weston Wilson was another first-half experiment, playing 19 games and even making three mop-up pitching appearances. He later finished the season with the Mariners, where the bat was even quieter and he also pitched once more.
Then there was Johnathan Rodríguez, a marginal minor league hitter who somehow found himself hitting cleanup three different times. The Orioles lost all three of those games.
Heston Kjerstad’s year was just as bleak in a different way. Baltimore kept him in Triple-A for most of the season, then barely used him after calling him up in September. He got only 19 at-bats, collected four hits, and could end up as a 40-man roster casualty this winter.
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