Trevor Rogers didn’t sugarcoat the Baltimore Orioles’ 2026 season, and his read on it was pretty simple: too many swings, not enough steady baseball.
Baltimore came into the year with big expectations and left it without a playoff spot. Now the focus shifts to the offseason, where the Orioles may need to make changes after an uneven year that never really found its footing.
Rogers, speaking recently via Ryan Ripken, zeroed in on the problem the team kept running into over the course of the season.
“You are going to have some bumps in the road over 162 games. There's going to be times where nothing goes right,” Rogers said.
“We're gonna have a losing streak. Every team I've been on, we've lost six, seven games in a row.
And there's been times where everything is clicking on all cylinders, we feel like we can beat everybody, and we go six, seven games in a row… We get back to .500, we lose the next six, like how do we shorten that into, you know, we drop two, win three?
“How do we shorten those moments of the season and play consistent baseball throughout the year?”
That theme carried over to Rogers’ own season, which had its own share of highs and lows. For the first time in his career, he made 30 starts. He also finished with a 4.03 ERA while piling up 157 strikeouts in 169.2 innings.
There’s no question the Orioles have talent. The issue has been turning that talent into a team that can sustain winning baseball. Baltimore is hoping it can solve that next season, because the ceiling is still there - but the window to put it together is getting shorter.
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Reillys path back has been anything but simple after Tommy John surgery in mid-May 2025, but the recent stretch mattered. He had returned to Double-A Chesapeake and finished with a 2.08 ERA across his final six starts, along with a 41/11 strikeout-to-walk ratio, a sign that his stuff and command were both trending in the right direction as he headed into the Fall League. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Still Have One Clear Rotation Need After Locking Up Key Arms
The Orioles spent the 2026 season piecing together a staff that never stopped changing, using 60 players overall and leaning on a wide cast of arms just to get through the year. Even so, there was some real progress on the mound, with Shane Baz handling the heaviest load before landing a five-year extension, while Kyle Bradish and Brandon Young also came off the board on multi-year deals as Baltimore moved to secure part of its rotation core.
But even with those commitments in place, the work is not finished. The Orioles still need another starting pitcher, and the winter picture remains clouded a bit by Trevor Rogers, who is expected to receive a qualifying offer as free agency chatter continues. Spring training is likely to sort out the depth chart, with several candidates set to battle for innings, but the front office still has one obvious rotation box left to check. [Read more 🡒]
Colton Cowser Still Has One Big Hurdle In Baltimore
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Cowser knows the next step is bigger than just carving out a useful role. He came out of the season talking about wanting to become an everyday player in 2027, which is the kind of ambition the Orioles will welcome if the bat can match the defense. For now, though, the path forward still comes with a familiar test, one that will determine whether he stays more of a specialist or becomes a fixture in the middle of Baltimores lineup. [Read more 🡒]