The Orioles’ 2026 season never really found a clean rhythm on the mound, and the starting rotation sat right in the middle of that story. Baltimore got enough quality outings to stay afloat - 62 quality starts, sixth-most in baseball, and a 4.07 ERA that ranked 12th - but the group also delivered enough shaky stretches to keep the team from ever fully cashing in on its talent.
That unevenness showed up all year. Some starters gave the Orioles exactly what they needed.
Others lagged behind expectations. By the end, the rotation looked like a unit that was good enough to compete most nights, but not sharp enough to carry a team with October ambitions.
Trevor Rogers wound up as the best of the bunch, earning a B+ after turning his season around in the second half. Before the All-Star break, he had a 4.48 ERA, a 1.306 WHIP and 69 strikeouts in 90.1 innings, numbers that didn’t come close to front-of-the-rotation production.
Then he settled in and finished with 4.0 fWAR, tops among Orioles starters. His September numbers told the story of that turnaround even better: a 0.906 WHIP in the month.
Baltimore still lost both of his September starts in which he went at least six innings and struck out 10 or more, which says more about the support around him than about Rogers himself.
Brandon Young also earned credit for beating expectations, landing at B. He was never supposed to be a centerpiece arm, more of an innings-eater who could keep the team in games.
Instead, he was Baltimore’s best pitcher through June and steadied the rotation when others were stumbling. His 81% Chase rate held up, even as he started giving up more hard contact over 156.2 innings.
The team went 19-9 in his starts, and that alone makes the grade easy to justify.
Shane Baz checked in at C after a season that followed a similar arc to Rogers’, just with less impact overall. The Orioles paid a hefty prospect price to get him from the Rays, expecting a long-term fixture near the front of the rotation.
That still may be the plan, but 2026 didn’t exactly lock it in. Baz’s first half featured a 1.388 WHIP, and even though he found better footing after the break, his 3.4 fWAR still only ranked second among Baltimore starters.
The Orioles won just 10 of his 31 starts, and his 4.11 FIP matched the eye test: useful at times, but rarely dominant enough to tilt a game.
Chris Bassitt’s C- reflects a season that started with a one-year, $18.5 million commitment in February and then veered off course after a back injury in June. He came back in August and was more dependable from that point on, allowing more than three runs only once in eight starts.
Baltimore won six of those eight outings, which is exactly the kind of return the Orioles needed once he got back on the mound. Even so, the full package wasn’t close to worth the money, and the injury erased most of the value he might have provided.
Kyle Bradish gets the harshest mark of the group at D, even after signing a five-year, $90 million extension in July following his first nearly full season since 2023. The deal carried risk from the start, and his sports hernia surgery in September only added to the concern, though that issue is not expected to be a problem in 2027.
The bigger issue was performance. Bradish posted a 4.25 FIP across 155 innings, walked 4.1 batters per nine and struck out only 8.2 per nine.
Hitters also put up a .928 OPS against him in the second half, a brutal number that leaves plenty of questions hanging over his season.
In Other News...
Shane Baz Gave The Orioles More Than His Record Suggests
Shane Bazs first season in Baltimore didnt show up kindly in the win-loss column, but the Orioles had plenty of reasons to view it differently. After acquiring him from the Rays before the 2026 season in a trade that cost multiple prospects and then locking him in with a five-year extension, the club asked for stability at the front of the rotation. Baz delivered volume, taking the ball 31 times and piling up 180 innings while continuing to build back toward his pre-surgery form.
The record, of course, was rough at 6-15, and the 4.11 ERA will never tell the whole story on its own. Baltimore gave him poor run support in too many of those starts, and the stronger FIP suggested the right-hander was better than the raw results implied. More important for the Orioles, Baz looked like a pitcher who had moved further along in his recovery from Tommy John surgery, leaving him positioned as a significant part of what they want the rotation to become next. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Rotation Questions Just Got Bigger With Cade Povich
Cade Povichs bid to factor into the Orioles 2027 rotation took another hit this week, though the club still expects the left-hander to be back in time for Spring Training. Povich underwent surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow after a 2026 season that already included a stint on the injured list for elbow inflammation, a reminder of how quickly a promising arm can run into trouble when a young pitcher is trying to carve out a bigger role.
For Baltimore, the timing matters because the rotation picture could look very different by next season, especially if some arms reach free agency. Povich had been on the radar as a candidate for a starting job, but his late-season struggles and this latest setback only add more uncertainty to a group that could use stability, health and a few clear answers heading into 2027. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Face A Big Question About A Bold Left Field Fix
The Orioles search for a cleaner answer in left field has already started to shape the conversation around their offseason, and Seiya Suzuki sits near the center of it. A right-handed hitter with a polished bat and enough defensive ability to handle the outfield, Suzuki checks a lot of the boxes Baltimore has been weighing as it looks for a more dependable fit in a part of the roster that has invited debate.
Still, any pursuit would have to account for more than just what Suzuki brings on the field. The Orioles have to consider how their ballpark can influence a players value, while the front office also has to weigh the broader market and what a move like this could mean beyond Baltimore. Suzukis appeal in Japan only adds another layer to a decision that is as much about strategy and fit as it is about adding another bat. [Read more 🡒]