Orioles ‘Kitchen-Sink Guy’ Solidifies Starting Pitcher Rank With Strong Start

The biggest storyline coming into the 2025 regular season for the Baltimore Orioles is how their pitching staff is going to hold up.

A huge risk was taken this offseason with how they went about filling out the starting rotation after their ace, Corbin Burnes, departed in free agency; he signed a massive six-year, $210 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the team didn’t make an overly aggressive push to retain him.

Instead of retaining Burnes or going after another ace on the market, such as Blake Snell or Max Fried, they opted to bring in veterans Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano as serviceable depth.

Their roles have expanded early in the season with Grayson Rodriguez beginning the year on the injured list.

That has left Zach Eflin as the nominal ace, a tall task given his track record more resembles a solid middle-of-the-rotation guy with some front-end flashes.

He was excellent after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays ahead of the deadline last year, making nine starts with 55.1 innings pitched. An impressive 2.60 ERA was recorded, along with 47 strikeouts to go along with a 145 ERA+.

That performance certainly played a large part in Eflin being so highly regarded in the starting pitching rankings put together over at The Athletic (subscription required) by MLB insiders.

He finished in a tie at No. 46 with Yusei Kikuchi of the Los Angeles Angels. Even before Rodriguez’s injury, he was viewed by many as the team’s ace.

“Eflin is the most reliable starter on an Orioles team with championship aspirations. When he is healthy, one scout explained, he is “the definition of a steady, middle-of-the-rotation guy. Another scout described him as a 'kitchen-sink guy,' a pitcher lacking bat-missing pitches who could collapse if his command falters,” as written in the piece done by Andy McCullough, Will Sammon and Sahadev Sharma.

He's not a prototypical staff anchor based on his stuff. Baltimore is counting on him to perform like one this year.

For the Orioles to reach their potential and challenge for a World Series, an addition may need to be made down the road.

But, if Eflin can perform as he did on Opening Day against the Toronto Blue Jays, they are going to as competitive as any team in the American League.

It was a normal day at the office for the veteran entering his 10th year in the MLB, pitching six efficient innings, needing only 78 pitches to get through them.

He allowed only two hits and one walk, with the only two runs against him being via Andres Gimenez hitting a two-run homer. Two strikeouts were recorded as well.

The offense provided more than enough support in a 12-2 win, setting franchise history with six home runs.

That is certainly enough to get the job done and hold down the fort as the team’s No. 1 for the time being. He may not have the upside of other flamethrowers in baseball, but if he can pitch near a 3.00 ERA consistently, the team will be thrilled.