Orioles Must Overhaul Organizational Philosophy to Fix Pitching Staff

Nothing has gone right for the Baltimore Orioles during the 2025 MLB regular season, who entered play on May 7 with a 13-21 record.

That puts them in last place in the American League East, with the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies being the only teams in baseball with fewer victories to this point.

There are a lot of reasons that the Orioles are in the position that they currently are.

Their offense has not lived up to expectations, with several players underperforming. Not being able to score runs has put a lot of pressure on an undermanned pitching staff that has not answered the call.

All of the criticisms that analysts had about the moves Baltimore made with their starting rotation have unfortunately come to fruition.

Their lack of a front-end starter has been a glaring weakness and the depth pieces they brought aboard have not pitched well.

Charlie Morton, who signed a one-year, $15 million deal in the offseason, was removed from the rotation for a short period before starting on Wednesday night and struggling again, giving up three runs in four innings.

That actually lowered his ERA to 9.38 on the season. Cade Povich has a 5.55 ERA and Dean Kremer has an ERA of 5.73.

The Orioles have always put an emphasis on good control over stuff, which has resulted in one feel-good story thus far: Tomoyuki Sugano.

Why Have the Baltimore Orioles Starting Pitchers Struggled So Much?

“Good command can be enough — certainly Tomoyuki Sugano isn’t winning because of his poor fastball velocity or middling breaking balls — but poor stuff is the hardest to correct, especially mid-season,” wrote Eno Sarris of The Athletic (subscription required).

The veteran has an impressive 3.00 ERA and 1.0 WAR through seven starts, throwing 39 innings with 21 strikeouts.

But that hasn’t been enough to elevate the team’s rotation from near the bottom of the MLB.

Right now, Baltimore’s starting rotation has a Stuff+ score of 95. Only the White Sox, Rockies, Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks, who signed former Orioles ace Corbin Burnes this offseason, have worse numbers.

Their Location+ is a decent 101, succeeding in hitting their spots. But, their Pitching+ score of 97 is tied for the fifth worst in baseball, per Sarris.

Many people thought the Baltimore starting pitching would struggle, but this is even worse than the most pessimistic of outlooks.

It could take a while for things to change, as the organization's philosophy has to be adjusted to truly find some answers.

“The worst part about this is maybe not even what it means for this year, though. Because the team seems to have valued command over stuff in the rotation to this point, they’ll have a lot of work to do to reverse course,” Sarris added.

Trading for an ace in-season would certainly make the fans feel a little better, but the team’s pitching woes look to run deeper than just not having an anchor for the staff.