Baltimore Orioles Lack of Pitching Prospects Limiting Growth of Farm System

The Baltimore Orioles are sinking in farm system rankings because of their lack of pitching.

Jul 27, 2022; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias reacts on the field before the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Over the last few years, the Baltimore Orioles have put an emphasis on adding position players to their organization early in drafts.

It has certainly paid off as they have an impressive core of players already established at the Major League level and a few more waiting for the opportunity to showcase their talents.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson, catcher Adley Rutschman, infielder Jordan Westburg and outfielder Colton Cowser are all key components of their lineup in 2025 and moving forward. They are hoping Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad join them.

After that, they still have corner infielder Coby Mayo and catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo anchoring the farm system, knocking on the door of the MLB.

Of course, many of those players joined the organization courtesy of some brutal campaigns in which the team endured a lot of losing, resulting in very high slots in the MLB draft.

As the on-field product has improved and they have moved down the draft board, finding impact talent has become more of a challenge. That, coupled with so many graduates, has left the farm system beginning to drop in rankings.

Heading into spring training this year, Keith Law of The Athletic has ranked the Orioles as a Tier 5 system, coming in at No. 20.

A major reason for their bottom-third ranking is the lack of pitching depth to buoy the system.

“There still isn’t much pitching here, which is clearly a strategic decision by the organization,” Law wrote.

Baltimore has made a few trades recently that they dipped into their prospect pool to complete. Ahead of the deadline last July, they acquired starting pitchers Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers from the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins.

While the top of the system may be lacking, there is some hope that the organization will return to the top half of the rankings in the near future.

International free agency has been kind to the Orioles and there are several teenagers at the lower levels of the minor leagues that possess incredible upside.

However, another dip should occur before the team goes on the rise again.

In desperate need of an ace, Baltimore should not hesitate to unload some of their top prospects if it means being able to match up better with the likes of the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers, all teams who possess dominant starting rotations with several aces.

The system could also be restocked somewhat if the team ends up moving on from veterans such as Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle, both of whom were involved in trade rumors last summer.