Baltimore Orioles Should Be Highly Concerned About Starting Rotation

With a poor beginning to the season, the Baltimore Orioles should be very concerned about starting rotation.

Apr 7, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Zach Eflin in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles' start to the season has been far from ideal, with multiple issues costing the team early on.

This winter, the Orioles made some questionable decisions in terms of letting players go and who they brought in to replace them.

Most notable was the decision not to either bring back Corbin Burnes or find an ace to fill the void. There were plenty of front-end starters that were available on the free agent market, but Baltimore elected to go in a different direction.

That decision has cost the team dearly in 2025, with the rotation being one of the worst in the Majors.

With the first month of the year concluded, this is the area that most have been focused on for the struggles of the Orioles.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the biggest weakness for Baltimore being their starting pitcher and why they should be in a full-blown panic about the rotation.

“There's a fine line between 'slow start that might be alright in due time' and 'getting smacked in the face with the realization that it's simply not in the cards this year.' The O's starting rotation is very much in the latter camp," he wrote.

After one month of baseball, it certainly feels like the Orioles are more likely to be a last-place team in the American League East than a first-place team.

In addition to the rotation struggling, the lineup has been very mediocre. This is an issue dating back to the last campaign, and one that should be sounding the alarm for Baltimore as well. There is a lot of young talent in the lineup, but the unit hasn't got the job done.

However, it is the rotation that has been the main reason for the struggles, and the team should be in a panic not only about the start of the season, but the outlook going forward.

So far, Tomoyuki Sugano has been the only viable starting pitcher with a solid ERA. However, the underlying metrics suggest there could be some regression coming for him, which would only further hurt the rotation.

Charlie Morton was a significant free agent signing but has been so ineffective that the team moved him into the bullpen.

Furthermore, without Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez being healthy, the team simply doesn’t have the talent to have a competitive rotation.

While neither of those pitchers is an ace, they have the potential to be the front-end starters that the franchise desperately needs.

It appears like Eflin will likely be the first of the two back from injury, but that could be too little too late.

As each game passes, it’s becoming easier to panic about the state of the rotation and the franchise.

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