Baltimore Orioles Will Start Elite Pitching Prospect in Finale Against Blue Jays

The Baltimore Orioles finally dropped a game on the road Wednesday, falling to the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on a walk-off single in the ninth inning.

This snapped a six-game winning streak away from home after sweeping the Chicago White Sox in late-May and taking the first two in this series.

It's going to be a battle for the Orioles during the month of June to remain within striking distance of the New York Yankees at the top of the AL East as their rivals continue to dominate their opponents while Baltimore has one of the toughest schedules in all of baseball.

Combine that with the fact they're going to be without starters John Means and Tyler Wells for the remainder of the year after they both underwent Tommy John surgery, this is going to be a huge test for this young roster.

While trade speculation circulates about what the Orioles might do around the deadline, general manager Mike Elias is not going to make hasty decisions when it comes to deals and said he's going to give their internal candidates a look before July 30.

That seemed to be the case when they moved their No. 9 prospect Cade Povich to their taxi squad.

Now, they are going to officially promote him and hand him the ball for his Major League debut against the Blue Jays in their finale on Thursday, which will determine if they earn another series victory or if they split.

Brandon Hyde told the media in Toronto that Cade Povich will start tomorrow afternoon, major league debut #orioles
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) June 6, 2024

Originally a third round pick by the Minnesota Twins in 2021, Baltimore acquired him at the 2022 trade deadline in a deal that also brought over Yennier Cano and two other minor league pitchers for closer Jorge Lopez which wasn't a popular move at the time.

The 24-year-old hasn't necessarily blown anyone away with his performances on the farm with a career ERA of 4.36 over 67 appearances and 65 starts, but he's put together his best showing with their Triple-A affiliate this season, posting a 3.18 ERA in 11 starts.

What Povich excels at, however, is striking batters out.

Across 307.1 career innings in the minors, he's fanned an incredible 413 hitters, something the Orioles are hoping carries over to the Major League level.

Depending on how he performs, Povich could find himself in the mix of the rotation going forward as Elias would like to avoid giving up assets to acquire quick fixes to their starting unit as Corbin Burnes, Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez have all been elite in their roles.