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Inside The Orioles

Orioles Make a Decision on Opening Day Starter

Before Friday’s spring game, Craig Albernaz named the Orioles’ Opening Day starter for March 26 against the Twins.
John Sparaco|
Feb 20, 2026; Sarasota, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Trevor Rogers (28) throws a pitch in the first inning against the New York Yankees during spring training at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Feb 20, 2026; Sarasota, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Trevor Rogers (28) throws a pitch in the first inning against the New York Yankees during spring training at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

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Baltimore OriolesMinnesota TwinsPittsburgh Pirates

The Baltimore Orioles will have a different Opening Day starter for the fifth consecutive season.

On Friday, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz announced that Trevor Rogers will take the mound for the season opener against the Minnesota Twins on March 26 at Camden Yards. It will be the left-hander’s first career Opening Day start.

Rogers, 28, initially struggled to find his form after being traded to Baltimore in the summer of 2024, finishing the season in the minors after posting a 7.11 ERA in four starts. There, he worked on his mechanics and mental approach, which ultimately sparked a career revival.

In 2025, Rogers went 9-3 with a 1.81 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 5.5 bWAR over 18 starts. He was voted the winner of the Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole Award by local media and finished ninth in AL Cy Young Award voting, despite missing the beginning of the season with a knee injury.

One of the biggest factors in Rogers’ turnaround was the resurgence of his fastball, which averaged a career-low 91.9 mph in 2024. The left-hander credited an offseason trip to Driveline, which helped him identify that his velocity dip was caused by a significant loss of strength, particularly in his lower body.

Rogers’ new workout plan removed the need to overcompensate in his delivery, and in 2025 his velocity rebounded to the 93-95 mph range. An improved fastball (+16 run value) made his offspeed pitches more effective. He generated positive run values on his changeup (+7), slider (+4) and sweeper (+3), creating deception with similar velocities but different breaks.

So far this spring, Rogers has appeared in two Grapefruit League games and combined for five scoreless innings with no walks and six strikeouts. He also allowed six runs over 2.1 innings in an exhibition against Team Netherlands, which does not count toward his official spring stats.

Recent Orioles to start the season opener include Zach Eflin, Corbin Burnes, Kyle Gibson and John Means. Only Eflin remains in the organization after re-signing as a free agent this winter.

Rogers earned the Opening Day nod over fellow ace Kyle Bradish, who made six starts last season after returning from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, topping 97 mph seven times. Going with Rogers first, followed by an off day, allows the Orioles to give Bradish a little more rest.

The rest of the Orioles’ rotation picture includes new additions Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt, along with the returning Eflin, Dean Kremer and Cade Povich. It remains unclear how the other starting pitchers will line up.

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John Sparaco
JOHN SPARACO

John Sparaco is a contributing writer for the Mets website On SI. He has previously written for Cold Front Report, Times Union and JKR Baseball, where he profiled some of the top recruits, college players and draft prospects in baseball. You can follow him on Twitter/X: @JohnSparaco

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