As spring training has gotten underway, the Orioles have already started dealing with a handful of injuries that could have a significant impact on the team, especially if they end up being especially serious.
First up, and most notably, we’ve got Grayson Rodriguez, who is currently dealing with right elbow inflammation. He received a cortisone shot and will be shut down for 7-10 days before he starts a throwing program, but regardless will be starting the season on the injured list.
And then we’ve got Andrew Kittredge, who recently underwent left knee debridement surgery and will also start the season on the IL.
This is tough news for Orioles’ fans to stomach right off the bat, especially Rodriguez’s injury, given the fact the Orioles didn’t do a whole lot to significantly improve their pitching rotation in light of Corbin Burnes’ (and to a lesser extent, John Means’) departure.
Given that, it was sort of expected that Rodriguez would take a step forward and potentially become the ace he certainly has the potential to be. Obviously Kyle Bradish does still exist, but he’s not going to be back right away (and who knows how he’ll look coming back from Tommy John surgery), and Tyler Wells is probably not coming back until around halfway through the season (and again, who knows how he’ll look).
Without Rodriguez, the Orioles’ rotation is going to probably look something like Zach Eflin/Charlie Morton/Dean Kremer/Tomoyuki Sugano/either Cade Povich or Albert Suarez, and frankly that’s not an especially encouraging rotation for a team that has World Series aspirations.
Povich has his moments but lacks a solid, consistent fastball to support his great curveball and struggles with his changeup, which if it worked well, would be a really solid weapon for him to throw to right-handed hitters.
Meanwhile, Sugano is obviously a big unknown, but a guy I expect to be an innings eater who isn’t going to wow you with strikeouts each game but should be able to limit walks and put the team in a decent position to win. And of course with Morton, who knows what we’re going to get given his age, but hopefully he can continue to ride the curveball to success.
It’s certainly a shaky rotation (I didn’t even mention Kremer, who Orioles fan know very well is inconsistent to say the least), and to have an injury to Kittredge, who was expected to be a fairly big piece of the bullpen, on top of everything really raises a massive question mark for the Orioles from a pitching perspective.
Now, obviously having Felix Bautista back and fairly healthy is a great boon for the bullpen, and eventually getting Bradish and Wells back will also be a big help. And it’s also quite possible that Rodriguez’s injury won’t be that severe and won’t keep him out for long, but elbow injuries are always nerve-wracking.
The range of outcomes for the Orioles’ rotation is all over the place. It could easily be a rock solid rotation and it could just as easily be an absolute nightmare for Orioles fans to watch day-to-day.
The reality is probably somewhere in between, and certainly getting Bradish and Wells back at some point (and hopefully Rodriguez) will help stabilize things, but that’s not likely to happen til around halfway through the season. I think the Orioles’ rotation will get there, but it’s likely to be a pretty bumpy ride.
Ben Palmer has lived in Maryland his whole life and currently spends his days working as a health care journalist. He also previously wrote for and was a site expert for the FanSided blog The Baltimore Wire and currently works as managing editor at Pitcher List where he writes about fantasy baseball.