Pitching in on leftovers for breakfast

When the Orioles swapped out pitchers late in the regular season to cover innings and allow manager Brandon Hyde to set up his bullpen for the postseason, they selected left-hander Tucker Davidson’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk, designated him for assignment a day later and recalled Colin Selby. When they set their Wild Card roster, they kept Selby and Cade Povich over Matt Bowman and Albert Suárez.

Left-hander Trevor Rogers didn’t get another chance with the Orioles.

He gets a fresh start next spring training. He needs it.

Rogers was optioned on Aug. 22, less than a month after the Orioles acquired him from the Marlins at the deadline for infielder Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers. He went 0-2 with a 7.11 ERA and 1.842 WHIP in four games and didn’t last more than five innings in any start.

Five appearances with Triple-A Norfolk produced a 5.65 ERA and 1.221 WHIP in 28 2/3 innings, but he strung together three quality starts in a row after allowing 10 runs in 4 1/3 innings in his Tides debut. It’s hard to bring down your numbers after that disaster.

The Orioles aren’t bailing on Rogers after a rough beginning. He’s under team control through the 2026 season and their rotation next year probably won’t have Corbin Burnes and definitely won’t include Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells for a significant chunk while they recover from elbow surgeries. John Means is a free agent and a member of the two-time Tommy John club.

Left-handers are hitting .256/.353/.350 against Rogers in his career. They batted .313/.397/.455 this season. A fastball that could sit at 94-95 mph earlier in his career averaged 90.59 mph in August.

“I think it’s a big offseason for him,” Hyde said at Thursday’s press conference. “I know there's gonna be plans in place. When we saw Trevor a few years ago in Miami, it looked like what we saw the first night here in the Wild Card. It was 97, 98, really, really good stuff. We know what's in there. I know we're gonna be diving in with him. They already have been diving in with him this offseason.

“We're excited about the upside of Trevor. Try to get him back to that All-Star form.”

They first need to come to terms on a contract for next season and try to avoid arbitration. Rogers made $1.53 million this year and Baseball-Reference.com projects his next salary at $2.8 million.

Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez could be the top two starters unless executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias makes another dynamic winter trade like the one that delivered Burnes. Or unless the Orioles actually re-sign Burnes, which still seems unlikely given the expected contract length and cost.

“I think he put an exclamation point on it that last game he just threw, the first game of the Wild Card,” Hyde said. “That was an absolutely dominating start. Just made one pitch that was a little bit too much of a plate. He was gonna go back out for the ninth inning regardless of if we scored, unless we had a huge inning. I had Seranthony (Domínguez), was hoping to score like five, but we didn't, but he was gonna go back out for that ninth because he wanted it. He just showed the bulldog that he is.

“What he did for our team, whatever he finishes in the Cy Young race, he had a Cy Young year for us. Just a true No. 1 that had a lot of really, really good starts.”

Dean Kremer was strong again in the second half but didn’t get to pitch in the Wild Card. Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott will compete for jobs in camp. And there’s always Albert Suárez.

One of baseball’s most unlikely success stories in 2024 might have started Game 1 of the Division Series if the Orioles got past the Royals. Hyde can’t possibly know what kind of role Suárez will fill next season, since it’s only October and depends on what jobs are open. He can’t even be 100 percent certain that Suárez remains with the club. But he was asked anyway.

"I have no idea at this point, but what an incredible story for us this year, what a great guy,” Hyde said. “We win that series against Kansas City, he might have been pitching in New York. You never know. But I hope it's with us. I hope it's for the best. He's been amazing for us."

The Orioles are non-committal about their coaching staff for 2025. They just finished their first season with Drew French as pitching coach and Mitch Plassmeyer as assistant.

Three runs allowed in two Wild Card games easily could have produced two victories, but the Orioles scored only one.

A 3.94 ERA for the season ranked 14^th in the majors and eighth in the American League despite an abundance of injuries and closer Craig Kimbrel’s terrible second half. The rotation’s 3.77 ERA was fifth in the majors and fourth in the American League.

Asked about French and Plassmeyer, Hyde said, "Absolutely fantastic.”

“With the rash of pitching injuries we had, with the bullpen kind of in flux, with Craig and the first half he had and then us going in a different direction and having to piece things together on a nightly basis without set roles, losing a lot of our rotation, I thought they did a great, great job. It was fun working with them this year." 

Domínguez became the primary closer but Félix Bautista is cleared to face live hitters – the other kind don’t chase and don’t give you an accurate read of your stuff – and is expected to be full-go for the start of camp.

How challenging is it to manage without The Mountain?

"Well, it's a lot easier managing with him,” Hyde said. “How many games did Felix win for us last year? So I'll be happy to have him back next year."