Taking Orioles rotation for a quick spin as road trip continues

KANSAS CITY – The Orioles are 10 games into their 2025 season, losing six of them. They just dropped their first regular season series to the Royals since Aug. 30-Sept. 1, 2019. Their starters have remained on turn, which enabled the rotation to cycle through twice.

Young left-hander Cade Povich allowed a career-high 13 hits yesterday, three more than in his Aug. 29 start at Dodger Stadium. But in that disaster, Povich lasted only 3 1/3 innings and was charged with five runs.

It was his second-worst outing after going one-plus innings in Oakland on July 6 and surrendering eight runs and five hits with three walks and a pair of homers.  

What happened yesterday at Kauffman Stadium demonstrated how much Povich has grown as a pitcher. He made it through six innings to save the bullpen and kept the Orioles within striking distance if their bats had cooperated. Povich allowed four runs, but three in the first inning were preventable if a fly ball in right-center field was caught.

If you believe that everything else would have stayed the same, the next batter flying out gives Povich a 1-2-3 inning instead of a sacrifice fly on his line. Two singles and Michael Massey’s two-run double put the Orioles in a 3-0 hole.

“Huge for him to go six innings for us,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “I thought he was really, really competitive. I thought they took some good swings off him, but being able to go six innings for us today, that’s huge for us.”

Povich did it in 88 pitches. He had to throw 22 in the first. Dean Kremer threw 26 of his 88 in the first Friday night because of a misplayed fly ball in left-center.

Asked what he’s expecting from his starters in their next steps forward, pitching coach Drew French replied, “I think efficiency.” They could use some assistance.

“I think it’s about how we get there more so than just, ‘Hey guys, we need at-bats to end faster,’” French said. “There’s strategy involved, certainly. There’s a mentality shift that’s involved at times, getting guys to be confident in themselves and what their stuff’s going to provide for them.

“I think some of these steps are just kind of organically in front of us. Also, it’s our job to understand these guys and learn these guys a little bit faster and become more efficient.”

Kyle Gibson is close to joining Triple-A Norfolk after signing his one-year deal with the Orioles late in spring training. He threw live batting practice again in Sarasota and is scheduled for a bullpen session. The Orioles will need to figure out how to make room for him, but that’s a little further down the road.

Here’s a quick look at the current five as the Orioles begin a three-game series tonight in Arizona.

Zach Eflin

Only one starter completed six innings before yesterday, and Eflin did it twice.

Eflin held the Blue Jays to two runs and two hits in six innings, and the Red Sox to three runs and eight hits in six innings. That’s a pair of quality starts for the guy at the top of the rotation, with only one walk and seven strikeouts.

Hyde has removed Eflin after 78 and 87 pitches. The veteran right-hander might have squeezed out another inning if given more rope. Those days are coming. Starters will be pushed further to ease the burden on the bullpen, and Eflin can handle it.

Charlie Morton

A start shouldn’t be labeled as “big” only a few weeks into a season, but that’s how it must feel for Morton.

You can’t be 41 years old and struggle in your first two appearances with a new team and not be reminded of your age. Then again, it also happens after two good outings.

Morton’s fastball velocity has ticked up a notch and he recorded more outs with his breaking ball in his second outing. That’s the good part. But he’s allowed nine runs and 13 hits in 8 1/3 innings for a 9.72 ERA.

His stuff couldn’t be too bad if he struck out 10 Red Sox batters in five innings in Thursday’s 8-4 loss. The results will get better, and Tuesday night’s start in Arizona would be a good time to prove it.

Dean Kremer

Kremer feels better about his stuff than his results. He allowed five runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings in Toronto and two earned runs (three total) and eight hits in 4 1/3 in Kansas City. He’s walked two batters and struck out seven.

The defense really let him down against the Royals.

"I thought we extended his pitch count probably 25 by not making a couple plays defensively," Hyde said. "Probably cut his outing at least two innings short, and with a taxed bullpen it makes it tough.”

"I was competitive in zone the whole game, didn’t have any walks, kind of throwing the ball pretty much where I wanted to," Kremer said. "Came out a little unlucky, but that’s the game of baseball. Sometimes you do everything right and it doesn’t go your way. Sometimes you do everything wrong and it does go your way. That’s the beautiful thing about this game."

The fact that Kremer can find beauty in some ugly and unfair moments is admirable.

Tomoyuki Sugano

Sugano won’t be remembered for his hand cramps.

They were a huge story in Toronto, cutting short his major league debut after four innings, but the frigid temperatures and wind in Kansas City wouldn’t let him sweat and he responded by allowing one run in 5 1/3 innings to lower his ERA to 2.89.

Sugano basically comes as advertised, tying up hitters with a six-pitch mix and pounding the strike zone.

“I told him after the game, ‘You have a ton of versatility, and what the splitter may not have been (Saturday), the cutter took its place. The two-seam took its place,’” French said. “He can beat guys in a lot of different ways, and it doesn’t have to be 92-95 mph, as we saw (Saturday). The highest velo fastball on the day was 93 by both teams.

“In that type of environment with that type of climate, he can pitch and he can make guys a little bit more comfortable on that side of the plate, but ultimately, he’s got the requite arsenal and doesn’t need all of it every single time he goes out there.”

Cade Povich

Povich joined Eflin as the only starters to go six innings. His 13 hits were the most surrendered by an Orioles pitcher since Brian Matusz on June 26, 2012 against the Angels. But the way he battled and tried to brush off the mistakes behind him also was admirable.

The first start in 2025 came in the Orioles’ home opener and Povich struck out eight Red Sox’s batters over 4 1/3 innings. He also allowed three runs and five hits and threw 94 pitches.

“Home opener was obviously pretty special, pretty electric, definitely kind of got the juices flowing a little bit,” Povich said. “After the first couple innings there, everything’s kind of calmed back down and back to just finding myself, finding what’s good mentally.”

“I thought the poise was really good,” French said. “That day, there’s a lot to compartmentalize, a lot to handle with Opening Day in anybody’s yard, but specifically at home with such an unbelievable crowd. I thought he was really, really poised and really, really focused.”

Yesterday’s outcome made Povich 0-5 with an 8.13 ERA in seven career day games, compared to 3-5 with a 3.81 ERA in 11 night games. An off-day Thursday could push Povich’s next start to Saturday afternoon against the Blue Jays – the first time that the Orioles will wear their all-orange uniforms since 2010.