Orioles’ pitchers whose jobs are on the line with impending return of Cade Povich

It’s no secret that that Baltimore Orioles have had trouble with their starting rotation. A team once thought to have too much starting pitching now can’t find enough of it. To be fair, the Orioles starters that are currently on the IL, Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, John Means and Tyler Wells, could make up 4/5ths of one of the better rotations in baseball.

The Birds hit it big when they landed Zach Eflin from the Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline. With Rodriguez hitting the IL shortly after the deadline and several other starters underperforming, the Orioles are still trying to figure out their best rotation.

Corbin Burnes and Eflin are locked in as the top two pitchers and GrayRod is expected to return next month, but the remainder of the rotation is a work in progress. Dean Kremer, Trevor Rogers and Albert Suarez have rounded out the rest of the top 5 but Kremer and Rogers have struggled and Suarez has been inconsistent.

Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun recently reported that the O’s are planning to recall Cade Povich from AAA Norfolk and have him start on Saturday against the Red Sox.

With the current setup, it would be Suarez’s turn to take the mound on Saturday. Since he has pitched brilliantly since his return the rotation it seems unlikely that Suarez would be pushed back to the bullpen, at least for now.

Kremer is also unlikely to be removed from the starting rotation, but it shouldn’t be completely ruled out. He’s 5-9 with a 4.48 ERA through 17 starts. The main things keeping Kremer in the rotation this long are the injuries and the struggles of the Orioles’ top pitching prospects, Povich and Chayce McDermott, in their debuts this season.

The clear front runner to be removed from the Birds’ rotation is Trevor Rogers. The lefty was acquired at the deadline in a move many fans did not like and he hasn’t done anything to make Oriole fans feel any better since he arrived. In his three starts with the O’s, Rogers is 0-2 with a 7.53 ERA. He’s allowed 12 earned runs in 14.1 innings with a 7/7 K/BB ratio and opponents are hitting a whopping .357 off of him. Those numbers just won’t cut it on a team looking to repeat as AL East champions.

Povich had been scheduled to start for the Tides Friday night, but the Orioles will instead have him go against the Red Sox in Baltimore on Saturday. Manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that the plan for now is to push Suarez back to Sunday but beyond that, things are up in the air.

The Orioles are in a stretch where they play 13 games in 13 days. It remains to be seen if Povich is just coming to pitch a game and give the starters an extra day of rest during that stretch, or if he is being called up to stay. It could be that the Orioles would rather see if they can develop their prospect instead of trying to recreate the magic Rogers had in 2021.