Baltimore Orioles' Ace Beginning to Find His Groove Again

The ace of the pitching staff for the Baltimore Orioles is starting to find his groove again.

Aug 28, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) delivers to the plate in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

It was a tough weekend for the Baltimore Orioles, as they dropped their series against the Tampa Bay Rays and are 0.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East. 

Winning the division is certainly the goal for the Orioles, as it comes with a major benefit compared to having to play in the Wild Card games. For Baltimore, they haven’t played their best baseball of late, and one of their stars on their pitching staff has struggled. 

Corbin Burnes is without a doubt the best pitcher on the staff for the Orioles, as this offseason, Baltimore pulled off the blockbuster deal to bring in Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers. 

In six seasons with the Brewers, Burnes established himself as one of the best pitchers in the National League. However, as a small market team that likely couldn’t afford Burnes, the Brewers decided to sell high with him and the Orioles have him for a full season. 

Considering the Orioles made the playoffs last season with their exciting young core of hitters, the hope was that adding Burnes would be the final piece of the puzzle. Since Baltimore is 20 games over .500 this season and battling the Yankees for first place in the division, the decision to trade for Burnes has been a good one so far. 

This season, Burnes has totaled 13-8 record, a 3.18 ERA, and 157 strikeouts in 175.1 innings. Overall, it has been a very solid season for Burnes, but when digging a bit deeper it could be much better. 

As the Orioles struggled in August a bit, so did Burnes. The talented right-hander had one of the worst months of his career, as he totaled a 1-3 record and 7.36 ERA. The struggles for Burnes was certainly a big concern for Baltimore, as the Orioles need him to be their ace in the playoffs. Fortunately, he has bounced back of late. 

In his last three starts, Burnes has gotten back to the level of play that he’s accustomed to. During that span, Burnes has had a 1-2 record, but has only allowed four runs in 16 innings. 

Burnes getting back to where he needs to be for the stretch run is important for Baltimore. They are going to be leaning heavily on their ace in September and into October, and they will hope he will be the same pitcher in the playoffs that he was with Milwaukee.