How Can the Orioles Bolster the Rotation After Two Big Injuries?

Baltimore has one of the better offenses in baseball, but after a flurry of pitching injuries, trades might be on the horizon.

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

In the past week, the Baltimore Orioles have taken some big blows to the rotation. Both John Means and Dean Kremer hit the injured list, where they join Tyler Wells as solid starters the Orioles will be missing going forward.

Baltimore made a big splash in the offseason by acquiring Corbin Burnes to lead their staff, but did nothing else outside of that. With Means returning, and Kyle Bradish coming off of a top four Cy Young finish, their top three looked to be solid. But of course, teams always have to prepare for injury.

Grayson Rodriguez has steadily improved start after start following his rough debut stretch, and Kyle Bradish returned from injury at the beginning of May, but losing two starters in the span of a week will make things difficult on them as the Orioles fight the Yankees for AL East supremacy all season long.

As a team, led by MVP candidate Gunnar Henderson, the Orioles are currently third in the AL in team OPS+. If they want to follow up their division win in 2023, they will need to add more pitching depth in the rotation.

One name that is likely to be traded is an old friend in former Oriole, Kyle Gibson. It hasn't been long since Gibson was in Baltimore, but after they let him walk following last season, he signed a two year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.

While the Cardinals have continued their struggles, Gibson has bounced back after his poor season in 2023. In 33 starts with the Orioles in 2023, Gibson let the AL in hits allowed and posted a 4.73 ERA, a 1.318 WHIP and 85 ERA+, well below the league average of 100.

St. Louis needed arms coming into the season, so they brought in the veteran presence of Gibson and he's been solid so far. In 59.0 innings, he's lowered his ERA to 3.81 and has a 107 ERA+. The Cardinals are 5.5 games out of the division and look like they'll be sellers, and Gibson is a prime candidate.

He could easily be a target for the Orioles, as the 36-year-old has been very solid this season and shouldn't be too expensive come trade time. In the case that he does regress, Gibson could continue to do what he does best, which is eat innings. With the amount of injuries they're dealing with, Baltimore could use some innings.

Another name to watch is Eric Fedde. The Chicago White Sox are the worst team in baseball and seemingly want to sell the farm. After signing Fedde to a two year deal to complete his return from playing in Korea, it's possible Chicago could immediatley turn around and trade him to help with their rebuild.

In 2023, Fedde won the equivalent to the Cy Young award, the Choi Dong-won Award, as well as the KBO MVP. Upon his return to MLB, he has hit the ground running after previously struggling as recently as 2022. He has been Chicago's best pitcher, leading the team in ERA at a 3.10 mark, as well as ERA+ at 131, and is second in strikeouts with 52.

While he has been one of the lone bright spots for the White Sox this season, it doesn't seem that anyone on the team is off limits, save maybe Luis Robert. And with another year remaining on his deal where he will only make $7.5 million, Fedde will be a popular name at the deadline. Fedde, 31, is younger than Gibson and therefore might be more intriguing for Baltimore moving forward.

Baltimore could also make a play at a bigger name with some higher upside. Given their loaded farm system, there will be log jams at the big league level and they could look to offload a player like Heston Kjerstad or Connor Norby.

If this is the case, a pitcher like Jesus Luzardo of the Miami Marlins would be a terrific fit behind Burnes, especially considering they are very right-handed heavy in the rotation outside of Means. After making a move that didn't work out by trading for Jack Flaherty in 2023, they could want to swing for the fences to try to secure the division.