New Trade Addition Already a Disaster For Baltimore Orioles

Gregory Soto has not given the Baltimore Orioles the spark they were hoping for.

Jul 29, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Gregory Soto (30) reacts after allowing a home run. / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Gregory Soto was supposed to make the Baltimore Orioles' bullpen better. Instead, he's only made it worse.

Soto was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies on July 30 in a trade deadline deal for prospects Seth Johnson and Moises Chace. At the time, it was hoped that the veteran reliever would provide some stability to an Orioles bullpen that was showing signs of cracking.

Instead, Soto has been atrocious. In his first three appearances with Baltimore, the two-time All-Star has twice as many runs allowed (eight) as outs recorded (four). He's also yielded nine hits and three walks while registering just one strikeout.

Gregory Soto hasn’t had a great time since joining the Orioles:

3 G | 1.1 IP | 9 H | 8 ER | 4 BB | 1 K |
54.00 ERApic.twitter.com/0LXyL47ZPa

— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) August 7, 2024

All three of Soto's outings have been ineffective. In his Baltimore debut on Aug. 2, he started the bottom of the sixth inning with the Orioles trailing the Cleveland Guardians 4-1. He allowed two runs and five straight batters to reach base before recording an out, at which point Brandon Hyde finally pulled him with the bases still loaded (two of those runners later scored). Unable to come back from an 8-1 hole, Baltimore lost 8-4.

Soto's second outing came two days later, also in Cleveland and again in the sixth inning. He gave up singles to two of the three batters he faced, but fortunately for him one of the batters was thrown out at second. Hyde removed him after the second single despite there being two outs, apparently not trusting Soto to finish the inning.

The 29-year-old's most recent outing was also his worst. Soto was summoned with two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the sixth against the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 6. The Orioles led 1-0 at the time, but trailed 5-1 by the time Soto finally recorded the third out. In between, he allowed a single, a three-run homer, a double, an intentional walk, a double-steal, a two-run double and a passed ball. He took the loss as Baltimore fell 5-2.

Soto, who was already struggling before the trade, is now 2-5 with a 5.89 ERA, a 1.85 WHIP and -0.4 WAR. He's a liability, not an asset, and he's already done more harm than good. Every game is important at this stage of the season, and the Orioles can't afford many more meltdowns from Soto if they want to beat out the New York Yankees for the AL East.

The trade looked bad when Baltimore made it, and now it looks even worse.