Proposed Baltimore Orioles Trade Offers Perfect Answer To Injury Troubles

The Baltimore Orioles could pull off a trade to secure the pitching rotation for a long time to come.

May 5, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet (45) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles starting rotation has played at a high level this season, but recently ran into some injury issues with a couple of starters having their seasons ended early.

With the team in prime playoff position, they should be in win-now mode and searching for the best pitchers they can find on the open market.

Chicago White Sox reliever-turned-starter Garrett Crochet could be the ideal find for not just the long term, but immediate future.

With the deep well of hitting prospects that Baltimore possesses, they could land the young arm to further build out their rotation for the next couple of years.

A potential trade for Crochet could see them send outfielder Heston Kjerstad and pitching prospect Cade Povich to Chicago in return for the starter.

Crochet hit a rough patch in April but his past month was nothing short of spectacular.

In the month of May, the southpaw had a 0.93 ERA across five starts with a 0.724 WHIP. Four of the White Sox’s nine wins came during one of his starts. He carried the team on his back last month and could draw a lot of interest because of it.

He’s had an interesting journey over the past couple of seasons and looks to finally be hitting his stride once again.

Back in 2020, he skipped straight over the minors after being drafted out of the University of Tennessee, appearing in five games and pitching six scoreless innings to close out the season just months after being selected.

His first full season came in 2021 when he came out of the bullpen with a 2.82 ERA. He then missed all of 2022 due to Tommy John surgery. He came back to a bullpen role in May 2023 and had a 3.55 ERA.

At the start of 2024, he began his starting role. He had gotten off to a rough start, just under a 6.00 ERA over 34.2 innings of work but that is all the way down to just 3.49 after his first start of June.

The 24-year-old has kept his elite four-seam fastball at around 97 MPH. It’s by far his best pitch, but he’s also introduced a cutter this season that has given him another really successful pitch to lean on as a starter.

Crochet, Kyle Bradish and Corbin Burnes could build out one of the best rotations in baseball for years to come.