Eflin (back surgery), Bautista (shoulder) will miss rest of O's season

BALTIMORE -- Two more pitchers won’t take the mound again for the Orioles in 2025.

Prior to the O's 1-0 loss to the Mariners at Camden Yards on Tuesday, interim manager Tony Mansolino announced right-handers Zach Eflin (back) and Félix Bautista (right shoulder) are done for the year. Eflin is scheduled to undergo a lumbar microdiscectomy next week, while Bautista’s inflammation is “significant” enough to prevent a return before the end of the season.

The news came one day after right-hander Grayson Rodriguez underwent season-ending debridement surgery on his right elbow.

Eflin had three stints on the injured list this season, the two most recent (June 30-July 23; July 29-present) coming due to low back discomfort. The 31-year-old made only 14 starts, recording a 5.93 ERA over 71 1/3 innings.

The Orioles were expecting Eflin to serve as a top-of-the-rotation starter this year, as he did during the second half of 2024, after he was dealt from the Rays to the O’s ahead of the Trade Deadline. Eflin had a 2.60 ERA over nine starts for Baltimore last year.

Instead, Eflin couldn’t stay healthy and mostly struggled when he was. Because of his expiring contract, the righty could have been a prime trade chip last month, but he went on the IL the morning of the July 31 Trade Deadline (a move that was retroactive to July 29).

Now, Eflin has an uncertain future, as the 10-year MLB veteran will hit free agency during the upcoming offseason.

Bautista, who underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2023 and missed all of the ‘24 season, had a 2.60 ERA and 19 saves over 35 appearances during his return campaign. The 30-year-old has a follow-up appointment scheduled for later this week, and more information regarding his shoulder injury is expected to come next week.

Until then, Bautista’s timeline is uncertain, as it is not known whether this injury could impact his readiness for the start of Spring Training.

In Bautista’s absence, the Orioles have been utilizing a closer-by-committee approach, though the recent opportunities have mostly lined up for left-hander Keegan Akin. The 30-year-old southpaw has pitched in the ninth inning in each of his past five appearances, going 2-for-3 in save chances.

Injuries have plagued Baltimore during its disappointing season (53-65 entering Tuesday). The O’s have had 27 players spend time on the IL and have never been at full strength. Rodriguez -- who is heading to Sarasota, Fla. to rehab and is expected to be ready for Spring Training -- never pitched this year.

“It’s just something that we’ve kind of had to take on throughout the year and put our best foot forward,” Mansolino said, “and I feel like we have in a lot of ways.”

As the Orioles close out their season with an eye toward 2026, there are some positive injury developments on the horizon.

Right-handers Kyle Bradish (Tommy John surgery) and Tyler Wells (UCL repair surgery) are both nearing returns and could make their season debuts later this month. Bradish has made four rehab starts and Wells has completed three, with each scheduled for at least two more before getting activated.

Righty Albert Suárez (right subscapularis strain) began a rehab assignment at Double-A Chesapeake on Tuesday and is expected to return in a multi-inning relief role.

It’s possible Baltimore could use a six-man rotation down the stretch, especially once active rosters expand from 26 players to 28 on Sept. 1. Bradish and Wells could be eased slowly into action as each logs some big league innings before the offseason.

The O’s starting staff will likely continue to include left-hander Trevor Rogers (who has been the club’s best pitcher for several months), righties Dean Kremer and Tomoyuki Sugano and lefty Cade Povich. Right-hander Brandon Young could get bumped out when Bradish and Wells return.

“That’s all on the table right now. We had that discussion the other day,” Mansolino said of a potential six-man rotation. “We’ll kind of see where everything lines up. But yeah, we’ve discussed all that. And honestly, we have no idea what we’re going to do yet. We’ve almost got to get there first.

“You start thinking too far ahead, especially off kind of a record-setting number of players we’ve used this year -- which is probably a result of injuries -- it’d be kind of naive to look too far ahead.”