BALTIMORE -- When the calendar turns to September on Monday, the Orioles’ pitching plans will change for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino said prior to Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to Boston at Camden Yards that Baltimore plans to utilize a six-man rotation for the last month of the campaign. The group will expand to include right-hander Tyler Wells, who made his sixth (and final) rehab start on Wednesday night for Triple-A Norfolk and allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings at Gwinnett.
The O’s rotation already added a new-but-familiar face on Tuesday, when right-hander Kyle Bradish returned from 2024 Tommy John surgery and struck out 10 during a six-inning quality start against the Red Sox.
So, the six starters used by the Orioles (60-72 entering Wednesday) from here on out will be Bradish, Wells, fellow right-handers Dean Kremer and Tomoyuki Sugano and lefties Trevor Rogers and Cade Povich -- assuming everybody stays healthy, which could change plans. Baltimore knows that well, considering 28 players have spent time on the injured list in 2025.
“Nobody will pitch on regular rest the rest of the year,” Mansolino said.
There are a few reasons to explain the decision by the O’s, who are unlikely to reach the postseason and are focused more on development and looking ahead to 2026.
Bradish and Wells are coming off major surgeries
It wouldn’t make sense for Baltimore to push either of these righties too hard, especially with little at stake over the next month-plus. The club is planning on both Bradish and Wells being key members of the pitching staff next season.
Bradish was brilliant in his return, which marked his first MLB outing since June 14, 2024. Even more encouraging was how the 28-year-old was feeling on Wednesday, when he and Mansolino caught up in the manager’s office during the afternoon.
“Great spirits. He’s back,” Mansolino said. “That’s the cool thing, is that feeling of the rehab’s officially over. There’s no more rehab. He’s now a Major League starter again. He started a big league game, pitched his butt off last night, was pretty electric in the stuff that he had. And he woke up today, he felt great, and he falls right back into the routine that is who he is.”
Wells should start a game during next week’s series in San Diego, which would be his first big league appearance since April 12, 2024, as he underwent UCL repair surgery last June. The 31-year-old proved he could be a solid big league starter in ‘23, when he recorded a 3.64 ERA over 25 games (20 starts).
It’s been a long year for Kremer and Sugano
While many Orioles players have dealt with injuries, Kremer and Sugano have been stalwarts in the rotation. Because of that, both have already pitched quite a bit this season.
Kremer has a 4.19 ERA in 26 games (25 starts) and has logged 152 1/3 innings -- already only 20 1/3 shy of his career high set in 2023. It’s a sizable jump from ‘24, when the 29-year-old pitched 129 2/3 frames.
Sugano owns a 4.06 ERA over 137 1/3 innings through 25 starts in his MLB rookie campaign. The 35-year-old hasn’t logged more than 156 2/3 frames in a season since 2018, so he’s already close to his workload from the past six years in Japan.
Now, each of these righties can take a bit of a breather to finish the year.
“It’s good. It gives Dean an extra day. It gives Tomo an extra day,” Mansolino said.
What about Brandon Young?
Young’s rookie season is over, as the 27-year-old right-hander was transferred to the 60-day IL on Wednesday. He sustained a left hamstring strain on Aug. 21, though he expects to be healed in time to have a normal offseason.
Because Wells wasn’t ready yet, Baltimore filled Young’s rotation spot on Wednesday with a bullpen game that featured left-hander Dietrich Enns allowing one run in 2 2/3 innings as an opener and righty Roansy Contreras -- whose contract was selected from Triple-A for his first MLB appearance of the year -- tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings in bulk relief.
For Young, it was an up-and-down debut campaign. He tossed an immaculate inning vs. the Mets on July 8, worked a quality start against the Blue Jays on July 29 and came within four outs of a perfect game while tossing eight scoreless innings vs. the Astros on Aug. 15.
However, Young finished with a 6.24 ERA in 57 2/3 innings over 12 big league starts.
“It’s tough. I’m looking more at the bad than the good, but I’ve just got to look at it from a levelheaded standpoint,” Young said. “There was good, there was bad, but first year, learned some things. Just looking forward to being on a mound again.”