Trey

Gibson

The decision to jettison Kremer after a solid showing in spring training and the World Baseball Classic signals that Baltimore will go with Zach Eflin as the final member of a five-man, season-opening rotation. The 30-year-old righty led the Orioles with 171 2/3 innings over 31 appearances (29 starts) last year, which provides some insight into how much the club overhauled their rotation this offseason. He’s unlikely to spend too much time at Triple-A since Baltimore is eventually going to move to a six-man rotation, like most teams in the current era, after a couple weeks to build in extra rest for their starters.

The Orioles’ announcers figured Gibson was one and done after a scoreless seventh, but he came back out for a quick eighth and the Orioles just let him finish from there. Gibson allowed two hits, walked none and struck out three. Arguably the Orioles’ best pitching prospect at this point, he’s likely to open up in Triple-A and spend the bulk of the season there.

The 6'5" right-hander allowed one hit and struck out six while not walking a single batter. It was an impressive performance in what has been a tremendous season for Gibson. The 23-year-old started the year slowly in High-A but was striking out plenty of hitters despite an elevated ERA, so the Orioles promoted him anyway. In 52 1/3 innings at Double-A, he posted a 1.55 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and 68/18 K/BB ratio, which earned him the promotion to Triple-A. Gibson was undrafted out of Liberty in 2023 and is now looking to cement a case to be in the Orioles’ rotation in 2026.