Baltimore Orioles Bullpen Shaping Up Nicely Prior to Opening Day

The Baltimore Orioles have made a handful of moves and have seen a lot of change during the offseason. They invested $150 million dollars into Pete Alonso, and have significantly shaken up their farm system and roster after trading for Taylor Ward and Shane Baz. 

Everyone understood that Baltimore would prioritize improving their pitching rotation and batting order over the bullpen, but they have made improvements in that front nonetheless. After trading for reliever Andrew Kittredge (again) and signing former reliever of the year Ryan Helsley, Baltimore's bullpen has some solid stability. However, the front office is once again relying on pitchers inside the organization to take this bullpen to the top, and I think they could.

Baltimore traded away a majority of their bullpen arms at the 2025 MLB trade deadline, such as Seranthony Dominguez, Gregory Soto, Bryan Baker and Andrew Kittredge. However, this allowed for other players to find opportunities in which they could essentially "try out" for the following year. 

Baltimore saw players such as Dietrich Enns, Rico Garcia and Grant Wolfram all finish strong to end the season, and now those three players have a good chance at making Baltimore's opening day roster in 2026. 

Wolfram and Enns are two extremely viable left handed options for this bullpen, as Enns posted a 3.16 ERA with a 0.6 WAR in 17 appearances for Baltimore last season, and Wolfram with a 0.00 ERA with seven strikeouts in four innings in spring training. 

By pairing Enns and Wolfram with another strong left handed reliever in Keegan Akin, Baltimore should have a select few of southpaw arms that they are comfortable with coming out of their bullpen for 2026. 

Additionally, Baltimore has a handful of prospects that have shown flashes of greatness coming out the bullpen in spring training this season. Anthony Nunez, Trey Gibson, Nestor German and Tyson Neighbors are all possible options for Baltimore later in the season, but it would not be surprising if one of them started on the opening day roster. 

Neighbors and Nunez would be my picks to appear in Baltimore's bullpen this season, as they both have elite velocity and deep arsenals that could strike out a lot of batters. 

Not to mention that Baltimore has a few starters that are being turned relievers in Cade Povich and Tyler Wells, who could really elevate this unit. 

Lastly, bullpen staple Yennier Cano is due for a bounce back season, and it would not be surprising if he reverted back to his 2023 form as his refined pitch mix looks sharp in spring training. 

Overall, Baltimore's bullpen could be much better than others anticipated, but in order for that to happen, other players will have to step up.