Baltimore Orioles Have Difficult Decision to Make Before Opening Day

Baseball season is rapidly approaching, as fans and players have already gotten a taste from the World Baseball Classic and spring training.

As we are only 17 days away from opening day, many teams are going to have to make a decision as to who they want to take the mound for game one of the regular season.

For the Baltimore Orioles, their decision is a bit tougher, as they have two extremely talented top of the rotation arms in Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish. Does Baltimore decide to back their guy in Bradish, or do they go with the hot hand in Rogers? 

Coming into the 2025 season, Baltimore knew that they would be without Bradish with a majority of the season, as he was rehabbing from his elbow surgery in June of 2024. Not having Bradish for a majority of 2025 would be a massive hit to Baltimore's starting pitching rotation, as when healthy, Bradish is one of the better pitchers in all of baseball. 

In his four year big league career, Bradish has posted a 3.47 ERA, 1.16 WHIP with 379 strikeouts across 357.2 innings of work. Elite stuff.

Bradish's best season came in 2023, where he had a phenomenal 2.83 ERA and a 4.8 WAR with 168 strikeouts in 30 starts (career-high). Bradish was so good that season that he was Baltimore's game one starter in the 2023 ALDS against the Texas Rangers, where in 4.2 innings, he struck out nine batters and only allowed two earned runs. 

There's no doubting that Bradish is elite, but it is okay to doubt his long-term health as he hasn't pitched more than 40 innings since 2023. 

Rogers, on the other hand, is coming off of a historical season where he posted a 1.81 ERA, 0.90 WHIP , with 13 quality starts and 103 strikeouts in 109.2 innings. Rogers was widely considered as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball last season.

Rogers was acquired by Baltimore on July 30, 2024 from the Miami Marlins at the MLB trade deadline for prospects Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers. Rogers would struggle during his first year in Baltimore, posting a disappointing 7.11 ERA in only four starts. 

Coming into the 2025 season, Rogers wasn't expected to be on Baltimore's opening day roster as he was dealing with a right knee injury. However, when Rogers got his chance on May 24, 2025, he took that opportunity and ran away with it. 

Fast forward ten months, and Rogers is arguably the best starter that Baltimore has. 

So the question remains, which player gets the opening day start for Baltimore?

Rogers is coming off of a tremendous season and has showed zero signs of slowing down, whereas Bradish is one of the best pitchers in baseball when healthy, but has concerns about his health. 

Personally, I think Baltimore should go with the hot hand in Rogers, as he has already had a terrific start to spring training and has shown zero signs of regression. I also think it would be wise to give Bradish as much time to rest, as a healthy Bradish could win a Cy Young award. 

Baltimore has two stellar options at the top of their pitching rotation, and they really can't go wrong with either.