Baltimore Orioles: Early Assessment Of The Starting Rotation

After just over a week of spring training games, have any starting rotation candidates separated themselves from the pack for the Baltimore Orioles?

Spring training or not, beating the Boston Red Sox always makes the day just a little bit better. After their win on Saturday afternoon, the Baltimore Orioles are now 4-3-2, the best record among all American League East times. That means nothing but won’t stop me from saying it for as long as I can.

Manager Brandon Hyde recently stated that the first round of camp cuts are coming very soon, as early as Monday. While it seems like spring training just started, we are less than four weeks away from Opening Day. Before March 28th, Baltimore needs to settle on a fifth starting pitcher, possibly (and more likely) two spots.

I’m a big fan of the Nate Karns signing, but I don’t believe he begins the year in the rotation. However, by reading the daily reports out of camp, it appears that the organization really wants him working as a starter. With that being said, I’m going to work under the assumption that just one spot in the rotation is up for grabs.

So, after nine Grapefruit League games, where do each of these starters stand? Over the next few slides, I have broken down the starters into three groups- the locks, the favorites, and the fighters- with early notes and impressions on each pitcher.