AL East bullpens will be a lot more difficult for Orioles to face in 2025

The Orioles bullpen was a bit of a mess in 2024. The pitching staff as a whole struggled last year, in large part due to the abnormal number of injuries the group sustained. But the bullpen in particular had its warts. Craig Kimbrel was superb in the first half but he completely collapsed in the second half, leaving the group led by trade acquisition Seranthony Dominguez in a difficult spot.

Obviously Kimbrel won't be back in 2025. Though his early 2024 performance will be missed, Orioles fans are hoping that the return of Felix Bautista will right the ship and get Baltimore back on track next summer. And while there's still time for the Orioles to address a couple other holes on the pitching staff prior to the start of 2025, the other teams in the AL East have made a number of upgrades of their own, which will make it more difficult for the O's to find success on the hitting side.

The most notable move occurred last week, when the Yankees acquired star closer Devin Williams from Milwaukee in exchange for Nestor Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin. Williams immediately makes the Yankees bullpen tougher, as he's set to replace the volatile Clay Holmes as New York's ninth inning guy.

Williams worked through a back injury last year but when he was healthy, he was extremely effective. In 21.2 innings, the righty pitched to a 1.25 ERA with an astounding 43.2% strikeout rate. He's posted an ERA above 2.00 just once in the last 5 years and has been exceptional in the closer's role in Milwaukee since the departure of Josh Hader back in 2022.

The Orioles aren't the only AL East team looking for bullpen upgrades for 2025

In addition to the Yankees' deal, the Rays completed a trade with the Athletics over the weekend that sent starter Jeffrey Springs to Sacramento. The Rays got back a truly interesting arm in Joe Boyle, in addition to a comp pick, and two other lesser prospects. Boyle can throw it with the best of them, regularly touching 98-99 with the four-seamer and getting a ton of whiffs with the offspeed stuff.

Boyle's problem has been the walks. He seemingly doesn't know where the ball is going at times, but consider that the A's have been using him as a starter. The Rays will inevitably move him to the bullpen and have him work in a multi-inning role, and if they find a way to unlock his potential he could be an absolute demon back there. The righty regularly ran strikeout rates north of 40% in the lower minors, and he has an above-average 25% strikeout rate in the majors. If you trust the Rays' pitching lab to work with this guy, he could be Tampa's closer sooner than later.

And like Baltimore, Boston has its own unique bullpen upgrade coming in the form of Liam Hendriks. The righty missed the entirety of 2024 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery but is expected to be ready to go for Opening Day in 2025. Hendriks was last seen dominating in the back of the White Sox bullpen in 2021-2022. During that time, he posted a 2.66 ERA with 75 saves in the two years combined.

The Red Sox already have an intriguing bullpen headlined by righty Justin Slaten, and they brought in former All Star Aroldis Chapman earlier this month to terrify lefties. That's bad news for the Orioles, whose lefty-heavy lineup could struggle against the still-effective Chapman.

While Toronto hasn't done much of note to this point, there are a number of reasons to be concerned about the bullpens in the AL East, at least from the Orioles' point of view. Another right handed power bat would go a long way toward combating some of the potential forthcoming struggles against what should be one of baseball's toughest divisions.