Orioles glaring bullpen weakness continues to cost them games

The Baltimore Orioles entered last offseason with an interesting bullpen problem to solve. None of their left-handed relievers had good splits against left-handed hitters, and they didn't have anyone they could trust to face lefties in a high-leverage spot. To everyone on the outside of the Orioles organization, this seemed like a clear problem with an obvious solution. They needed to bring in a lefty specialist. The Orioles were rumored to be interested in Cardinals lefty Jojo Romero, and some fans clamored for reunions with former Orioles lefties like Danny Coulombe or Gregory Soto, but in the end, the Orioles did what they often do when faced with a difficult roster decision: nothing.

Rather than fix a problem that everyone with eyes could see, the Orioles convinced themselves that they actually didn't need to get lefties out in high-leverage situations. Or maybe they convinced themselves that Grant Wolfram and his 26 career innings at a 5.40 ERA were good enough to be their lefty specialist. Either way, they were wrong, and every time the Orioles have to go to the bullpen in a spot where you'd typically see a lefty, it shows.

The Orioles have nobody to turn to late in games with a tough lefty at the plate

The Orioles rank 29th in left-handed reliever ERA. Their left-handed relievers strike out fewer batters than any other bullpen in baseball. Opposing teams are slashing a combined .286/.358/.439. It's a really bad position group.

The most frustrating thing about it is how easy it was to see there would be a problem and how easy it would have been to address it. Gregory Soto signed with the Pirates for $7 million, Sean Newcomb signed for $4 million, and Jalen Beeks signed for less than $2 million. That's just to name a few; there were also multiple lefty relievers traded this past offseason, like Jose Ferrer and Mason Montgomery. Any of these pitchers would be the best left-handed reliever in the Orioles bullpen.

The Orioles don't have a single left-handed reliever that another team would want. They could DFA Akin, Wolfram, and Enns today, and nobody would claim any of them. That is just an unacceptable collection of talent at what should be an easy position to fortify without breaking the bank.

At this point in the season, with the Orioles six games under .500 and every day slipping further and further away from a playoff spot, it would feel ridiculous for them to go out and bring in a trade for a top left-handed reliever to try to salvage the 2026 bullpen. So Orioles fans are just going to have to buckle up and deal with having the worst collection of lefty relievers in baseball for the rest of the year and hope that whoever replaces Mike Elias (assuming he ever gets held accountable for the team he built) knows how to build a bullpen.

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