Orioles rookie suffers lat strain that puts Opening Day status in jeopardy

It was reported over the weekend that Orioles righty Chayce McDermott has suffered what's been termed a mild lat strain that will delay his spring throwing program and put his status for Opening Day into question.

Expectations were, and still are, high for the 26 year old who pitched to a 3.78 ERA with a near 33% strikeout rate in 21 starts at Triple-A last year. While he wasn't likely to make the rotation in Baltimore right out of the gate, most fans are operating under the assumption that McDermott will be one of the first guys to get the call in the event of an injury or performance issue.

McDermott spoke with confidence about his status, telling reporters that he's not concerned about the setback costing him anything over the long term, and that he hopes to be back on track with his throwing program sooner than later.

Orioles righty Chayce McDermott dealing with lat strain early in spring training

That's all well and good, but we'll have to remember that this is the same guy who missed the second half of the 2024 season after suffering a stress reaction in his throwing shoulder. That injury cost him over six weeks, and by the time he was ready to ramp back up on a rehab program, the season was ending. He managed just a single three-inning appearance in late September before heading home for the winter.

Seeing McDermott back in the injury conversation this early in the spring obviously isn't ideal. After getting the news that lefty Trevor Rogers went down in January with a dislocated kneecap, it's easy to start getting pessimistic about the Orioles' pitching depth heading into 2025.

After all, this team suffered through the injury bug in the worst way in 2024. The O's lost three starters to elbow surgery in the early going and struggled to keep pace as their pitching depth was tested in the second half. There's likely not much the Orioles can do to avoid these types of things in the future, but it's still something that needs to be addressed.

If the Orioles are already down two of their depth options three days after pitchers and catchers reported to spring training, things could go south quickly. However, this all does feel a bit too doom and gloom for this point in the spring.

If McDermott is just taking every possible precaution and the Orioles are handling him with kid gloves after his injury in 2024, then it is what it is. With any luck, McDermott will return to full health before spring training lets out and we'll hope that he's ready to take the mound down in Norfolk when the season gets under way.