Orioles rotation depth nearing a crisis as Chris Bassitt heads to the IL

The Baltimore Orioles are losing yet another starting pitcher to the injured list. Just hours before the Orioles are set to take on the Seattle Mariners in the first game of a four-game series, they announced that Chris Bassitt, whose spot was due up in the rotation, has been moved to the 15-day IL with lower back discomfort.

When Bassitt left his last start against the Boston Red Sox in obvious discomfort after just three innings, this felt like the most likely outcome, but the Orioles decided to give Bassitt as long a runway to feel better about his back before putting him on the IL.

The Orioles have sent an entire rotation's worth of starter to the IL this season

Bassitt is the fifth Orioles starter to be placed in the IL this season and joins Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer, and Cade Povich to make four starters currently on the IL. If you were to put a decent ace at the front of that rotation, that wouldn't be the worst rotation in baseball.

For as much criticism as the Orioles absorbed for their lack of top-tier pitcher additions this offseason, it appears they were wise to add as many depth arms as they did. Even with all the moves they made, their pitching depth is being tested beyond what anyone would have predicted. Brandon Young was supposed to be as far away from a rotation spot as a Triple-A starter could be, and he's now a linchpin in the rotation. Trey Gibson was supposed to make his MLB debut towards the end of the season, and now the Orioles have called him up four times.

As far as losing Bassitt specifically, it is hard to argue that this is a big blow to the Orioles rotation. On a pitching staff full of arms pitching well below what was expected of them, Bassitt has been easily the most consistently mediocre starter of the bunch. He's had his moments, like the six innings of one-run ball he pitched on Mother's Day and his start that went deep into the 7th inning in the first game of a double header against the Astros, but in between those moments, it's been a lot of short and ineffective starts.

How poorly Bassitt has pitched makes the way the Orioles handled this injury a little strange. With Bassitt leaving his start and having to return to Baltimore to see a doctor, it was clear from the jump that this was a significant enough injury that it was going to impact him at the very least in his next start.

Bassitt has not pitched nearly well enough for the Orioles to even consider trying to have him pitch through a back injury that is going to make him even less effective.

If the Orioles had just been decisive and put Bassitt on the IL the same day he had to leave his start, they could have had an extra bullpen arm for the rest of their series against the Red Sox and their following series against the Blue Jays.

This kind of roster management isn't the end of the world, but the Orioles are scrapping for a playoff spot, and any sort of edge gained from having an extra arm in the bullpen would help. Opting out of that potential advantage for the sake of hoping that Bassitt might feel good enough that he can try to pitch through the pain is a weird move. Just put the injured player on the IL and get a healthy player who can help the team on the roster as soon as you can. Why is that so hard?

It's possible that Bassitt's back has been bothering him for a while now and could explain some of his struggles. Hopefully, with a chance to recover, he can come back and be the pitcher the Orioles hoped he would be when they made him their biggest free agency addition to their rotation.

In the meantime, this injury should clear some runway for the Orioles top pitching prospect, Trey Gibson. Gibson has been called up four times now and made starts against the Yankees and Rays earlier this season. With Bassitt set to miss at least his next two starts, Gibson has an opportunity to show that he deserves to stick around in the Orioles rotation.

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