This Orioles starter is playing his way out of a spot in Baltimore's struggling rotation

After talking a big game about being in on all the top pitching free agents, the Baltimore Orioles settled on 37-year-old veteran Chris Bassitt as their big pitching free agent acquisition. Unfortunately for the Orioles, it looks like once again they have signed a veteran a year too late and are now stuck with yet another expensive and ineffective pitcher taking up a spot on their roster and getting lit up every five days.

Given how much money they owe Bassitt this year, the Orioles don't have much of a choice about keeping him on the roster, but they do have a choice about whether he keeps his spot in the rotation.

Bassitt isn't running away from these questions. He's given multiple very honest quotes about how he's been a liability, how he's frustrated, and how he's working to fix it. The accountability is great, but at a certain point, it doesn't make up for the fact that things aren't getting better. Which is why it is time for Bassitt to move to the bullpen.

The Orioles can't afford to lose anymore games letting Chris Bassitt figure it out

After just five starts, this may seem a little hasty, but the Orioles are not developing Chris Bassitt. They didn't sign him to make starts in the playoffs; they signed him to help their rotation make it through the regular season. If he's hurting the team more than he's helping as a starter, why should the Orioles keep rolling him out there as a starter?

So far in 2026, he's put up a career-worst year in every pitching stat you can think of. Out of the 147 starters who have pitched at least 10 innings, Bassitt ranks 146th in K% and 146th in K-BB%. He's allowing more than two batters to reach base per inning. He's walking more batters than he's striking out.

Worst of all, his starts have been short. Most of his starts have left the bullpen in a bad place for the next game. So he's not just blowing his starts; he's also making it hard to win the next start. It's put a ton of pressure on Trevor Rogers to pitch deep into games and pick up the slack.

If the Orioles didn't have anyone else who could take the ball every fifth day and pitch better than Bassitt, it would be understandable to give him more leash to figure it out, but it appears that the Orioles have a couple of options in the minors that have been dealing down their and in their limited opportunities in the big leagues have looked a lot sharper than Bassitt this year.

Cade Povich, in particular, looked excellent in his two big league appearances. He's struggled over his first two seasons, but even if he were to pitch like that 2025 version of himself, that would be an upgrade from what Bassitt is giving the Orioles right now. If he has made a leap, then moving him to the rotation would be a big-time upgrade.

The biggest concern with Povich is his inability to pitch deep into games, but with Bassitt in the bullpen, the Orioles could have them piggyback, where Povich faces the order twice and then Bassitt takes over and tries to get you through the rest of the game.

Bassitt proved last year in the playoffs that his stuff could play up in the bullpen and that he could be effective in that role. He could be a real asset, giving the Orioles real length out of the bullpen, and he could still provide the veteran leadership that the Orioles were hoping to get when they signed him.

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