Two Orioles starters holding steady in the face of major injury trouble

The Orioles are going through it on the injury front at the moment, and in particular with the pitching staff. However, that isn't stopping the O's two high-profile free agent signings from showing up and doing everything they can to make a difference for this team heading into 2025.

Many Orioles fans seem to have decried the signings of Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano as GM Mike Elias taking the easy way out, and neglecting to find a true solution for the loss of Corbin Burnes this winter. That may eventually hold true, especially in light of Grayson Rodriguez having to start the year on the IL and his general health being up in the air at the moment.

However, both Morton and Sugano have looked sharp in spring training so far and it's been an encouraging sight for Orioles fans who've been reduced to holding their breath about Rodriguez's arm and whether Félix Bautista will start the year on the IL.

Morton and Sugano have appeared in three games apiece now, and they've allowed a combined 0 runs to cross the plate. Morton has thrown 6 clean innings, notching 5 strikeouts to just 1 walk, and has allowed just 4 hits. Sugano has looked good as well, throwing 7 scoreless innings while striking out 7 and walking 2. Sugano threw against the Twins on Sunday and struck out 5 batters in 3 innings without allowing a walk or any hits.

Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano set to lead the Orioles to success in 2025

It's true that these two have pitched well thus far but the fact of the matter is that these two guys are going to be critical parts of the 2025 rotation. If the Orioles want to make a run of it, both Morton and Sugano are going to have to carry a significant load. It's not something that has encouraged much of the fanbase, but Morton in particular has had a ton of success in MLB, and not for nothing but Sugano was one of the better pitchers in Japan during his career there.

We're a couple years removed from Morton being the best version of himself but even at 41 years old, he's been a reliable and effective starter for the past few seasons. He's thrown at least 160 innings in each of the last four seasons and has an above average 26.6% strikeout rate and a 3.87 ERA during that stretch. Knock on wood, but he's made just one trip to the IL over that span. If Morton can stay healthy, there's a chance he can be the number 3 starter the O's need him to be and help lead this team to success in the postseason.

Like Morton, Sugano has been both good and reliable for several years running. He's coming off a season in which he threw 156.2 innings to the tune of a 1.67 ERA. He's been an elite command and control guy, never running extreme strikeout rates but always having one of the lowest walk rates among his Japanese peers. So far, it looks like Sugano will slide right into the Orioles rotation without any hiccups. The Orioles need him to pitch well this year, so we're going to hope that's the case.