Orioles' Pitchers Fantasy Baseball Preview | Grayson Rodriguez, Felix Bautista, Zach Eflin, Tomoyuki Sugano, Cade Povich and More

Let's wrap up our team preview on the Baltimore Orioles by looking at the team's top pitchers. We looked at hitters in another story.

We've covered the Reds (hitters and pitchers), Red Sox (hitters and pitchers), Mets (hitters and pitchers), Twins (hitters and pitchers), Giants (hitters and pitchers), Athletics (hitters and pitchers), Pirates (hitters and pitchers), Mariners (hitters and pitchers), Rockies (hitters and pitchers), Rays (hitters and pitchers), Braves (hitters and pitchers) and White Sox (hitters and pitchers) already.

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Top Fantasy Pitchers

The FantasySP ADP list has a few Baltimore pitchers on it, led by closer Felix Bautista. He's going at pick 87.39 on average.

Starter Grayson Rodriguez is next at pick 125.88. Zach Eflin and Yennier Cano are some late standard league options.

Bautista did not pitch in 2024, but was one of the top relievers in the game in 2022-23.

In 2023 he was especially dominant, going 8-2 with a 1.48 earned run average across 61 innings. He struck out 110 batters and earned 33 saves.

Those are ridiculous numbers, and coming off a major injury, it's hard to imagine Bautista getting back to those numbers. It's also hard to put a fantasy value on him, because it's tough to know what kind of pitcher he will be post-injury.

I think his ADP is respectable, but offers some incredible value. Sure, Bautista could struggle post-injury and be a bit of a bust, but I think there's a much better chance that he far exceeds his ADP and is one of the better fantasy relievers in the game again. 

Getting him as a second fantasy closer is what I prefer, but if you take him first, make sure you have a good backup option or two.

Rodriguez had a solid showing in 2024, but also only made 20 starts.

He went 13-4 in those starts, while posting a 3.86 ERA. Rodriguez struck out 130 batters over 116 2/3 innings.

Rodriguez is another good fantasy value pick in my eyes for 2025. Even if he would replicate his numbers from last season, he'd be worth a pick around his ADP. There's fantasy upside available here, and I think he will be a draft steal by the end of the season.

Eflin is the projected opening day starter for Baltimore.

He made nine starts for the Orioles in 2024, along with 19 starts for the Rays. With Baltimore, Eflin went 5-2 with a 2.60 ERA, along with 47 strikeouts over 55 1/3 innings.

He's got a career 4.17 ERA, so I expect some regression in his ERA in 2025. Eflin is not a big strikeout pitcher, but he's got bounceback potential in that stat.

There's not much risk drafting him late in a standard league, and that's where I think he belongs to start 2025. Depending on how he pitches, he could be a keeper for a majority of the season - otherwise, he's just a deep-league guy with standard league streaming potential.

Cano didn't take advantage of Bautista being out last season, and his ERA actually went up a full point from the 2023 season.

In 70 appearances, Cano had a 3.15 ERA, along with a 4-3 record and five saves. He struck out 65 batters over 60 innings.

He's one the top setup man for Bautista, but I don't see much standard league value with him. In deeper leagues, he makes sense to add - he posts solid totals and could be the closer if Bautista gets injured again.

Other Starting Options

Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer and Tomoyuki Sugano are the projected final three arms in the starting rotation after Eflin and Rodriguez. Kyle Bradish, Chayce McDermott, Trevor Rogers and Tyler Wells are other starting options, but injured to begin the season.

Andrew Kittredge and Keegan Akin are the top projected setup men for Bautista. Seranthony Dominguez, Gregory Soto and Cionel Perez fill out what should be a pretty strong bullpen, while Albert Suarez is the projected long reliever.

Morton is an innings eater. He made 30 starts for the Braves in 2024, going 8-10 with a 4.19 ERA. Morton struck out 167 batters over 165 1/3 innings.

He is a decent deep-league option to start the season, and could get standard league starts if he's pitching well in 2025.

Kremer made 24 starts in 2024. He also went 8-10, but with a 4.10 ERA. Kremer struck out 123 batters over 129 2/3 innings.

Like Morton, he'd open the year as a deep-league asset and standard league streaming option if he indeed cracks the rotation.

Sugano is entering his first MLB season after spending 12 seasons in Japan. He had a career 2.45 ERA and went 136-75 across 281 games and 99 starts. Sugano averages 7.7 strikeouts and 1.7 walks per nine innings.

Sugano is another deep-league asset for the start of the season. Some strong outings could move him into standard leagues though.

Bradish will be a rotation option once he returns, which is expected to be in the second half of the season. He had surgery in the middle of June last summer.

McDermott could be an option earlier in the season, but there's no timetable for his return at this point. Rogers should be ready pretty early in the season too, but his return is also up in the air.

Wells is in the same boat as Bradish, expected midseason, or shortly after.

All four of those injured pitchers could be deep-league options and standard league streaming options when they are given starts. I don't see any of them being keepers in standard leagues though.

As for the team's relievers, not many guys stick out, even Cano. Kittredge was the top performer in points leagues last season, so if I had to choose a non-closer from the bullpen, it'd be him.

Top Prospects

McDermott and Brandon Young are two more of the team's top-30 prospects from the end of last season who could work in this season.

McDermott made just one MLB start last season, covering four innings. McDermott has a career 4.03 ERA across 344 minor league innings. He also has accumulated 496 punchouts, 203 walks and has a .192 average against him in the minors.

Young has a 3.62 ERA across his minor league career. He also has 296 strikeouts, 86 walks and a .241 average against him across 248 2/3 innings.

Cade Povich is another highly-regarded pitcher, but isn't a prospect after getting 79 2/3 MLB innings in 2024. He went 3-9 with a 5.20 ERA, while striking out 69 over 79 2/3 innings. Povich is projected to open the season in Triple-A alongside Young.

Roansy Contreras and Raul Alcantara are two more pitchers age 25 or below who are in camp with the team in 2025.

It feels like the Orioles have plenty of arms to work with this season, but also have lots of question marks. A lot of starting pitchers could get MLB innings this season, and FantasySP will be here to help you determine the best matchups and pickups throughout the season, so keep checking back all season!