Looking at Orioles’ relief options for 2025
In 2023, the Orioles had the game’s best relief pitcher for five months, Félix Bautista, and the bullpen had a 3.55 ERA. In 2024, with Bautista rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, the bullpen had a 4.22 ERA.
The Orioles tried to substitute Craig Kimbrel for Bautista, and for half a season, Kimbrel was fine with a 6-2 record, 2.80 ERA and 23 saves.
In a disastrous second half, Kimbrel was 1-3 with a 10.59 ERA before he was let go in late September.
Though Kimbrel had a $13 million option for 2025, there was never any chance he’d be back at that price, even if he had a strong second half.
The Orioles are expecting the 29-year-old Bautista, who’ll only cost them $2 million in 2025, to be their closer. While a repeat of his wonderful 2023 may not be possible, something near to that would be perfectly acceptable.
Before he was injured on August 25th, Bautista struck out 110 of the 237 batters he faced and allowed just 30 hits in 61 innings. He had a 1.48 ERA and 33 saves.
Not only did Bautista make the 2023 All-Star team, so did his close friend, Yennier Cano, who failed to duplicate his early success of last season this year.
Cano, who allowed just one home run in 42 2/3 innings in the first half of last year on his way to a 1.48 ERA, had a 3.00 ERA in the second half of 2023.
This year, Cano had a 3.15 ERA in 70 appearances and had a 6.43 ERA in nine September appearances.
He remains valuable because he was one of the few Oriole relievers with options remaining.
Assuming Bautista and Cano are late-inning right-handed options for 2025, Keegan Akin and Danny Coulombe should be their left-handed counterparts.
Akin led the bullpen with 78 2/3 innings and struck out more than five times as many batters as he walked (97/19), and had a 3.32 ERA with a 2.38 ERA in September.
Coulombe missed about half the season after surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow and allowed only 15 hits in 29 2/3 innings. His 2.11 ERA was excellent, and he walked only five batters. He allowed none of his 13 inherited runners to score.
Akin should have a relatively inexpensive salary in his second season of arbitration. Bautista and Cano are under club control, Coulombe has a $4 million the club seems certain to exercise.
If those four are back, that leaves four more spots, and the Orioles have many candidates on the 40-man roster to fill those roles.
Left-hander Cionel Pérez has a $2.2 million option. Right-hander Jacob Webb, like Akin, should have a fairly affordable salary in his second year of arbitration.
The two relievers who came from Philadelphia in late July, right-hander Seranthony Domínguez, who has an $8 million option, and left-hander Gregory Soto with a predicted $5.6 million salary in arbitration are considerations.
If the Orioles bring back Domínguez, Pérez, Soto and Webb, that could mean that all eight bullpen spots are spoken for.
With executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias seemingly eager to make changes, having an all-incumbent bullpen seems unlikely.
There are others who pitched in relief for the team still on the 40-man roster.
Matt Bowman wasn’t included on the Wild Card Series roster, and he could be vulnerable. Bowman had two rocky relief appearances near the end of the season before the Orioles used him as an opener in the next-to-last game of the 2024 season.
Before those two bad outings, Bowman had allowed just one run in his first 12 relief appearances for the Orioles, so the team might want to see more of him.
Bryan Baker, who had a 5.01 ERA in 19 games and Burch Smith with a 5.74 ERA in 25 games, also remain on the 40-man. Smith ended the season on the injured list with a right adductor/groin strain, and he’s also eligible for arbitration.
The Orioles seem intrigued by Colin Selby, who was included on the Wild Card roster despite only three brief regular season appearances. Selby allowed one hit in four scoreless innings.
Right-hander Brooks Kriske, who pitched in four games in 2021 for the Orioles, was reacquired in late August, but wasn’t promoted to the majors though he remains on the 40-man.
There are some other intriguing names as bullpen candidates in 2025. If the Orioles have enough starters, Albert Suárez, who pitched in relief eight times could do so regularly next season, and Chayce McDermott, who had one July start and missed time with a scapula injury could be a relief candidate, too.
As with other positions, it’s likely that Elias will look at improvements via the waiver wire and free agent signings.
Note: The Orioles re-signed catcher David Bañuelos to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. He had one at-bat for the team last season and spent time at Triple-A Norfolk and with the Orioles as a taxi squad catcher.
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