Orioles will be busy rebuilding their bullpen

Orioles reliever Yennier Cano will bring an unheralded streak into the 2026 season, as long as he’s with the club.

We can’t make assumptions after Cano labored through most of 2025 and still has minor league options.

Cano has led the club in appearances for three consecutive seasons, topping the pitching staff with 72 in 2023 while also compiling a 2.11 ERA and making the American League’s All-Star team, 70 in 2024 and 65 in 2025 to edge out Keegan Akin (64).

The next five were traded or injured: Gregory Soto (45), Seranthony Domínguez (43), Bryan Baker (42), Félix Bautista (35) and Andrew Kittredge (31). Dean Kremer tied Kittredge.

Eddie Watt (1967-70) and Stu Miller (1963-66) are tied for the club record with four straight seasons with the most appearances, per STATS. Cano, Jim Johnson (2011-13), Jesse Orosco (1995-97), Tippy Martinez (1981-83) and George Zuverink (1956-58) are next with three.

Who’s the last Orioles pitcher besides Cano to lead the team in appearances ? Answer below.

Cano was optioned on June 22 after posting a 4.73 ERA in 26 2/3 innings and a 7.41 ERA since the beginning of May. He was recalled on July 2 while the Orioles placed Akin on the 15-day injured list, and he finished with a 5.12 ERA and 1.483 WHIP over 58 innings.

Improved results with Cano’s changeup offered hope in the second half, but he allowed five earned runs and six total with 12 hits in 9 1/3 innings in September. Opponents hit .343 against him. Using Cano in high leverage was a high risk, but one that interim manager Tony Mansolino couldn’t avoid.

The Orioles must rebuild their bullpen after losing Kittredge, Domínguez, Baker and Soto to trades and Bautista to shoulder surgery that likely keeps him out for the entire 2026 season. Cano isn’t the lock that he used to be and he can’t live off 2023, but his removal would create another hole in a unit that’s already sprung a lot of leaks.

Akin finally ran out of options but not chances. He’s become established and emerged as the primary closer after Bautista’s injury and the trade deadline. The Orioles would like to use him more regularly in his previous roles and sign or trade for an established closer.

Asked about Bautista at the season-ending press conference, Mike Elias said, "Yeah, it's been a huge blow since he went down at the end of 2023. That was one of the elite players in the game. The way he was pitching, about as good as it gets as a closer in 2023, and we've missed him ever since. To have him come back and look pretty good after the surgery, and then have this happen, it's been rough. He's got another long road ahead of him. Hopeful that he can be back toward the end of 2026, but there's a lot of time and work that'll have to go into it between now and then. But he's done it before."

Ten Orioles made their major league debuts this season and right-hander Kade Strowd was among them. He had 25 appearances and impressed with his 1.71 ERA and .178 opponents’ average.

“Kade Strowd’s been really interesting,” Mansolino said. “All I ever heard about with Kade was that he couldn’t throw a strike, so that’s not what we’re seeing here. And I think he’s probably gotten over that hump here in the last, probably, 18 months, is my understanding. He’s been really good, he’s really interesting. Just the calm demeanor that he has.

“He’s 28 years old, so he’s not a spring chicken, by any means. There’s some maturity there. It wasn’t a 23-year-old kid that is bright-eyed and just assumes he’s gonna be in the big leagues for the next 15 years, like a lot of guys do when they first get here. He’s had a tough road to get to this point and he’s had to kind of fight and scratch and claw for everything, so he stands out a lot.”

Mansolino also spoke as if left-hander Dietrich Enns passed his audition. The Orioles acquired Enns from the Tigers at the deadline for cash considerations, and the 34-year-old rookie posted a 3.14 ERA in 17 games. He struck out 34 in 28 2/3 innings while entering games early and late.

Right-handers hit .226/.291/.304 against Enns this season, but left-handers were 24-for-68 (.353) with four home runs.

“I think Dietrich Enns is an interesting guy here in ‘25 and going forward,” Mansolino said. “The front office went and grabbed him at the trade deadline. It kind of was an under-the-radar move. And as we’re losing all our guys, and understandably so with how this goes and how this business goes, it didn’t feel good, and then you get something back in Dietrich and you go, ‘OK, that helps a little bit.’ And seeing him throw the ball so far, it’s been pretty good.

“He’s really interesting. And he does give you length. And there’s some neutrality to it, too, with that changeup. So he’s an interesting piece right now.”

A possible complication is the $3 million option on Enns’ contract, which flew under the same radar as Enns. The Detroit Free Press first reported it.

The Orioles declined the $4 million option on Danny Coulombe. Is $3 million viewed as too expensive for Enns?

Rico Garcia pitched for three teams in 2025 and became a late-inning weapon for the Orioles with a 2.84 ERA in 20 appearances. The 21 hits in 19 innings contributed to a 1.421 WHIP, but he also struck out 20 and twice escaped bases-loaded, no-out jams. He also wiggled out of a bases-loaded, one-out mess.

Opponents were 0-for-10 against Garcia with the bases loaded. He joined Ken Holtzman in 1976, George Sherrill in 2008 and Chris Tillman in 2014 as Orioles pitchers who escaped bases-loaded, no-out jams twice in the same season.

Garcia, who’s out of options, incorporated a gyro slider in his mix, tweaked his curveball and adjusted his glove’s positioning. All of it worked.

“Maybe a guy that we’re getting at the right time,” Mansolino said.

Albert Suárez sustained a rotator cuff injury in his first outing of the season in Toronto and didn’t return until Sept. 2. He made four appearances and was shelved with right elbow discomfort.

A healthy Suárez would be huge for the Orioles in 2026, but he’s got an MRI scheduled Tuesday with Dr. Keith Meister.

Tyler Wells is going to enter spring training in starter mode, per Elias, but he’s always a candidate to switch roles again. Chayce McDermott was converted to reliever in Triple-A, but he allowed 15 runs and walked 12 in 8 2/3 innings with the Orioles and was shut down with back discomfort.

The Orioles used 41 pitchers this season, including position players forced into emergency relief duty, one short of tying the American League record shared by the 2021 Orioles and 2019 Mariners. Their bullpen in the final game included Colin Selby, Yarmil Hiraldo, Grant Wolfram, Carson Ragsdale and José Castillo. The relief ERA of 4.57 ranked 25^th in the majors.

Changes are coming and they’re going to be substantial.

Answer: Dillon Tate with 67 in 2022, edging out Baker and Cionel Pérez by one.