The severity of injuries to Orioles starter Zach Eflin and closer Félix Bautista is confirmed. They won’t pitch again in 2025.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino announced today that Eflin will undergo surgery on his lower back next week and rehab at home. Bautista has another medical appointment later this week but he’s shut down with a “significant injury” to his right shoulder.
Eflin is having a lumbar microdiscectomy, intended to relieve pressure on a spinal nerve caused by a herniated disc. He’s gone on the injured list twice with lower back pain and was sidelined earlier this season with a mild lat strain.
Any chance to trade Eflin at the deadline vanished with his latest injury, though it didn't involve his arm. He’s made 14 starts this season and posted a 5.93 ERA and 1.416 WHIP in 71 1/3 innings. A pending free agent, Eflin could be finished with the Orioles after 23 starts and a 4.48 ERA and 1.287 WHIP.
Eflin started Game 2 of the 2024 Wild Card series against the Royals and was removed after allowing one run in four innings.
The Orioles could make Eflin a qualifying offer and collect the extra draft pick if he signs with another team. It isn’t known at the moment whether the surgery influences that decision and if Eflin might be more inclined to accept it.
Bautista missed the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He appeared in 35 games this season, his velocity not fully back, and posted a 2.60 ERA and 1.125 WHIP with 23 walks and 50 strikeouts over 34 2/3 innings. He didn’t pitch after July 20 due to shoulder inflammation.
The Orioles will have an update on Bautista in another week or two. They don't know whether his 2026 season is in jeopardy. Mansolino didn't want to speculate.
“It’s hard to have all the information until he goes through all the proper appointments and channels and whatnot,” Mansolino said.
Mansolino added that Bautista wasn’t pitching through any shoulder discomfort. This is a new injury.
“There were no indications prior to the injury,” Mansolino said.
Eflin was the Opening Day starter, Grayson Rodriguez was supposed to be No. 2 going into spring training, and Bautista was trying to get back to his All-Star form of 2023. But little has gone according to plan for the Orioles.
That’s especially true with Rodriguez, who hasn’t pitched since July 31, 2024 due to lat, elbow and triceps discomfort. He underwent surgery yesterday in Dallas to remove a bone spur in his right elbow, will rehab in Sarasota and is expected to be ready for spring training.
“This has felt like this for a while this year,” Mansolino said. “I think as you go through the trade deadline and kind of what happened here earlier in the year with the staff changes and the things that went on, I don’t think today’s a day of finality, by any means. It’s just something that we’ve kind of had to take on throughout the year and put our best foot forward, and I feel like we have in a lot of ways.”
Albert Suárez begins his injury rehab assignment tonight at Double-A Chesapeake. Mansolino said Suárez will be used in a bulk relief role when he’s reinstated, which requires a shorter stay in the minors.
Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells, meanwhile are being built up as starters.
“As we get closer, we’ll make some decisions on how we’re going to handle all that,” Mansolino said.
Bradish makes his next rehab start Thursday with Triple-A Norfolk in Jacksonville and Wells starts Friday. Bradish has two more starts and Wells is scheduled for two or three.
The Orioles will consider going with a six-man rotation later this summer. Bradish definitely will be in it, but Wells is less certain.
“What we do with Wellsy, now you’ve got two guys in the rotation coming off Tommy John. That can be unstable,” Mansolino said.
“They both go three innings or four innings first couple outings, depending on if they get hit around or not. What can that do to the bullpen? It can make it really tough. So we’ve got to figure out how we want to do this. We’ve got some bulk guys we’re kind of building up. You’ve got Dietrich Enns, who can throw bulk. Suárez could throw bulk if he comes back. He could help that thing out.
“We’re just trying to figure out how to make this thing work. Obviously, Sept. 1 you get another pitcher, so that helps, too. But it’s hard to break in two guys at the same time coming off surgery in the rotation.”