The pitchers had a solid season, and it got better in the second half

In one sense it was a bit unexpected that an O’s pitching staff that performed so well in the second half of the 2023 season would perform poorly in the playoffs. But they gave up 21 runs as Texas swept the Orioles in three games. They gave up 18 in the last two games as starters Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer combined to allow 11 runs in 3 1/3 innings.

Texas is a good hitting team, but Orioles pitchers seemed to be hitting their stride the longer the season went on. This time Texas got the better of them.

For the 2023 season, the O’s team ERA was 3.89 to rank fifth-best in the American League. Baltimore was just a few points behind third-place Tampa Bay's 3.86 and a bit further back of first-place Minnesota's 3.74.

In the first half of the season Orioles pitching went 54-35 (.607) with a 4.15 ERA. In the second half the staff went 47-26 (.644) with a 3.58 ERA of 3.58 that was first in the AL and third in the major leagues. The O's played at a 104-win pace after the All-Star game.

The O’s team ERA by month in 2023:

4.18 in March/April

4.25 in May

4.55 in June

3.61 in July

3.59 in August

3.22 in September/October

They were getting better as the season was getting longer. Rounding into nice form. Providing hope for the future. A glimpse of the potential of what they could be.

None of this means the pitching staff is set or could not use improvements. Any staff almost always can. But maybe Orioles pitching is in better shape right now than we currently believe.

It usually starts with the starters. And the Orioles' top starter was Kyle Bradish. Not just Baltimore’s top starter, but one with the fourth-best ERA in the majors. Bradish went 12-7 with a 2.83 ERA and that ranked behind only Blake Snell (2.25), Gerrit Cole (2.63) and Sonny Gray (2.79) among all qualifying hurlers.

Bradish sure looked like a young pitcher developing into a top-of-rotation starter. If he has another year like the one he just had, the evidence will favor that distinction. He ended his 2023 season pitching to a 1.87 ERA over his last 10 starts and 2.34 in the second half. 

Rodriguez, once baseball’s highest-ranked pitching prospect, pitched like it in the second half. In his last 12 regular-season starts from July 22 on, he went 5-2 with a 2.26 ERA. He was even better late in the year, posting a 1.80 ERA over his last six starts. It was surprising to see him pitch so poorly in the AL Division Series, but he did. But to see Rodriguez go from a pitcher with an ERA of 11.14 in May to what we saw late in the year was one of the biggest developments of the 2023 season.

Add to that Kremer's solid year, Kyle Gibson winning 15 games while covering 192 innings and John Means' strong return to the team in September, and the rotation was hitting its stride later in the year. Tyler Wells had a strong first half, Cole Irvin some good moments later in the year and DL Hall is still a rotation possibility. 

The rotation is in good shape heading into the winter, even before any moves are made or additions are completed.

“I’m excited about our rotation going forward," manager Brandon Hyde said two days after the season ended. "I’m not sure what’s going to happen from a roster standpoint, but I know that we have some guys in there that had great experience this year and had really good seasons. And are still really young in their career. Just go back at what Tyler Wells did in the first half. And what he did the last week of the season. Unbelievable. Arguably, our best starting pitcher of the first half, and showed the stuff he had out of the bullpen a couple of years ago.

“Our starting pitching is up and coming. And I think they are only going to get better.”