They say you can never have too much pitching. The Orioles were reminded of that simple phrase during an injury-filled 2025 season. Mike Elias knows this. He knew it last year too, and he knew it all the way back in December 2023 when he signed a 34-year-old swingman that hadn\u2019t pitched in the big leagues since 2017.<\/p>\n
Elias never could have anticipated the impact Albert Su\u00e1rez would make the following season, but he clearly saw something he liked during Su\u00e1rez\u2019s time in Japan and Korea. Baltimore inked Su\u00e1rez to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training. The Birds called on the righty for a spot start in mid-April, and the veteran went on to post a 3.70 ERA over 133.2 major-league innings.<\/p>\n
The Birds kept Su\u00e1rez around in 2025, but injuries prevented any real opportunity for a sequel. He made the Opening Day roster but suffered a right subscapularis strain after his first appearance. Big Al returned from the injured list in the middle of September, but the O\u2019s shut him down after he reported elbow discomfort. He posted a 2.31 ERA and 0.943 WHIP over five appearances (one start) last year.<\/p>\n
The Birds non-tendered Su\u00e1rez at the end of 2025, but they brought him back on another minor-league deal. Su\u00e1rez will once again head to Sarasota looking to prove that he still has what it takes to get big league hitters out on a routine basis.<\/p>\n
Su\u00e1rez remains a low-risk, high-reward option for the Orioles, but the stakes have changed. The 36-year-old will continue doing everything he can to earn a roster spot, but the Birds may need him now more than ever. Su\u00e1rez provided incredible value (2.7 bWAR) as a surprise contributor over 145 innings in a Baltimore uniform, but the Birds need him to do it again.<\/p>\n
Baltimore\u2019s bullpen will begin the season as the club\u2019s least proven unit. Ryan Helsley and Andrew Kittredge will anchor the back end, but just about every other reliever will bring some form of uncertainty into 2026. Keegan Akin and Yennier Cano have been inconsistent, while guys like Rico Garcia and Yaramil Hiraldo will begin the year without any real type of track record.<\/p>\n
Dietrich Enns followed the Su\u00e1rez template with a 3.14 ERA over 16 relief appearances and one start last year. The 34-year-old will return as a multi-inning option for the Orioles, but he could face a roster crunch if both Su\u00e1rez and Tyler Wells find their way to the bullpen. Enns is healthy and two years younger, but Su\u00e1rez holds more credibility right now. What was that phrase about never having too much pitching?<\/p>\n
Baltimore dealt from an already thin unit when they traded Kade Strowd and prospects for Blaze Alexander. It remains to be seen whether guys like Cade Povich and Brandon Young will join the bullpen or Norfolk\u2019s rotation. Colin Selby and Grant Wolfram could be good, but the team will have to find out the hard way. Chayce McDermott may finally discover something, and Anthony Nunez figures to get a look at some point.<\/p>\n
Still, I can\u2019t help but come back to what Su\u00e1rez delivered in 2024 and wonder if he has another year in the tank. The six-foot-three righty pitched to contact with a mid-90s fastball. Batters rarely put the ball on the ground (just a 35.5 GB%), but they only barreled the ball 7.1 percent of the time. Sure, there could have been some luck involved, but Su\u00e1rez appeared to have what it takes to keep hitters off balance.<\/p>\n
Injuries forced Su\u00e1rez into the rotation for a majority of 2024. The Orioles appear to have more depth in that department right now, but it\u2019s a comfort knowing that a healthy Su\u00e1rez could give the team five or six strong innings at some point during the season. A set relief role could provide Su\u00e1rez a better chance to stay healthy, but his workload will be worth monitoring as spring training progresses.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s never wise to put all your eggs in the basket of a 36-year-old coming off an injury. You can call him a dark horse, an x-factor, or anything in between\u2014either way, Su\u00e1rez has a chance to provide real value to an unproven bullpen, and the Orioles would greatly benefit from one-more year of the veteran exceeding expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They say you can never have too much pitching. The Orioles were reminded of that simple phrase during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2374],"tags":[143,47,3357,2538,5,4,125],"class_list":["post-566345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baltimore-orioles","tag-baltimore","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-baltimore-orioles-analysis","tag-baltimoreorioles","tag-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-orioles"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116052626465077405","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}