The Orioles open a four-game series against the Yankees on Friday night with little certainty about who will take the mound. As of Thursday night, Baltimore had not announced any starters for a matchup that begins a stretch in which the teams are scheduled to meet seven times in 13 games.
The pressure starts with the numbers. The Yankees have 20 wins, the most in the American League, while their 153 runs scored rank second and their 106 runs allowed are the fewest in the league. Aaron Judge leads the majors with 12 home runs and a 1.002 OPS, and Ben Rice has added 10 homers with an OPS higher than Judge's. New York's starting pitching has been the best in baseball this year, and the Orioles are set to see the Yankees' top four starters in the series.
That gives Baltimore a difficult assignment at a time when its rotation is already stretched. Chris Bassitt and Brandon Young pitched the previous day and are unavailable for the series, while Trevor Rogers and Dean Kremer are on the injured list. The Yankees also called up Elmer Rodríguez to round out their own rotation, a reminder of how deep the first-place club has been able to go even while filling holes. New York's relief group has held opposing hitters to a.710 OPS, and David Bednar leads the league with nine saves despite a 3.55 ERA and 1.658 WHIP.
The Orioles do have one matchup that offers some reason for optimism if they choose Will Warren. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.59 ERA and 37 strikeouts, and he has paired a 28.7 percent strikeout rate with a 5.4 percent walk rate and a 48.8 percent groundout rate while averaging 93.9 mph on his fastball. But Warren also allowed 11 runs in 20 innings against Baltimore last year, when the Orioles hit.272/.333/.506 against him. Gunnar Henderson went 3-for-7 with four walks in limited plate appearances, and Colton Cowser was 3-for-7 against him.
If the Orioles turn elsewhere, Ryan Weathers is another name to watch. The January trade acquisition is 1-2 with a 3.21 ERA and 40 strikeouts, and he has worked just under a 30 percent strikeout rate while allowing five home runs in six starts. At 26, he is pitching in the American League for the first time in his career. Baltimore's choices are thin, but the schedule is worse: seven games against the Yankees in less than two weeks, against the league's best offense and best run prevention staff, is the kind of stretch that exposes every gap in a rotation. The next few days will show whether the Orioles can piece together enough arms to stay afloat while the matchup is still in front of them.
