Orioles GM Mike Elias focused on depth this offseason. It’s already being tested.
Injuries to Gunnar Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez this spring are going to make April a particular tough month for the aspirational Orioles.
The Orioles will be missing some of their best players to begin the season. This was true even before they ruled Gunnar Henderson out for (at least) the first week of the year. Other significant injuries with even murkier timelines that we already knew about include Kyle Bradish, Andrew Kittredge, Tyler Wells, and Grayson Rodriguez, among others. Those five alone make up nearly 20% of what would be considered the team’s “full strength” roster.
Facing down a major league schedule and trying to stay competitive in the AL East while missing important players throughout your roster is no easy feat. But this also seems to be the exact scenario for which GM Mike Elias has been guarding against.
When it comes to adding veteran players, Elias has often targeted those that solidify the floor of his current roster rather than raising the roof. It’s a risk-averse approach that puts the onus on the Orioles’ homegrown position players to catapult the club towards its lofty goals.
This has been especially true in the starting pitching department. Look at the names added there in the last eight months: Zach Eflin, Trevor Rogers, Tomoyuki Sugano, Charlie Morton, and Kyle Gibson. It’s a quintet of largely capable yet unremarkable names that have already allowed the team to absorb significant injuries.
