The Baltimore Orioles pitching staff has garnered a lot of attention leading into the regular season.
How they handled the staff during the winter has led to a lot of criticisms with their approach being questioned by analysts and fans alike.
Their ace from 2024, Corbin Burnes, hit free agency and the team didn’t seem to be overly aggressive in retaining him. As a result, he departed, signing a six-year, $210 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks after one season with the Orioles.
There were other front end pitchers available in free agency, such as Max Fried and Blake Snell, but Baltimore wasn’t in on them either.
Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet was traded and connected to the Orioles but their American League East rivals, the Boston Red Sox, landed him for a massive prospect haul. The team watched the Philadelphia Phillies add Jesus Luzardo as their No. 5 starter as well.
Instead of looking to make a one-for-one swap with Burnes leaving the team, they decided to add depth to their starting rotation mix.
One of the players they landed was international star Tomoyuki Sugano, who has dominated in Nippon Professional Baseball.
His addition is one that Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) thought highly of, naming it Baltimore’s best move of the offseason.
“He’s not overpowering, but knows how to pitch by adding, subtracting and hitting his spots…He doesn’t miss bats, but also doesn’t walk anybody. The contract was a shrewd short-term risk by the Orioles,” the former MLB executive wrote.
Signed to a one-year, $13 million deal, Sugano could be one of the bigger steals of the offseason. The going rate for veterans with MLB experience was $15 million and none of them put together a 2024 as good as he did.
With the Yomiuri Giants he went 15-3 with a 1.67 ERA across 156.2 innings. He did only strike out 111 batters but issued only 16 free passes for an elite 6.94 SO/BB ratio, the second highest mark of his career.
A control specialist, he should be a great addition to the Orioles staff as one of the complements at the back end of the rotation; a potential No. 4 starter coming off a 15-win campaign with that miniscule of an ERA is certainly a rarity.
His wealth of knowledge will be nice for younger players such as Grayson Rodriguez and prospects Chayce McDermott and Cade Povich to learn from.