The Baltimore Orioles are fighting for their postseason lives right now, but man, their rotation is not making it easy. Time is absolutely running out in the regular season, and the honest truth is that right-hander Chris Bassitt just hasn’t delivered the strong outings they desperately need. This guy, who’s 37 years old now, is rocking a 4.88 ERA across 18 appearances, with 16 starts, after signing a hefty one-year, $18.5 million deal last offseason. It’s a tough pill to swallow when you’re scrapping for every win.
What Happened to the Toronto Ace?
Remember Bassitt’s three seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays? He was as solid as they came, a real workhorse. But here we are in 2026, and it looks like age might’ve finally caught up to him. Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller didn’t pull any punches, saying, “Between Craig Kimbrel ($13M) in 2024, Charlie Morton ($15M) last year and now Chris Bassitt, the Orioles will probably think twice this offseason before signing another late-in-his-career pitcher to an eight-figure deal.” When you shell out that kind of cash, you expect more than just a glimmer of what used to be. Bassitt’s given Baltimore’s pitching staff a meager 0.4 bWAR, and he’s letting up a career-high 10.8 hits per nine innings. That’s just not getting it done.
“Batting-Practice Pitches” Are Costing Them
Miller, while giving Bassitt credit for his durability and production in Toronto, went on to point out the brutal reality: “But both his cutter and his four-seamer have devolved into batting-practice pitches. His strikeout rate has plummeted to 15.7 percent after five consecutive years north of 22.” Ouch. When your go-to pitches become easy pickings, it’s a huge problem. It’s not Bassitt’s fault the Orioles shelled out big bucks expecting him to defy Father Time, but the results are clear: his stuff just isn’t getting hitters out like it used to. What does this mean for the Orioles? They need a plan. Fast.
This offseason, the Orioles are probably going to shift their focus hard toward bringing in some notably younger arms. It’s a wake-up call after seeing what happens when you bet big on aging vets. Meanwhile, on a separate note for us up here, don’t expect the Mariners to pick up that $9 million option on Victor Robles this offseason. It’s just another piece of the offseason puzzle starting to form around the league. The clock’s ticking for Baltimore, and they better start thinking about how to build a rotation that can actually take them deep in the future.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by The Sporting News.
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