After trading away nine players in the past three weeks, this remade Orioles roster will start the “what’s next?” portion of their season against one of the NL’s best.
It’s fitting that right after the Great Fire Sale of 2025, the Orioles begin their next chapter in a city known for a Great Fire. Gone are Bryan Baker, Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez, Andrew Kittredge, Charlie Morton, Ramón Laureano, Ramón Urías, Ryan O’Hearn and Cedric Mullins. Gone are any delusions of a miracle second-half run to a wild-card spot, even if the last six games pre-fire sale were some of the Orioles’ baseball in the last 12 months.
The Orioles still have plenty to play for over the season’s final two months: the continued development of their young core, the return of injured stars, the arrival of exciting prospects and an opportunity to get a head start on evaluating their roster for the 2026 season. Still, the absence of the traded players—especially fan favorites like Mullins and O’Hearn—will echo throughout the rest of the season as a reminder of the ways this Orioles team fell drastically short of expectations.
The Cubs and their fans enter this series with similar somber undertones, though for very different reasons. Friday night will mark the first game played at Wrigley since the passing of MLB Hall of Famer and long-time Cub Ryne Sandberg. All Cubs will wear a throwback #23 jersey on Saturday to honor the greatest second baseman in Cubs history.
On the field, the Cubs have had a much different season than the Orioles. Chicago is currently the NL’s top Wild Card team and sits just one game back of the Brewers for the senior circuit’s top record. They, too, made a flurry of deals at the deadline, including bringing in Andrew Kittredge from the O’s. Joining Kittredge as new Cubs are super utility man Willi Castro from Minnesota, lefty reliever Taylor Rogers from Cincinnati and righty starter Mike Soroka.
Even when Baltimore was at full strength, the Cubs have been a hard team to beat for these Orioles. The O’s and Northsiders have squared off each of the last three seasons, and Baltimore is 4-6 in those 10 meetings. The last Orioles win against the Cubs came in their series finale in 2023, when Dean Kremer, Anthony Santander and Urías propelled them to a 6-3 win in Wrigley.
Game 1: Friday, August 1st, 2:20pm ET, MASN2/MASN+
Probable pitchers: LHP Trevor Rogers (4-1, 1.49 ERA, 40 K) vs. RHP Cade Horton (4-3, 3.67 ERA, 50 K)
Baltimore hasn’t had many reasons to be enthusiastic about this season, but the development we’ve seen from Trevor Rogers is at the top of the list. Rogers’ 1.49 ERA through eight starts this season is the third-best ERA by an Orioles pitcher in their first eight outings of a season. He’s coming off throwing seven shutout innings against the Rockies, and has five quality starts in his last six appearances.
Despite spending the first 4+ years of his career in the National League, Rogers has never pitched in Wrigley nor faced the Cubs. Rogers has historically found more success on the road, with a career 3.83 ERA compared to 4.35 at home. The Cubs should present perhaps Rogers’ greatest challenge yet, as they come into the matchup 10th in average and 5th in slugging against LHPs.
Rookie Cade Horton will oppose Rogers and the right-hander comes into Friday’s game on a hot streak of his own. The 23-year-old has combined for 12 shutout innings across his last two starts, and put up a 1.52 ERA over 23.2 innings in July.
Game 2: Saturday, Augsut 2nd, 2:20pm ET, MASN2/MASN+
Probable pitchers: RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (8-5, 4.38 ERA, 71 K) vs. RHP Ben Brown (5-7, 6.22 ERA, 99 K)
Sugano was one of the players potentially on the trade block, and yet the deadline has come and gone and Sugano is still an Oriole. After struggling for much of June and July, Sugano finally put together a strong outing in his last start against the Rockies. The 35-year-old rookie dominated baseball’s worst team, throwing six innings, allowing four hits, one run and tying a season high with eight Ks.
One thing working in Sugano’s favor against baseball’s best offense is his record against NL opponents. In five games against teams from the senior circuit, Sugano is holding opponents to a .226 average and putting up a 3.56 ERA.
Sugano will be opposed by the Cubs’ towering right-hander, Ben Brown. The 6’6” second-year pitcher features a hard fastball that tends to get hit even harder. Sitting around 96mph with his four-seamer, Brown is in the bottom one percent for average exit velocity and the bottom eight percent for hard-hit rate. In his last start in Wrigley, Brown allowed seven runs and seven hits (including two homers) in a 12-4 loss to the Royals.
Game 3: Sunday, August 3rd, 2:20pm ET, MASN2/MASN+
Probable pitchers: TBD vs. LHP Matthew Boyd (11-4, 2.47 ERA, 110 K)
With Charlie Morton being traded and Zach Eflin landing on the IL with more back discomfort, the fifth spot in the Orioles’ rotation is up in the air. Brandon Young rejoined the active roster when Eflin landed on the IL and last pitched on 7/29/25, meaning he’d be on full rest for Sunday.
Young got his first extended cameo in the big leagues in July, making five starts and pitching to a 6.38 ERA. He did have some distinct highs in that stretch, including a quality start last time out vs. the Blue Jays and a near quality start vs. the Mets when he tossed the fourth Immaculate Inning in Orioles history. Young relies heavily on his fastball command for success and when his command is not on point, we see him do things like allowing four home runs to the Marlins or walking three batters in 4.1 innings against the Guardians.
Cade Povich also last pitched on 7/29, tossing 4.2 innings and allowing five runs in a rehab assignment with Norfolk. The 25-year-old southpaw pitched to a 4.61 ERA and 3.02 ERA over his last three starts before injury, and has yet to show the ability to string together consistently strong outings at the big league level.
Given the Cubs’ strengths against left-handed pitching, it may be wise to opt for Young over Povich, but interim manager Tony Mansolino likely won’t make that choice until sometime Sunday.
Whoever the Orioles roll out, they’ll be squaring off against Cubs’ first-time All-Star Matthew Boyd. The 11-year veteran has been hit hard by Oriole teams of the past, posting .296 average against and 6.20 ERA in five appearances against the O’s. However, this is a completely different Boyd, who’s retooled his fastball and arm slot to produce the best results of his career with the Cubbies.