The Baltimore Orioles’ pitching staff looked defeated and wilted after the first two months of the 2025 season. Nearing the end of May, the team held the second-worst ERA in the majors and held a -2.5 WAR rating. Their bullpen was also floundering, with Gregory Soto and Seranthony Dominguez failing to live up to expectations.
In the month of June, however, the Orioles seem like a new team on the mound. While still near the bottom, the team’s ERA now ranks fifth-worst alongside their WHIP. It’s not a quantum leap or a significant improvement, but it’s a start for a team that went into the season with World Series aspirations.
Orioles Pitching Staff Having Strong June After Rough Start
Overall Staff
In their last 15 games at the time of writing, the Orioles hold a 10-5 record with a 3.07 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. It marks a very notable improvement from May, when the team possessed an ugly 5.25 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. It’s an even better number than the 5.47 ERA and 1.58 WHIP the team held in April and the first game in March.
The pitching staff’s home runs ratio through nine innings has finally plunged back to the one-per-nine threshold after being near two for the first months of the season. In addition, the team’s walk rate has dipped to around 2.5 per nine innings, and the strikeout-to-walk ratio jumped to nearly five. Every single performance metric is suggesting a major improvement across the board.
When looking at the actual hitting statistics against the staff, the opposing OPS is under .700 while the OBP sits under .300 for the month. The only real metric that regressed is batting average on balls in play, but it’s really the only blemish for a staff that desperately needed a turnaround month.
Rotation
No pitcher in the league needed a stellar June more than 41-year-old Charlie Morton. Near the end of May, the veteran right-hander sported a dismal 7.68 ERA along with a 1.756 WHIP. His walk rate ballooned to five per nine innings while his strikeout rate regressed rapidly.
In his last four games since May 17, Morton won three of them. Aside from his June 7 start against the Athletics, he hasn’t surrendered more than two walks in his starts. In fact, he struck out ten Los Angeles Angels in his June 13 start.
A 10-strikeout night for the 41-year old Charlie Morton! pic.twitter.com/Q8EGVBYxgX
— MLB (@MLB) June 14, 2025
He still has some issues with control, hitting two batters during the four-game span and balking once, but did get a pickoff against the Chicago White Sox. His ERA and WHIP remain high, but it’s a very encouraging sign for a pitcher who looked done.
Elsewhere, 35-year-old Tomoyuki Sugano has regressed somewhat during the month. He boasts a 3.94 ERA with a 1.438 WHIP, while also striking out just 11 batters over 16 innings. Cade Povich, one of the team’s pitching prospects, maintains pedestrian numbers of a 4.61 ERA. He has struck out 15 batters and walked only three in 13 2/3 innings of work, but allows runners to score.
Zach Eflin continues to struggle with surrendering hits, giving up 25 in 17 2/3 innings of work. Dean Kremer, despite boasting a 5.19 ERA for the month, has the best WHIP out of any starters on the team at 1.269. There’s work that needs to be done, but it’s a start.
Bullpen
The real progress on the Orioles’ pitching staff has been in the bullpen. They have really stepped up during the month, locking down games in their quest to not only get back to .500, but to sneak into the playoffs.
None of the main bullpen arms sport an ERA above two, with all of them excluding one pitcher holding a double-digit strikeout per nine innings. The two bright spots mentioned in May, Bryan Baker and Keegan Akin, continue to play at a high level.
Félix Bautista, the team’s closer, hasn’t surrendered a run in six appearances. He still has an elevated walk rate, issuing three walks, but has struck out eight and surrendered only one hit in six innings. Gregory Soto, the team’s setup man, struck out 11 over seven innings of work. He did surrender one home run, but has only walked one batter during that span.
Yennier Cano, the team’s second setup man, has been even better than Soto, only surrendering four hits and one walk in five innings of work. The big winner of the month is Seranthony Dominguez, who sported an ERA over four at the end of May. In the six innings pitched in June, he’s only allowed four baserunners and struck out 10.
Seranthony Dominguez demon splitter
: MASN pic.twitter.com/LMcd8aMM23
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) June 15, 2025
Even Andrew Kittredge, the 35-year-old veteran who missed the start of the season due to injury, has the lowest strikeout rate of the bullpen and the highest ERA. However, over the season, he’s pitched well by keeping his ERA under two and WHIP under 1.33.
The Last Word
Of course, any of these pitching metrics can change as the season progresses, but the moment is on the Orioles’ side. It’s a matter of two things: Keeping the bullpen healthy and continuing to make upgrades to their starting rotation. If they somehow pull to near .500 ball by the trade deadline, we might have to look at the Orioles as a potential buyer for a starter.
Main Photo Credit: © Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
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