The Orioles announced a number of roster changes today. The roster now includes infielder Emmanuel Rivera, who was recently claimed off waivers. They also signed right-handed pitcher Matt Bowman and recalled lefty Nick Vespi. To make room for those three, they optioned left-hander Trevor Rogers, right-hander Colin Selby, and infielder Liván Soto to Triple-A Norfolk. Bruce Zimmermann, a lefty, has been designated for assignment to make room for Bowman on the 40-man roster.
Just over three weeks ago, the Orioles acquired Rogers from the Marlins in a pre-deadline transaction that sent Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers to Miami. The Orioles have had a terrific season overall, but maintaining the rotation has proven difficult. Kyle Bradish, John Means, and Tyler Wells all had elbow surgery earlier this year to repair their ulnar collateral ligaments. Prior to the deadline, they added Zach Eflin and Rogers to the roster to strengthen it.
Rogers was in a buy-low situation, having posted a 2.64 earned run average with the Marlins in 2021 but struggling since then. He suffered several ailments in 2022 and concluded the season with a 5.47 ERA. In 2023, he only made four races due to a left biceps strain and a partial rupture in his right lat.
He was healthy enough to pitch in 2024, having made 21 starts for the Fish prior to the trade. His velocity was reduced, but his results were adequate, with a 4.53 ERA in 21 games. According to Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner on X, the lefty stated a few days after the acquisition that he had already gotten more analytical information about his pitch mix and mechanics than he had throughout his whole tenure with the Marlins. Perhaps the Orioles saw those metrics as a method to get Rogers back to his 2021 form, or he simply got healthier as he moved away from his injuries.
Rogers’ first four starts with the Orioles haven’t gone as planned. He has allowed 15 earned runs in 19 innings, resulting in a 7.11 ERA. His 13.3% strikeout percentage and 11.1% walk rate are both significantly below league average and far beyond his past performance.
It appears that the Orioles have determined that a Triple-A reset is necessary. Perhaps that will allow him to work on their suggested changes in a lower-stakes atmosphere. He can still be retained through arbitration for two more seasons following this one, giving them some time to work out a plan. This is not a service time manipulation problem; he completed four years of duty earlier this year.
Still, it’s clearly not ideal for the club to lose one of its big deadline acquisitions in the midst of a postseason race. The Orioles remain in a comfortable position with a 74-54 record, barely half a game behind the Yankees in the East and currently holding the top Wild Card berth. However, the Royals and Twins are only 2.5 games back, and the Red Sox trail the Orioles by six games, so nothing is set in stone with more than a month to play.
The rotation continues to be a concern, as both Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez are now on the injured list, with Eflin suffering from shoulder discomfort and Rodriguez from a lat strain. Rogers has been purposely pulled from the rotation, leaving Corbin Burnes, Dean Kremer, Albert Suárez, Cole Irvin, and Cade Povich to fill his spot. Burnes is fantastic, but there are many questions about the others. Kremer and Irvin are essentially back-end players, with the latter having been waived a few weeks ago but just restored back to the squad. Suárez continues to put up impressive stats, but he is a 34-year-old journeyman making his big league debut for the first time since 2017. Povich has only nine major league starts, and a 5.77 ERA in those.
Ideally, the team will hope to have Rodriguez and Eflin back for the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs, but for the time being, they will have to make do with this lineup. Rogers may be able to work his way back into the lineup with some fast minor league adjustments, but he cannot be recalled for the next 15 days until he replaces someone on the injured list.
Bowman, 33, was signed to a minor league contract one week ago. That agreement had an upward mobility clause today and an opt-out next week. It appears that the Orioles did not want him to leave or simply wanted to add a fresh arm to their bullpen, therefore he was added to their roster today.
When he plays for the Orioles, he will have played for four different teams this season, having previously played for the Twins, Diamondbacks and Mariners. Because he has no other options, he is always being denied opportunities. Whenever he has cleared waivers, he has chosen free agency and signed a new contract with new opt-outs, indicating a strong propensity for flexibility.
While moving about, he pitched 15 major league innings with a 5.40 ERA, 15.2% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate, and 46.8% ground ball rate. However, he has thrown 33 2/3 innings in Triple-A with a 1.87 ERA, 31.3% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate, and grounders on more than half of the balls in play he has allowed.
That minor league performance appears to have sparked widespread attention throughout the league, with Baltimore being his most recent stop. If he can replicate that performance in the majors, he may be a valuable asset to the Baltimore bullpen, which has struggled this season. Their relief corps has a 4.18 ERA, which ranks them in the bottom third of the league. If things work out, he can be retained beyond this season through arbitration, but given how his year has gone, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him bounce around again soon.
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Zimmermann, 29, has spent more than six years with the Orioles organization. He was acquired from Atlanta in the July 2018 deal that sent Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day in the opposite direction. He appeared in 38 games from 2020 to 2023, totaling 158 1/3 innings with a 5.57 ERA, 18.1% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate, and 41.1% ground ball rate.
He has been on voluntary assignment throughout 2024, pitching 69 1/3 innings in the minors with a 4.41 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate, and 8.6% walk rate. With the trade deadline passed, the O’s will have to place Zimmermann on waivers in the coming days.
This is his final option year, thus he will have no alternatives next year. A claiming team may keep him in the minors for the rest of the season, but he’ll need an active roster position come next year. He has less than two years of service, therefore any claiming team might keep him for five seasons after this one. If his outright waivers go unclaimed, he will remain with the Orioles in a non-roster role.
