It’s only early May, but the Orioles are already dealing with the same injury bug that derailed the second half of their 2024 season.

Baltimore leads the American League with 13 players on the injured list. Eight of them are pitchers. While the bullpen has largely been strong, the starting rotation is the AL’s worst with a 5.69 ERA.

Most of the organization’s reinforcements are on the injured list: Zach Eflin, Andrew Kittredge, Grayson Rodriguez, Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells and Albert Suárez. But there’s no telling how long some of those arms will be out, or whether they’ll suffer setbacks during their recoveries.

Who could be next?

Here are seven pitching prospects to watch this season for potential promotions

Triple-A starters

All six minor league pitchers on Baltimore’s 40-man roster have already made it to the major leagues. Thaddeus Ward and Roansy Contreras aren’t on the 40-man, but they both have MLB experience. The following two starters are behind the many injured pitchers on the 40-man roster, as well as Young, who has a 2.82 ERA in four starts with the Tides and a 6.23 ERA in two starts for the Orioles. But, as Elias has said in the past, “If you’re doing well in Triple-A, that’s your timeline right there.”

Kyle Brnovich: The 27-year-old right-hander is Norfolk’s second-best starter behind Young with a 4.39 ERA and 25.4% strikeout rate. The Orioles acquired Brnovich as part of the Dylan Bundy trade in December 2019 — a deal that brought Kyle Bradish to Baltimore. Brnovich, who sports a 93 mph fastball and a plus slider, dominated in 2021 and opened 2022 in Triple-A, but he missed most of that season and the next recovering from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.

Cameron Weston: Since the Orioles selected Weston in the eighth round of the 2022 draft, all the right-hander has done is get outs. In his career, Weston has held hitters to a .211 average and walked only 7.9% of batters. Despite accumulating only 163 1/3 innings before this season, the Orioles had Weston, their No. 12 prospect according to Baseball America, open the year in Triple-A after his excellent 2024 campaign (2.97 ERA in High-A and Double-A). The 24-year-old sports a six-pitch mix and has a 5.96 ERA through six starts.

Triple-A relievers

This group has the highest potential to have a member join the Orioles. While none of these right-handers have made their MLB debuts, they’ve got more experience than most prospects with an average age of 29 years old. To earn the call, the pitchers on this group would have to be so dominant that Elias has to give them a shot.

Yaramil Hiraldo: Entering each season, there’s intrigue about who could be the next Yennier Cano, a reliever who comes out of nowhere to dominate big league hitters. Of course, there might not ever be another Cano, but if there’s a leader in the clubhouse, it’s Hiraldo. The 29-year-old opened the season on the IL but is back in Norfolk after dominating on his rehab assignment. In eight appearances between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A, Hiraldo has put his plus mid-90s mph fastball on display with a 0.63 ERA in 14 1/3 innings while striking out 15 and walking only one. Hiraldo, a former Diamondbacks farmhand, signed with the Orioles this offseason after spending the past three seasons playing in Mexico and the independent Atlantic League.

Rodolfo Martinez: The 31-year-old Martinez was one of the early standouts this spring during live batting practice, flashing his high-90s fastball that can touch 100 mph. But he struggled during Grapefruit League games with his command, and that’s continued in Triple-A. Martinez, the Tides’ closer, has allowed nine runs and 11 walks in 12 innings this season.

Nate Webb: The Orioles signed Webb to a two-year minor league deal following his Tommy John surgery in 2023. He’s back healthy and is performing well in Triple-A with a 2.57 ERA in 14 relief innings. The swing-and-miss stuff hasn’t returned for Webb, who struck out 37.7% of batters in 2021, with nine strikeouts versus eight walks this season.

Double-A long shots

It would be a shock if any player currently in Double-A makes his way to Baltimore this season, but it’s not unheard of in other organizations. The following two pitchers are both building cases, though very different ones.

Keagan Gillies: It was curious that Gillies opened this season back in Double-A. Gillies was a top 30 prospect entering 2024, but he struggled with the Baysox with a 4.94 ERA and 1.415 WHIP as a reliever. The right-hander has been hypothesized as a future big league reliever given his 6-foot-8 frame and unconventional arm slot, but opening his age-27 season in Double-A was not ideal. However, Gillies has dominated to open the 2025 campaign, allowing only four hits, one walk and one run in 12 1/3 innings with 14 strikeouts as Chesapeake’s closer. If Gillies is finally coming into his own and continues this success whenever he is bumped up to Triple-A, perhaps he’s a relief option late in the season.

Braxton Bragg: There’s no way this one happens, right? Bragg was drafted in the eighth round in 2023, spent all of 2024 in Low-A and opened 2025 in High-A. It’s certainly unlikely, but Bragg can no longer be dismissed with the way he’s pitching. Perhaps the Orioles finally have a pitching prospect worth putting on the fast track — and it’s one who isn’t even a top 30 prospect. The 24-year-old right-hander was so good in Aberdeen (16 1/3 scoreless innings) that he earned an early promotion to Chesapeake, and he might already be proving he’s good enough for Triple-A. While his second start wasn’t great, Bragg struck out eight and didn’t allow an earned run in both his first or third starts.

Farm files

Two top 30 Orioles prospects were placed on the injured list this weekend. Chesapeake right-hander Alex Pham landed on the shelf with right forearm inflammation. Pham, the Orioles’ No. 25 prospect, had a 3.42 ERA and a 35% strikeout rate before his injury. Aberdeen right-hander Michael Forret, Baltimore’s No. 7 prospect, was placed on the IL with low back discomfort. Forret pitched to a 1.66 ERA with a 36.7% strikeout rate in his first five starts of the season.

Former Orioles prospect Kyle Stowers was named the National League’s Player of the Week after he hit .421 with four homers and 10 RBIs for the Miami Marlins. Stowers hit a walk-off grand slam Saturday. The Orioles traded Stowers and Connor Norby to the Marlins for starting pitcher Trevor Rogers, who posted a 7.11 ERA in four starts for the Orioles last year and opened this season on the IL.

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200.