SARASOTA, Fla. — Before the 2023 season, Orioles general manager Mike Elias signed Kyle Gibson to lead Baltimore’s rotation.

Gibson, a respected veteran, started opening day, took the ball 33 times and pitched 192 innings that season. But his contributions mentoring the other pitchers in the rotation were perhaps even greater.

The Orioles’ four other main starters that year were all finding their way in the big leagues. Grayson Rodriguez was 23. Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells were 26, 27 and 28, respectively. Aside from Gibson, 35 at the time, it was one of the youngest rotations in baseball, and the group helped lead the Orioles to a magical 101-win season.

What a difference two years can make.

When Gibson completes his buildup and joins the Orioles, he will help form the oldest rotation in Major League Baseball. Is that a good thing?

The downside risk to having old starting pitchers is obvious. Theoretically, they’re on the downslopes of their careers. Sometimes, older pitchers fall off the cliff, as Orioles fans witnessed with Craig Kimbrel last year. The aches and pains of a 162-game season can only feel harder to those with graying hair and wrinkles on their face. And a veteran could hold back a younger pitcher from assuming a bigger role and taking the next step in his career.

But Gibson, obviously, sees the benefits. He’s familiar with the Orioles’ roster. He knows they sport one of the best, young, dynamic offenses in baseball. Gibson believes “consistency” from the pitching staff — something a veteran crew might be more able to provide — is critical for any team looking to win its division or make a deep playoff run.

“Starting pitching and pitching in general can do a lot to add some consistency to the team,” Gibson said Saturday, his first day back as an Oriole after signing a one-year, $5.25 million contract. “I think if you talk to anybody in this rotation, we want to be a rotation that’s healthy and is going out there in five, six innings and taking outs away from the bullpen and making sure they’re not covering a lot. But also giving these position players a couple zeros at the beginning of the game to work with, try to limit big innings so they’re not trying to feel like they have to fight back and put up a big number to get back into the game. All the things that lead to winning baseball.

“When you have position players like this that score runs and play really good defense, if we can just add some consistency to that and these guys know what they’re going to get, it’s a big deal.”

Gibson, 37, won’t even be the oldest member of the Orioles’ rotation. Charlie Morton, 41, has earned that distinction as the second-oldest player in MLB behind only Justin Verlander. Tomoyuki Sugano, 35, might be a rookie, but he’s a 12-year veteran as one of the most decorated pitchers in the history of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Zach Eflin, compared with his peers, is young. The nine-year veteran turns 31 in April. Kremer is the youngest on the staff at 29.

That puts the average age of the Orioles’ rotation (including Gibson) at 34.88 years old. The Toronto Blue Jays are the only team close to the Orioles, clocking in at 34.14 years old. Most teams have average rotation ages of 30 years or younger.

Meanwhile, the Orioles’ core of position players is still young, especially in comparison with the pitching staff. As Gibson spoke in the clubhouse Saturday morning, Heston Kjerstad and Jackson Holliday went back and forth in their seemingly daily game of ping pong. Either Kjerstad was on a roll or Holliday was holding back, because the ball never came flying toward Gibson’s locker during the eight-minute interview.

“Hopefully I can still fit in with these guys. I know I’m two years older now, so hopefully they don’t hold that against me,” Gibson said with a laugh.

Sixteen of the 30 MLB teams don’t have a single pitcher projected to be in their opening rotation who is older than the average pitcher in Baltimore’s starting staff (34.88 years old). Even adding the other seven Orioles starting pitchers who’ve pitched at least one game in MLB (Grayson Rodriguez, Albert Suárez, Cade Povich, Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, Trevor Rogers and Chayce McDermott), the average age is 31.1 years old, which would still be one of the oldest in baseball.

Manager Brandon Hyde said that he expects his rotation’s experience of being part of winning cultures and pitching in big games to help the club this season.

“I’m looking for them to be leaders on our club, to be a part of a really good culture we have in our clubhouse,” Hyde said. “Gibby was a huge part of that two years ago. Charlie Morton’s been excellent so far this year. And we know what Zach brought for us second half last year, and Tomo’s had a really good camp getting to know everybody. There’s definitely a lot of experience in our rotation right now. I hope it pays off.”

It’s no coincidence that three of the four oldest rotations in baseball reside in the American League East. Consistently one of the best divisions in MLB, the AL East is expected to be even more competitive this season. All five teams are entering the season with a realistic chance to win the division, and projection systems at different points this spring have forecast them all to finish above .500.

In addition to Baltimore and Toronto, the New York Yankees’ beleaguered rotation will begin the season with an average age of 32.2 years old. The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays have two of the younger rotations in baseball with an average age of approximately 27 years old.

Eflin doesn’t exactly know if he’s considered a veteran — especially when he’s surrounded by Morton and Gibson, who combined have pitched 29 MLB seasons — but he knows the benefit of having many different experiences in the game, from his time in Philadelphia to Tampa Bay to Baltimore.

“You’ve pitched in any situation, any scenario,” Eflin said. “A lot of the young guys look up to Charlie and Gibby, just the fact that they’ve done it so long and have had so much success.”

Eflin was Gibson’s teammate in 2021 and 2022 with the Phillies, and he said Gibson is “one of the best people on planet Earth.” While Morton has barely crossed paths with Gibson, he spoke glowingly about what he’s witnessed about his new teammate from afar. “He created a great career for himself,” Morton said.

As the Orioles played mediocre baseball for the final three months of last season, it at times felt like Gibson’s calming demeanor was missing. Nothing could fix the injuries that plagued the roster, and Gibson didn’t have the powers to prevent the regression that was always tumbling toward the offense.

But at times, it felt like the club was lost for answers, and perhaps Gibson’s presence was missed.

“Everybody loves Gibby,” Hyde said. “He’s such an unbelievable teammate, cheers for the guys, he’s incredible with bringing guys along — dinners, getting guys together off the field. All that stuff that builds chemistry and camaraderie, Gibby understands all that.”

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