SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles’ rotation landscape has become so deep that there won’t be room for one of the staff’s recent workhorses to begin the 2026 season.
In a surprising, unexpected move, Baltimore optioned right-hander Dean Kremer to Minor League camp on Saturday afternoon, meaning the 30-year-old will not be on the club’s Opening Day roster. Kremer has been a staple of the O’s rotation for much of the past six seasons, recording a 4.26 ERA over 671 2/3 innings in 126 games (123 starts) over that span.
Kremer is coming off a 2025 season in which he led the Orioles in wins (11) and innings (171 2/3). He had a 5.00 ERA in nine innings over three Grapefruit League starts and made one appearance for Israel in the World Baseball Classic, tossing 4 1/3 scoreless frames vs. Nicaragua on March 8.
With Kremer set to head to Triple-A Norfolk, here’s how Baltimore’s rotation will look, as manager Craig Albernaz announced on Sunday:
1. LHP Trevor Rogers
2. RHP Kyle Bradish
3. RHP Shane Baz
4. RHP Chris Bassitt
5. RHP Zach Eflin
President of baseball operations Mike Elias said the front office had “extensive discussions” about whether to use a six-man rotation or piggyback starters. However, the staff felt it landed on the best decision.
“Looking at the schedule and the amount of off-days that we have in April, that didn’t look beneficial. It looked like it might be detrimental,” Elias said. “We talked about setting up some type of piggyback or moving someone to the bullpen, and that didn’t make sense for us, either, with what we were trying to do for the first couple turns through the rotation and the schedule and the bullpen.
“It’s important to us that we keep our starters lengthened out, up and running and prepared to start, because we’ve got a very long season ahead of us and I’m positive that we’re going to need more than five.”
Baltimore has three off-days from March 26-April 9, so it will have played only 12 games through the first 15 days of the season entering April 10. That means there would have been long layoffs for starters in between outings.
There had been uncertainty whether Eflin would be built up in time for the start of the season, as he got into games later than the rest of the starters after undergoing back surgery last August. But the 31-year-old right-hander quelled any concerns on Friday night, when he struck out seven and gave up only one hit in 5 1/3 scoreless innings vs. a stacked Yankees lineup.
“Coming into the spring, we were a little guarded that he may not be A), sharp enough, but B), be able to get himself prepared for Opening Day and the season, and he clearly did,” Elias said. “He was really determined to do so and, both in terms of optics and results, did about as well as you could have imagined.”
The acquisitions of Baz (who came over in a trade with the Rays on Dec. 19) and Bassitt (who signed a one-year, $18.5 million deal) bolstered the O’s rotation. It led to Kremer, left-hander Cade Povich and righty Brandon Young -- a trio that combined to make 61 starts for the club last season -- all getting optioned this spring.
Bradish, Baz and Kremer were the only remaining O’s rotation candidates with at least one Minor League option, but those first two are expected to lead the top half of the staff alongside Rogers. That resulted in Kremer getting optioned for the first time since Sept. 12, 2021.
“We had an honest conversation with Dean about it and, in character with him, he was completely professional about it,” Elias said. “He’ll be ready when his name is called.”
“Dean handled it like a pro,” Albernaz added. “That’s all you can ever ask for.”
Kremer has often gotten off to slow starts in previous seasons. Here’s his ERA by month during his six-year MLB career:
March/April: 6.24 ERA (109 2/3 IP)
May: 3.62 ERA (104 1/3 IP)
June: 4.16 ERA (101 2/3 IP)
July: 4.57 ERA (106 1/3 IP)
Aug.: 3.84 ERA (122 IP)
Sept./Oct.: 3.31 ERA (127 2/3 IP)
It was even more pronounced last year, when Kremer had a 7.04 ERA across six March/April starts and a 3.57 ERA over his final 25 outings.
Perhaps this move will allow Kremer to work through his typical early season issues in the Minors before eventually returning to the Orioles’ staff. The earliest he can be recalled is April 9, unless he’s part of a corresponding move for a pitcher going on the injured list.
As for the potential utilization of a six-man rotation further down the line, Elias did not rule it out.
“We’re very much discussing points in the calendar where if the right personnel is healthy and throwing well, we’ll be looking to do that,” Elias said. “So we’re open to it.”