SARASOTA, Fla. — Just two years ago, Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott were jostling for the title of the Orioles’ best pitching prospect. The same season, Brandon Young was named their minor league pitcher of the year. That trio was the next wave of pitching talent expected to help supplement the staff the club had assembled in Baltimore.
Though they’ve each since shown flashes in their limited major league careers, all three pitchers entered spring training this season without clear paths to playing time. McDermott has already shifted to a full-time reliever role while Povich and Young need multiple injuries in front of them to crack the Orioles’ opening day rotation. The team’s aggressive offseason relegated them into positions where they would have to force their way back to the majors.
“You can see why they were top pitching prospects,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “The talent jumps out at you and now, yeah, just like any starting pitcher’s maturation process, as they go through the minor leagues and now it’s the cusp of minor leagues and big leagues, it is that next step … but I think all three of those guys are going to make a huge impact on our team, either opening day or at some point.”
Povich, 25, and Young, 27, have each pitched multiple innings in their first outings to open Grapefruit League play, suggesting that the Orioles are building them both up as staters. The club’s Triple-A Norfolk rotation is expected to include prospects Trey Gibson, Nestor German and Levi Wells, with the last two spots dependent on what the Orioles decide to do with Povich, Young and Albert Suárez.
The Orioles do have several bullpen spots up for grabs, but they’ll also need capable pitchers in Triple-A stretched out as starters in case injuries force them to dip into their minor league depth. With six or so starters ahead of them in the rotation and a crowded bullpen picture, Povich and Young will need to impress the Orioles’ front office and coaching staff enough over the next few weeks to convince them that they warrant consideration for spots on the roster regardless of role.
“I think competition is always good,” Povich said. “When you’re deep and there’s a lot of guys running for a starting role or a bullpen role, that just tells you got a lot of good guys on the staff and a good team overall. So, my goal is just to try and go out there and cheer the guys on, learn from them. A lot of them have a lot of experience and just try and give my best effort to find a spot where I can fit in.”
McDermott, 27, has a head start over the other two in the bullpen competition after making the switch to a reliever last summer. The right-hander posted a 1.25 ERA over his final 13 relief appearances for Triple-A Norfolk in 2025 and he has been among the early standouts in camp this spring, recording five strikeouts in two scoreless innings.
“I think the added velo, obviously with every pitch, kind of helps it a little bit,” McDermott said. “But just realizing you got to face a guy, most likely, out of the pen one time, so you don’t have to try to, ‘Oh, I’m in this situation. I need to save this pitch for later.’ I can throw everything and then kind of go with it from there. I don’t have to try to game plan as hard for the sixth inning in the first inning, I can just go out and throw my best stuff.”
But while McDermott only made two starts at the MLB level, both Povich and Young enjoyed extended stretches in the Orioles’ rotation. Povich struck out over a batter per inning last season and pitched into the sixth inning in 11 of his 20 starts. Young carried a bid for a perfect game into the eighth against the Houston Astros on Aug. 15. In the end, however, they both finished the season with ERAs north of 5.00.
It’s why the Orioles, unable to develop dependable starting pitching options, bobbed into the barrel of starting pitchers often over the past few offseasons. This winter alone, they traded for Shane Baz, re-signed Zach Eflin and inked Chris Bassitt to a one-year deal, adding three arms to a rotation group that already included Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers and Dean Kremer.
Once viewed as potential building blocks for the future, Povich, Young and McDermott must once again prove they deserve the chance to make a run at sticking in the major leagues. This time they’ll have to do it without the hype of high prospect status.
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