The Orioles’ addition of Corbin Burnes as a bona fide ace has helped the talent behind him in the rotation. A three-time All Star, Burnes is 6-2 with a 2.26 ERA. That’s no surprise, but Cole Irvin and Grayson Rodriguez are turning heads as well.
The entire rotation has caught the attention of is Orioles’ all-time saves leader Gregg Olson, who called the team’s recent series against the Red Sox for MASN. Olson is particularly impressed with the improvement he’s seen from Irvin, who boasts a 2.84 ERA this season. His previous season-best mark was 3.98.
“He tinkered with some grips,” Olson said on Glenn Clark Radio on May 30. “He changed his curveball grip, that’s been more effective. He’s able to throw that behind in the count. Changed his changeup grip, that’s been more effective. And then, from what I understand, he’s quit chasing the velocity numbers and really locked in on locating to sides of the plate and making good quality pitches with the velo that he’s got.”
“And if you start doing that, you start getting comfortable and then all of a sudden the velo ticks back up because you’re comfortable and locked in on sides of the plate and not chasing the effort,” he added. “That’s what I’ve seen so far. I mean, what he’s doing right now has been close to unbelievable.”
Meanwhile, Kyle Bradish returned in early May from an injured list stint and has picked up where he left off after a breakout 2023 season, posting a 3.18 ERA through six starts. Rodriguez is still tinkering with his arsenal in his sophomore campaign but has improved his stats across the board and possesses the tools to become even more of a weapon.
“I like [Rodriguez’s] changeup. I like his breaking ball,” Olson said. “He’s gone to more of a tight little slider instead of the sweeper. His sweeper last year had a pretty low batting average against it. So it was a curious deletion of a pitch, but I understand it.”
Eleven of Rodriguez’s 21 earned runs this season have come in two starts. Eliminating the ugly outlier starts is the next step in his development. The right-hander allowed four runs in the first two innings of his start against the Red Sox on May 28, then settled in and gave his team a chance to win.
“He’s a pro. That’s what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to sort it out, figure it out,” Olson said. “Keep adapting that night and keep your team in the game as best you can for as long as you can.”
That development is made much easier without any pressure to carry the rotation. Burnes has taken all of that weight on. He’s been everything the Orioles asked for when they traded for the 29-year-old in February. His 2.26 ERA in his first 13 starts is the lowest for an Orioles pitcher during the same stretch since Jim Palmer in 1978.
Burnes’ signature cutter drew plenty of praise from Olson.
“It’s effective to both lefties and righties. He runs it into lefties and away to righties, very effective. He’s able to backdoor it against lefties,” Olson said. “You couple that with a small percentage of sinkers going the exact opposite direction, then the changeup’s going the exact opposite direction, and the slider is going back toward the cutter and looks vertical.”
Burnes is eighth in the big leagues in innings pitched with 79.2 entering play on June 7.
“It’s old baseball,” he added. “It’s what all the starters used to do, go out and fight and not get bailed out of jams.”
For more from Olson, listen to the full interview here:
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