The Orioles were spoiled last season with veteran ace Corbin Burnes leading their rotation.

Now Burnes is off to Arizona, where he signed a six-year, $200 million deal. Although the Orioles have the quantity of pitchers they need to start the season after making a pair of offseason signings with veteran Charlie Morton (one year, $15 million) and Tomoyuki Sugano (one year, $13 million) from Japan, the quality of the rotation remains to be seen.

The Orioles also return Zach Eflin, whom they acquired at the midseason trade deadline, and Grayson Rodriguez, who has yet to make it through a full major league season. Behind them, Dean Kremer, Morton and Sugano should fill out the rotation, with Cade Povich, Chayce McDermott, Albert Suárez, Trevor Rogers and Brandon Young also available.

Here’s a look at where things stack up heading into spring training.

Top of the rotation

Rodriguez has the stuff to be a No. 1 starter — a fastball that averages 96 mph and can hit 99, a deceiving changeup that has developed into his second-best pitch, plus a slider and curveball — but he has not put it together for a full season.

After injuries in 2022 delayed his debut, he finally hit the major league stage in 2023, only to be optioned after 10 starts. He returned that year vastly improved and entered 2024 ready to build on that momentum, only to be sidelined by injuries twice. He was shut down in September with right lat/teres discomfort, forcing him to miss the playoffs but setting him up to have a full offseason.

This year should be a big test for Rodriguez. Will he take that step forward and fully develop into the starter the Orioles have always expected him to be? Or will it be up to Eflin, coming off one of the best seasons of his career, to lead the rotation?

Eflin was everything the Orioles hoped he would be when they traded for him in July, pitching to a 2.60 ERA in nine starts, plus allowing just one run in four innings in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series. This will be his first — and potentially last — full season with the Orioles, because he will be a free agent when it’s over.

Next in line

Morton and Sugano both come with a little bit of a gamble, but the Orioles wouldn’t have spent money on them if they didn’t think they would pan out.

Morton, at 41, is entering his 18th major league season. But, much like Kyle Gibson in 2023 and Jordan Lyles in 2022, he is a workhorse who can eat innings. Morton pitched 165 1/3 last year, more than any other current Orioles starter.

Sugano, 35, is gearing up for his first major league season after 12 years with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball’s Central League. He boosts an impressive résumé — he was the MVP for the third time last season after posting a 1.67 ERA in 156 2/3 innings and had a high strikeout-to-walk ratio while allowing six home runs — but it’s unknown how he’ll do transitioning to a new league on the other side of the world.

Kremer should round out the five. He missed six weeks with a right triceps strain but returned in July and pitched to a 2.98 ERA in his last eight starts. He added a splitter during that stretch that he used 18.5% of the time, adding it to his arsenal that already included three other fastball variations.

Other options

If 2024 taught the Orioles anything, it’s that they can never have enough starters. These five — if they are the chosen ones to start the season — will almost surely need reinforcements at some point, and that’s where the Orioles’ depth comes in handy.

Suárez, a non-roster invitee to spring training last year, played a key part for the Orioles, pitching to a 3.70 ERA in 32 appearances, 24 of which were starts. He will likely find his way onto the roster, but it might be in a reliever-spot starter combo role.

McDermott and Povich, who both debuted last year, and Young, the Orioles’ minor league pitcher of the year, represent the next generation of starters, but they will have to fight to earn a spot on the team to start the season. Povich is the closest — he made 16 starts in 2024 and improved as the season went on, allowing just eight runs in his final 27 2/3 innings. He was in consideration to start Game 3 of the playoff series had the Orioles advanced that far.

Rogers, whom the Orioles acquired in exchange for Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers last year, is also in the hunt. He made only four starts before he was optioned last season, but a series of adjustments have the team hopeful the trade will pan out.