The Orioles have added right-handed pitchers Brandon Young and Kade Strowd to the 40-man roster, protecting them from being selected by another team in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

Young, 26, was the Orioles’ minor league pitcher of the year after finishing the season with a 3.57 ERA in 27 games (24 starts) while averaging 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings in Double-A and Triple-A.

After the pandemic shortened the 2020 draft, Young signed with the team as a free agent. A second Tommy John surgery in 2022 set back his career, but 2024 was a bounce-back year. He earned his promotion to Norfolk in May, and by August, as the major league team was riddled by pitching injuries, Young was being mentioned for a possible call-up.

That didn’t come, but he’ll enter spring training with a chance to make his debut next season. The offseason is still young, but so far the Orioles have Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, Albert Suárez and Dean Kremer set to return as their expected rotation. Young joins Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott as minor league depth pieces.

Strowd, 27, was drafted by the Orioles in 2019. He spent last season with Bowie and Norfolk, pitching to a 5.44 ERA as a reliever. His real strength is in his strikeout numbers — Strowd strikes out nearly a third of the batters he faces.

The Orioles’ 40-man roster now has 39 players on it.

Since right-handed pitchers Juan Nuñez, their No. 8 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Alex Pham (No. 25) and Keagan Gillies were not added to the 40-man roster, they were left unprotected and could be selected in the Rule 5 Draft.

Nuñez, part of the Jorge López trade in 2022, was the highest prospect not to be added, but he has battled injuries and has not made it above High-A. The 23-year-old was limited to seven games with Aberdeen in 2024 but impressed with a 2.45 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings pitched.

Pham, 25, held a 4.24 ERA in 27 starts with Double-A Bowie, while Gillies, 26, recorded a 4.94 ERA in 42 games with the Baysox.