Bryan Baker was under no illusions regarding his situation this winter. The right-handed reliever knew he was out of minor league options in 2025, and he knew that to make the Orioles’ opening day roster — and to stick in the bullpen — he would need to perform at a higher level than last season.

At the Cressey Sports Performance facility in Florida, he shared that frank assessment with Nathan Mirochnick, his trainer.

“It was very much a do-or-die situation, if you will,” Baker said. “Obviously, my life is not in danger if I don’t make the team, but in my career mindset.”

Added Mirochnick, a 27-year-old former college pitcher-turned-coach: “We needed to be ready to peak in spring training, to perform our best if we’re going to make this squad. He was motivated. He was like, ‘What do we need to do to get there?’”

The ensuing winter workouts put Baker on a path toward discovering the best form of his career. It was a multifaceted plan based around his fastball and changeup — the two pitches often work in tandem. And by ramping his velocity higher earlier in the offseason, Baker entered spring training with a chance to maintain a place in the bullpen despite not having roster flexibility of previous seasons.

Three months into the season, the 30-year-old is surpassing any expectations set for him before the season began. Even Baker is somewhat surprised by the results, which feature a 2.79 ERA and two saves.

“I think if you’d have told me that in November, that you’re going to have a couple saves by June, I would’ve been like, ‘Ha, yeah, no chance,’” Baker said. “I mean, it’s obviously, anything can happen. It’s a crazy sport, injuries and all, stuff like that. But I definitely take it as a source of pride. I look back now and it’s pretty cool to be able to get to this spot after where I was at.”

Where Baker was: A career at the crossroads.

Last season, Baker regressed in Triple-A and the majors. He posted a 5.17 ERA with Norfolk and a 5.01 ERA in Baltimore, and his fastball — so frequently his best weapon — didn’t perform as well as it had in 2022 and 2023. Batters were slugging at a career-high .571 against Baker’s four-seamer.

It had more to do with his changeup, however.

The in-zone percentage for Baker’s changeup last year was just 29.4%. On top of that, the pitch averaged 82.8 mph, which turned into too large of a gap from Baker’s fastball. Hitters could more easily identify when the changeup was coming, and oftentimes they could ignore it altogether.

“Before, as a hitter, I feel like you could eliminate that pitch at certain times because you could take your chances on it not being a strike,” Baker said. “Even if you see it out of the hand, just tell yourself not to swing and it might not be a strike, and you get a ball and then you sit on my fastball.”

Even with a fastball that can touch triple digits at times, the predictability in Baker’s arsenal reduced the effectiveness of that velocity.

“The goal was, if we can take a little pressure off the heater, we know it’s going to perform a lot better,” Mirochnick said.

So as Mirochnick and Baker plotted out their winter workouts, it was with both his fastball and changeup in mind. First, they began using weighted balls, beginning with six ounces, in early December. In the training exercise, Baker would walk down the mound and fire the six-ounce ball. Then he’d take a four-ounce ball and do the same. Finally, with a regularly weighted five-ounce ball, Baker concluded the throwing sets.

The aim was to increase Baker’s arm speed, and by walking down the mound as he threw instead of using a traditional windup, he naturally found a rhythm to sync his arm speed with his lower half’s movement. He also increased the amount of long toss he played. Between those two workouts, Baker’s fastball sat at 95 mph during offseason bullpen sessions.

“He was like, ‘That’s the first time that’s ever happened,’” Mirochnick said of the early-season velocity.

Baker’s velocity tends to increase as the season goes on, which isn’t uncommon. But with a roster spot in mind during spring training, he and Mirochnick wanted to speed that process.

“We knew he had to throw hard early to get him ready to compete for that spot right away,” Mirochnick said, “to not have those early season moments when you’re trying to figure stuff out.”

In Baker’s mind, the next step on top of improved fastball velocity was finding a way to improve his in-zone changeup rate. He didn’t set out to make the offering any “nastier,” he said. He stumbled upon that outcome almost by accident.

Late in the winter, with spring training just around the bend, Baker absentmindedly adjusted his changeup grip during a flat-ground catch session with Mirochnick. Suddenly, it leaped out of his hand in a livelier manner. “Holy cow,” Mirochnick said, and the results during his bullpen session the next day reinforced the benefit of the new grip.

Baker slid his right ring finger to the side of the ball, outside of the seam. It opened up a whole new pitch profile.

“All of a sudden, he was able to kill a good five more inches of vert on it, add a little bit of horizontal,” Mirochnick said. “And then it became a lot easier for him to maintain that hand speed with that pitch and we saw the velo tick up as well, so that was super exciting.”

The improved changeup and fastball are working together to prod Baker to a career year thus far. His changeup is averaging two miles per hour faster than it did last year, and his whiff rate on the pitch is 17 percentage points better. What’s more, he’s placing the changeup in the strike zone 58.9% of the time.

Batters must respect that pitch now, which only makes his fastball better.

“It’s an electric fastball, and if we can let them see it one or two less times and have to prepare for the 84-mph changeup, then it’s only going to play up even more,” Mirochnick said.

The changes have elevated Baker’s place in the bullpen to high-leverage roles, particularly as right-hander Félix Bautista works back from elbow surgery. Baker has filled in as the closer on occasion. He’s handling big moments earlier in games, too.

When Baker considered his approach to the offseason, he realized that was also an apt way to describe his approach on the mound — filling up the strike zone, daring a batter to hit his best.

“That’s how I pitch,” Baker said. “I’m super intense and it is do-or-die for me at times.”

Baker has never been one to hide his emotions. He’ll holler and thrash his arms when he records a big out to escape a jam. Considering that Baker didn’t know whether he would have that opportunity at all this season after a downturn in 2024, he’ll keep doing just that for as long as the Orioles let him.

But to even be here now is a credit to his offseason with Mirochnick.

“He loves to win, he’s super competitive, you see the emotion on the mound,” Mirochnick said. “He’s going to give you everything he’s got when you give him the ball.”