Right-hander Brandon Young is scheduled to make his major league debut Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds, the Orioles announced. The 26-year-old joined the taxi squad Friday in anticipation of his first start.

The path here has been arduous for Young. He went unselected in the pandemic-shortened five-round MLB draft of 2020 before signing with the Orioles, and after three starts in 2022, Young required a second Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.

He has been knocking on the door, though, especially as injuries pile up for Baltimore’s starters. Young finished 2024 with a 3.57 ERA in 111 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. He struck out 132 batters and walked just 37.

That display earned him the Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year award from the organization. It also prompted the Orioles to add Young to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

In three starts for Triple-A Norfolk this season, Young holds a 2.76 ERA to go with 17 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.

Looking back on his path, Young said he is grateful he signed as an undrafted free agent. “To pick my team was huge,“ he said last year. “What the Orioles were pitching me just made so much sense in my mind, so I’m glad I made that decision.”

The 6-foot-6 hurler is ranked as Baltimore’s 20th-best prospect, according to Baseball America. Young’s changeup is an above-average offering that helps him handle left-handed batters. Although his fastball doesn’t have blow-away velocity, it plays up when Young locates it at the top of the strike zone.

Young is required in the rotation due to the mild lat strain right-hander Zach Eflin suffered in Arizona. Manager Brandon Hyde hinted at the impending promotion Thursday when he said the Orioles wanted to avoid a bullpen game Saturday.

“You never know what you’re going to get from someone’s major league debut,” Hyde said Friday. “He’s had a couple good appearances down at Norfolk, and hopefully he’s able to calm the nerves down to give us a good start tomorrow afternoon.”

Second opinion for Rodriguez

The Orioles are seeking a second opinion on right-hander Grayson Rodriguez’s shoulder after receiving the results of Thursday’s imaging. Hyde didn’t offer what those results indicated. Nor did he specify where precisely in the shoulder the issue is occurring.

Rodriguez is on the injured list with elbow soreness that began in spring training. Last year, a lat/teres strain and shoulder inflammation forced him onto the injured list in separate instances. Rodriguez tweaked his delivery slightly this spring.

“I want to take a lot of the load out of my lat,” Rodriguez said during spring training, according to The Baltimore Sun. “Used to, I kind of brought the ball down a little bit further. Right now, I’m working on keeping the arm up and utilizing the [scapular muscle in the shoulder] more to take that pressure off the lat.”

Baltimore canceled Rodriguez’s scheduled bullpen session Thursday.

This story has been updated.