Entering the 2016 regular season, the Baltimore Orioles' starting rotation was predicted to be the team's weakest link. With a 5.15 ERA through the first half of the season, the Birds' starters had the third-highest mark in baseball, lower than only the Minnesota Twins (5.26) and Cincinnati Reds (5.29). Throughout the first half of the season, no starting rotation in baseball pitched fewer combined innings than the Orioles.
However, in the second half, things began to turn around. The rotation's 4.24 ERA ranked 13th in the majors, and their 416 innings pitched were tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for eighth-most.
Entering 2017, the Orioles return starters Chris Tillman, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy, Ubaldo Jimenez, Yovani Gallardo and Wade Miley under contract. Yet the staff will follow different orders, as pitching coach Dave Wallace announced his retirement during the offseason and bullpen coach Dom Chiti returned to the Atlanta Braves to be their senior director of pitching.
