3 Orioles that could keep Jackson Holiday from making the Opening Day roster

2. Mike Bauman, P

Over the last few seasons, Bauman has bounced between the Orioles MLB team and their AAA affiliate. He has shown flashes of being a reliable, solid major-league arm but has also had some struggles with his control and command, resulting in what I believe to be quite inflated statistics.

Through 99 innings pitched in the majors split between ‘22 and ‘23, Bauman has a 4.09 ERA, a 1.38 WHIP, and 61 strikeouts. These numbers do not jump off the page, but they sit right around the major league average. Other advanced analytics such as ERA- and xFIP (two stats more closely measuring pitcher's ability accounting for the defense behind them and ballpark factors) also suggest that Bauman is an average major league pitcher and would have a job as a multi-inning reliever on several MLB teams. 

The Orioles have recently also found out that they will be without John Means and Kyle Bradish (two of their best starting pitchers) to begin the season. For me, the main reason I can see Bauman making the team over Holiday (or anyone on this list, for that matter) would be because Baltimore is in need of multi-inning pitchers, and they see something in spring that restores the organization's belief in him that he is the next man up.