Shane Baz painted the inside corner with a 99 mph four-seam fastball. He got a swing and miss from the next batter on another heater. And, after those two strikeouts, Baz forced a first-pitch groundout, then walked off the field with catcher Adley Rutschman.
Unknowingly, Baz threw that dominant 1-2-3 inning during the 2021 Futures Game to his future teammate.
“I’m excited to pick up from there,” Baz said on a video call Friday with reporters, two weeks after the Orioles traded four prospects to the Tampa Bay Rays for the right-hander.
Baz can take only so much from throwing a single inning to a catcher, but his excitement upon joining Baltimore is reinforced through his relationship with Zach Eflin and his time trying to get Orioles hitters out during divisional matchups. He’s reunited with Eflin — whom he called “one of my favorite guys I’ve ever played with” — and Rutschman, who could be a frequent partner when Baz settles in with his new team.
At the time of their first pairing, Baz was on the cusp of debuting in the majors. His promise was obvious yet temporary; he required Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery that forced him to miss most of 2022 and all of 2023.
Since returning, Baz has shown flashes of brilliance. The Orioles are banking on that becoming a steady light in their rotation. The 26-year-old has connected with Baltimore’s pitching instructors, Drew French, Mitch Plassmeyer and Ryan Klimek.
“I’ve had little conversations about what I can do better and just what they think,” Baz said. “I just want to be as coachable as I can and really form a little team of guys that are obviously really, really smart and talented in what they do, and I know that they can help me. I’m gonna bust my butt for them every single day.”
One immediate focus will be Baz’s slider and cutter combination. When he threw to Rutschman in 2021, Baz paired his high-velocity four-seamer with a slider to draw weak contact from the final of the three batters. But in 2025, Baz said, he lost feel for that pitch.
Baz threw the slider only 82 times last season before abandoning it.
“It was really weird,” Baz said. “The slider didn’t feel great from the start and, obviously, took it into the season and I was getting victimized on it a ton.”
Opponents recorded a .429 batting average and 1.286 slugging percentage against his slider.
“You have to make quick adjustments and decisions,” Baz said, so he put the slider in his back pocket with the hope of working on it between starts and he adopted a cutter instead.
The cutter fit in a similar mold as the slider due to its glove-side run, but its higher velocity and shorter horizontal break made it easier to control as a midseason substitute. Although batters produced strong numbers against misplaced pitches, Baz’s cutter also prompted a 26.4% whiff rate.
He may keep both in his arsenal — his sweeping slider and the shorter, faster cutter. He’ll tinker with the five-pitch mix (which also features a changeup and curveball) during spring training.
“I thought the cutter did great,” Baz said. “I’m going to talk to all the pitching guys and stuff like that and just get feedback during spring, and I think we’ll formulate a good plan going forward of just what my best mix is and how I can use it. It’s exciting.”
Of course, Baz’s fastball will be the central figure in that arsenal, no matter how else he mixes his repertoire. Baz’s average fastball velocity of 97 mph was his highest since 2021, and he maintained that through 31 starts. A full, healthy offseason to prepare for last season was part of the improvement.
For the first time in his major league career, Baz hit 100 mph (doing so 10 times). The 27 fastest pitches of his career all occurred in 2025. Baz said he maintained his stamina and velocity better because he has a deeper understanding of his between-start process.
“I think I just did a good job of kind of learning what my body responds better to and just what I like to do that really helps me just be ready for that fifth day 32 times,” Baz said. “So I think I just got a better grasp on that, and just the experience, being healthy helps with that, too.”
Remaining healthy will be a major point of emphasis for Baz and others, especially after injuries played a role in Baltimore’s derailment last year. That’s part of the reason the Orioles’ front office has shown an increased level of aggression so far.
In addition to trading for Baz, Baltimore signed first baseman Pete Alonso and closer Ryan Helsley. The Orioles also traded for outfielder Taylor Ward. They are in the mix for another top-end starting pitcher, too, be that Ranger Suárez or Framber Valdez.
The ifs at this point of the winter outweigh the givens. But, as just one of the new faces to join the Orioles, Baz feels a confidence building around his new team.
“I think it speaks to how they want to play this year and what they’re trying to do,” Baz said. “That gives you a little more motivation, I think, just to set the standard and just winning is all that matters. And I really like that kind of situation.”