Baltimore moved right-hander Trey Gibson from the taxi squad to the active roster Tuesday for the series finale against the Rays, then cleared space by optioning left-handed reliever Nick Raquet after one day. Gibson is set to make his third major league appearance and second start, giving the Orioles another look at one of their top pitching prospects as they try to finish a sweep in Tampa Bay.
The 23-year-old Gibson arrives with a fast rise and a short major league sample. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the No. 4 prospect in the Orioles system, and he was the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2025. In eight starts with Triple-A Norfolk, he posted a 3.69 ERA and a 1.674 WHIP, numbers that help explain why Baltimore kept turning back to him. His last appearance came seven days earlier, after he had already shown he could absorb a difficult debut and come back with cleaner work.
Gibson’s first big league outing came May 3 at Yankee Stadium, where he allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings. He followed that with one run over two relief innings against the Athletics, a brief but more stable look at how his stuff might play in different roles. The Orioles do not need a savior to close out Tuesday, but they do need innings, and Gibson gives them another chance to cover a rotation that has spent much of the season patching holes.
That rotation entered the day with a 4.87 ERA, 28th in the majors, though Baltimore had moved ahead of the Astros in rotation ERA. Recent work has helped. Shane Baz gave up one run in seven innings the previous night after Kyle Bradish held the Rays to one run in six innings. Baz has a 2.25 ERA over his last three starts, Bradish 1.56, and Brandon Young has filled in with a 3.47 ERA in seven starts while injuries piled up around him.
There is still a difference between improved and settled, and the Orioles know it. Young has allowed four earned runs in his last three appearances over 15 2/3 innings, a reminder that the staff’s better stretch has not erased the larger problem. Craig Albernaz said the group has started to find a rhythm, crediting the way the pitchers work between starts and compete with one another. That kind of internal edge, he said, has shown up in how one outing seems to push the next.
The Rays are dealing with a different kind of pressure. They had lost three straight for the third time this season and had already dropped their first series since April 20-22. Their defense has been a problem too, with seven errors in two games and 39 for the season, second most in the majors. Left-hander Steven Matz, who started for Tampa Bay, came in with a 3.70 ERA in eight starts and had held the Orioles to one run in four innings last week after coming off the injured list. He also owned a 3.76 ERA in 10 career games, including six starts, against Baltimore.
Before the game, Baltimore also signed shortstop Mason Dinesen to a minor league contract and assigned him to the Florida Complex League. But the story in the clubhouse remained the same: Gibson is back, the rotation is getting closer to something workable, and the Orioles are trying to leave Tampa Bay with a sweep rather than another reminder of how thin their pitching depth has been for much of the year.
