Orioles call up Trey Gibson for MLB debut amid rotation injuries

Trey Gibson is getting the kind of first major league assignment that tells you exactly how Baltimore views him right now. The 23-year-old right-hander will make his debut Sunday at Yankee Stadium against the New York Yankees, and the Orioles are turning to him after he held Triple-A hitters to two earned runs or fewer in each of his last four starts.

That run matters because Baltimore does not have luxury pitching here, only need. Trevor Rogers is out with illness, Dean Kremer is down with a right quad strain and Zach Eflin’s season ended with Tommy John surgery. After Chris Bassitt and Brandon Young both started during Thursday’s doubleheader against the Astros, the Orioles patched the staff with Dietrich Enns and Nick Raquet, optioned Tyler Wells to Norfolk and designated Albert Suárez for assignment. Gibson was lined up to start for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides on Sunday, then got the call instead.

Craig Albernaz confirmed Gibson would take the ball and made the expectation plain: it will be “a fun day” for the rookie, and he should “embrace the moment” and trust his stuff. That stuff is real. MLB Pipeline grades Gibson’s fastball and curveball at 55, gives his slider a 60, and lists a 45 cutter, 40 changeup and 50 control. His best pitch is that modified gyro slider, the one with the nickname that has followed him through the system: the “death ball.”

Gibson’s path is a sharp one. He signed with the Orioles as an undrafted free agent in August 2023 after two seasons at Liberty University, reached Triple-A in 2025 and was named Baltimore’s 2025 Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year after leading the organization’s minor league pitchers in strikeouts. In six Triple-A starts this season, he went 2-2 with a 4.01 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings, but the recent form is what pushed him to the front of the line.

There is also a little history attached to this one. Baltimore says Gibson will be the first starting pitcher in franchise history to make his major league debut at Yankee Stadium, a loud, unforgiving place for a first impression. The Orioles entered the game at 15-18 after three straight losses, so this is not a ceremonial call-up. It is a direct answer to a rotation that needed length, and Gibson has spent the last month proving he could provide it.