In 2020, COVID cut the MLB draft from 40 rounds to 5. Brandon Young went undrafted and signed with the Orioles for $20,000. He turned down his childhood Astros because Baltimore made him "feel like they had a plan for him".
Two years later, Tommy John surgery wiped out his season after just 3 Double-A starts. He rehabbed across four affiliates in 2023, throwing 40 total innings. Then in 2024 he won the Orioles' Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
His rookie year wasn't pretty. He went 1-7 with a 6.24 ERA. But there were bright spots. He nearly threw a perfect game against Houston and logged an immaculate inning along the way. This offseason he simplified his pitch mix and changed his splitter grip mid-year, the results have followed:
A 3-1 record and a 3.35 ERA so far in 2026.
Asked as a teenager what he'd do after baseball: "I'm just going to play baseball."
His father: "It could have gone either way with all the injuries and setbacks. He's worked harder than anybody I've ever seen."
Young mentioned this spring: "I can never think I don't belong here. That's just not gonna work. I know I can."
From the guy that took the $20K signing bonus. Tommy John. A 6.24 rookie ERA. Nobody has handed Brandon Young anything. He just kept showing up, with Led Zeppelin inked down his pitching arm and Hendrix on the speakers, until the game had no choice but to let him in.
We love to see what he's bringing to the rotation so far in 2026 👏
#orioles will broadcast 20 exhibition games on MASN, beginning Feb. 20 against Yankees. The final broadcast is March 22, when the Orioles play the Nationals at Camden Yards. This is the most games ever by an Orioles broadcast partner.
Lol... Waited 48 minutes to get into the FIFA @Visa World Cup tickets pre-sale only to be redirected back to the homepage as soon as I joined. Yeeeeehaw, next year is going to be a zoo.