After taking the series against Minnesota, the Orioles will continue their opening homestand with three games against the Rangers. Texas will enter the series after a rollercoaster start to the 2026 season. Star pitcher Jacob deGrom was set to start the second game of the season before being scratched due to neck soreness. The Rangers called on spot starter Jacob Latz and won an extra-inning thriller on the bat of veteran hitter Andrew McCutchen.

The Rangers had yet to place deGrom on the injured list as of Sunday afternoon. Latz had been the odd man out of a rotation that features deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, MacKenzie Gore, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker. The Rangers offense is led by start shortstop Corey Seager, Wyatt Langford, Brandon Nimmo, Jake Burger and Joc Pederson.

Baltimore will enter the series looking to build momentum at the dish. The Orioles struggled to solve Minnesota starters Joe Ryan and Taj Bradley before breaking out with eight runs on Sunday. The offense features plenty of power with new acquisitions Pete Alonso and Taylor Ward joining Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo.

Dylan Beavers made a somewhat surprising start in center field yesterday and lost a ball in the sun. The Orioles rolled out their first version of a “Sunday lineup” with Ryan Mountcastle playing first, Alonso at DH, Tyler O’Neill in right field and Colton Cowser on the bench. Players like Cowser, Mountcastle, Beavers, and O’Neill would all benefit from early offense to help secure future playing time. The same can be said for Jeremiah Jackson and Blaze Alexander.

Game 1: Monday, March 30, 6:35, MASN

RHP Chris Bassitt vs. RHP Jack Leiter

Chris Bassitt will make his Orioles debut as the starter on Monday. Baltimore signed Bassitt to a one-year, $18.5 million deal over the offseason. Bassitt pitched to an 11-9 record and 3.96 ERA for the Blue Jays last season. Baseball Reference projects Bassitt to go 10-10 with a 4.06 ERA over 162 innings this year.

The Rangers will send out former Vanderbilt star Jack Leiter. The former first-round pick went 10-10 with a 3.86 ERA last season. Baseball Reference projects a bit of a regression with an 8-9 record and a 4.34 ERA over 137 innings this year.

Game 2: Tuesday, March 31, 6:35, MASN

The Rangers’ rotation quickly found its way into a period of uncertainty when deGrom went down. If healthy, Texas could turn to the former Cy Young winner as early as Tuesday. At 37 years old, deGrom still has the stuff to make hitters uneasy. He pitched to a 12-8 record with a sub-three (2.97) ERA last season. Gore is out after making his season debut on Sunday. Rocker should be available to start Game 2 or Game 3 depending how things shake out.

Eflin “beat out” Dean Kremer for the final spot in the rotation, but it really wasn’t a battle. Kremer had a minor league option available, and the Orioles wisely added starting pitching depth after a difficult 2025 season. The Orioles brought back Eflin on a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2027. Eflin surprised some by making the Opening Day roster after undergoing a lumbar microdiscectomy last August. Eflin made a real impact for the Orioles in 2024, and last year’s Opening Day starter could prove extremely valuable from the back of the rotation this year.

Game 3: Wednesday, April 1, 12:35. MASN

LHP Trevor Rogers (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBD

Is Trevor Rogers really about to carry his dominant stats into 2026? The lefty wasn’t perfect on Opening Day, but he earned the win with seven scoreless innings. Rogers got the nod as the Opening Day starter over teammate Kyle Bradish. The Orioles expect big things from a healthy Bradish, but nobody in baseball could supplant Rogers if he pitches like he did last season.

Rogers went 9-3 with a 1.81 ERA over 109.2 innings last year. An early injury prevented Rogers from contending for any major awards, but the lefty emerged as the best story from a lost season. The Orioles made headlines by inking Shane Baz to a five-year extension. Orioles owner David Rubenstein recently said the organization is “open for business” when it comes to extensions, and the Birds would be wise to keep Rogers in Baltimore beyond 2026.

How many games do you think the Orioles will win in this series? Let us know in the comments below!