Without question, Bryan Baker has certainly had his ups and downs throughout his tenure with the Baltimore Orioles.
This season, however, has been a coming out party for Baker, in which he has been one of the best surprises of 2025.
In 2022, Baker pitched in 66 games, including two appearances as an opener, at a time when the Birds weren’t looking for a playoff push, though they found themselves in the middle of one. Baker played a roll of that late season push.
The Orioles bullpen wasn’t very successful. In fact, it was a bullpen that recorded a 5.08 ERA and 1.43 WHIP, which was good for the 27th worst in baseball. Baker, however, showed a lot of promise.
He had a solid 2022 campaign, but it wasn’t anything to brag about. He pitched the third most innings at 69.2, where he demonstrated reliability and adaptability. Baker posted an ERA of 3.49 and a 1.23 WHIP, but that didn’t tell the whole story. He was a strikeout pitcher, with 76 in less than 70 innings.
The 2023 season was more of the same for Baker when he pitched in 46 games, all in relief. He decreased his ERA (3.60) while increasing his K/9 (10.2), which allowed then-manager Brandon Hyde to use him more for late-inning roles.
The performances in 2022 and 2023 led to a big social media presence of memes about Bryan Baker. “Let Bryan Bake” or “Bryan Baked” started to become the slogan every time he made an appearance. However, the memes have been used in times when he didn’t necessarily “bake.”
Then, in 2024, everything took a turn. Baker struggled, and fans were trying to run him out of Baltimore. To make matters worse, the Orioles struggled in the second half of the season, which didn’t help his cause.
The season was a huge disappointment for Baker. He struggled at the major league level, making 19 appearances with a 5.01 ERA, as well as in Triple-A Norfolk, where he made 32 appearances and recorded a 5.17 ERA. The 2024 season left Baker’s future in Baltimore look dark and grim.
Coming into spring of 2025, Baker was one of a couple of relief arms trying to make the 26-man roster out of camp. He didn’t have the best spring, but he did enough to make the cut over others, including veteran right-hander Matt Bowman and newly-acquired righty Roansy Contreras.
Since making the Opening Day roster, Baker has been indeed baking. So far, he has appeared in a club-leading 33 games, has a 2.59 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP and a 11.8 K/9.
The now-30-year-old has been so impressive that he’s been used more often as a set-up man for Félix Bautista or in other high-leverage situations than he ever has in his career. He has exceeded his expectations and, in many ways, has been the glue of the 2025 Orioles bullpen.
I have started the movement to let Birdland know that they should be apologizing to Bryan Baker. We need to just sit back and let him bake.
Bryan Baker is, indeed, The Out-maker this season.
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