Orioles' 1.72 ERA potential All-Star may 'vanish' before trade deadline

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Orioles' 1.72 ERA potential All-Star may 'vanish' before trade deadline originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Baltimore Orioles are not guaranteed to be sellers at this year's trade deadline.

But if they are, one or a few of their top relievers could be switching uniforms in August.

One of Baltimore's best arms out of the bullpen seemingly rose to dominance out of nowhere. Before this season, the right-hander was a journeyman who played for three teams in 2025, including the Orioles.

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller wrote that the 32-year-old could be a trade candidate, but there are concerns about how he can perform moving forward.

"Through 30.2 innings pitched, [Rico] Garcia has a .123 BABIP against. This is patently absurd," Miller wrote. "Not only did he enter this season with a career BABIP against of .308, but in MLB history, the lowest recorded BABIP in a single season of at least 30 innings pitched was Alex Vesia's .143 mark in 2021."

For those unaware, BABIP stands for batting average on balls in play. It appears Garcia, the Orioles reliever in question, may be getting lucky on the mound.

Garcia allowed just one hit in the first 19 innings of the season. That's clearly unstanable and was bound to change. Still, he's allowing just 3.7 hits per nine innings.

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"Furthermore, Garcia had a 5.27 ERA and zero saves in 70 career innings pitched in the majors prior to 2026. At least when Fernando Rodney randomly had that 0.60 ERA age-35 campaign in 2012, he had been a high-leverage, occasionally successful pitcher in the past," Miller added. "Garcia, on the other hand, appeared out of the blue in his 30s and might vanish just as suddenly."

Should the Orioles be worried about possible regression? Chances are, yes, they should. Garcia's trade value may never be higher.

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