Now arguably the Orioles No.1 prospect, Anthony Eyanson wasn’t even in the Orioles organization when the 2026 season began. In fact, outside of Ben McDonald, I doubt hardly anyone in Birdland knew who Eyanson was seven months ago. However, there is no doubt that the former LSU Tiger is primed for big things after delivering a ‘26 as good as any minor league pitcher.
How Eyanson came to the Orioles organization was, and still is, a sore point for those throughout Birdland. The 22-year-old right-hander
spent 2025 as the No. 2 starter on the LSU team that won their second national championship in three years, sitting just behind future No.3 overall pick Kade Anderson. Eyanson was drafted by the Red Sox in the third round of the 2025 MLB Draft and spent the early part of 2026 rocketing up Boston’s prospect rankings.
Then, on August 3rd, the Orioles did the seemingly unthinkable; Mike Elias & Co. traded franchise cornerstone Adley Rutschman to the division rival Red Sox with Eyanson (then Boston’s No. 2 prospect) as the headliner of Baltimore’s return.
Split between Boston’s High-A Greenville affiliate and Double-A Portland, Eyanson had amassed a first half almost too good to belief: a 1.32 ERA and .152 BAA while punching out 94 batters across 68.1 innings. The Orioles hadn’t had a truly elite pitching prospect since Grayson Rodriguez back in 2023. That changed with the arrival of the righty from Southern California.
The 6’2” flame-thrower was just as dominant after getting into the Orioles system. In six starts for the Baysox, Eyanson pitched to a 2.03 ERA, .221 BAA and struck out another 47 hitters over 31 innings. His best outing for Chesapeake came agains the playoff-bound Richmond Flying Squirrels, with Eyanson completing seven innings for the first time as a professional and finishing with a final line of 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB and 8 Ks.
His debut professional season brought a fair share of recognition for the Orioles’ new top pitching prospect. Eyanson was named Portland Sea Dogs Pitcher of the Year and was a the finalists (along with winner Anderson and Orioles’ prospect Joseph Dzierwa) for Minor League Pitcher of the Year. After finishing the year with a 1.54 ERA and 141 Ks over 99.1 IP, such superlatives were more than deserved.
The only reason to temper expectations at all with Eyanson is the relatively few innings pitcher in the minors. Fellow Pitcher of the Year finalists. One minor league season, no matter how amazing it was, does not usually provide enough reps to prove your ready to take a major league mound.
And yet, the right-hander may not have to wait long for a call up to Baltimore. Fellow LSU alum Paul Skenes only pitched 34 minor league innings before making his way to Pittsburgh, with an ERA (1.85) and K/9 (14.6) that were pretty similar to Eyanson’s 2026 numbers (1.54 and 12.8). Anderson only needed 93.1 innings, all in Double-A, before getting the call to Seattle two months ago. However, presumptive Cy Young winners Jacob Misiorowski and Cam Schlittler both logged over 200 minor innings before debuting at 23 and 24 respectively.
What give Eyanson a chance to be really special at the big league level is a true four pitch repetoire. Like Kyle Bradish, he has a plus-plus slider that he can throw in an count to both lefties and righties. He backs that up with slower curveball that features sharper downward break. His fasbtall sits around 95 while touching triple digits and is often used to change eye levels at the top of the zone. He completes that devestating arsenal with a splitter he’s still refining, but has potential to be another above avearage pitch. At his best, he looks like a combination of Bradish and Félix Bautista in how he attacks hitters.
Whether or not there’s major league baseball in 2027 will likely shape where Eyanson begins his next campaign. With only Bradish, Shane Baz and Brandon Young locked in for next season, pitchers like Cade Povich and Trey Gibson could see a permanent promotion to the major like rotation. That would leave space at Triple-A for someone like Eyanson, though he’d be competing with Dzierwa and Orioles’ No. 4 prospect Caden Hunter for a promotion to Norfolk.
For years the Orioles have searched for outside reinforcements to bolster a rotation that’s often felt like the anchor holding Baltimore back from true contention. Now, if the O’s can bring back ace Trevor Rogers, the rotation is one of the few reliable aspects of this Orioles team. That means, for a prospect to really establish himself in Baltimore, he’ll need to be a type of special of young pitcher not often seen in the Orioles sysem.
Eyanson is that rare kind of special in that he has high expectations and seemingly has the goods to meet them. Most of Batlimore’s recent pitching success stories have come less heralded prospects. Bradish was the Orioles’ No. 10 prospect and no where near the MLB Top 100 before his debut in 2022. Young was Baltimore’s No. 19 prospect before his debut in 2025 and breakout last season.
The Orioles’ new No.1 pitching prospect has a chance to succeed where injuries ultimately caused Rodriguez to failed. Eyanson wasn’t an ace in college, but has proved to have ace-level upside based on his first professional season. The pending lockout means the right-hander is likely to spend his 2027 season further developing in Double and Triple-A. Come 2028, he should be ready to be unleashed on the big elagues and potentially give the Orioles their next Mike Mussina-level talent.
