There is only one player on the 2025 Orioles who is still competing for a World Series title and his name is Seranthony Domínguez. Of the players traded in the 2025 relief trade, the former O’s closer is the one who has found the most success while giving the Orioles an interesting prospect in return.
The right-handed flamethrower was one of four Orioles relievers dealt at this year’s trade deadline, and of those four, he arguably had the highest highs in Baltimore. After leaving the Phillies at the 2024 trade deadline, Domínguez assumed the closer role following the release of Craig Kimbrel.
Through his first 15 appearances in black and orange, Seranthony was the boost Baltimore’s bullpen needed. In 14 innings, he pitched to a 2.57 ERA, struck out 17 batters and had six saves. Sure, he had a home run problem (at one point he allowed solo homers in three straight outings), but he was an overall positive for the Orioles pen.
His approach to 2024 was less promising. In his final 10 regular-season appearances, his ERA climbed to 6.23, walks and home runs were major issues, and he lost his role as the O’s closer. Domínguez made two scoreless appearances in the Orioles’ two postseason losses, but much like the rest of the 2024 Orioles, his overall individual performance left something to be desired.
This roller coaster nature continued into the start of the 2025 season. Domínguez began the year with nine straight scoreless appearances, scoring 10 in 8.1 innings while allowing just two hits. After finally allowing his first earned runs on April 26, the 30-year-old right-hander seemingly lost his feel for throwing. From April 26 to the end of May, Domínguez made 14 appearances while allowing 12 runs (8.31 ERA) and 14 hits as opposing batters threw at his high-octane fastball.
When the calendar flipped to June, a change occurred in Domínguez and he once again became one of the Orioles’ most reliable relievers. From June 1 until his trade on July 29, the seventh-year MLB veteran made 20 appearances, pitched 20.1 innings, accumulated 28 strikeouts and held opponents to a 0.211 and 1.33 ERA.
The big adjustment that changed the trajectory of Domínguez’s season was an increased reliance on his newly developed splitter. The right-hander ditched his changeup to the split-fingered fastball ahead of the 2025 season, but seemed hesitant to rely on the new pitch early. In April, he only threw six splitters total (less than 4% of his throws). This usage rate jumped to 11.3% in May, but really exploded as the summer months approached. In June and July, the splitter became his secondary of choice, as his usage jumped above 27% while opponents struggled to hit a .107 average against the off-speed offering.
The reinvented Domínguez earned himself one of the strangest trades of July just days before the deadline. With the Blue Jays in town for a doubleheader, Domínguez found himself in the Orioles bullpen for Game 1 and pitched against the Orioles in Game 2.
Beyond the odd circumstances of being traded to the opposing team in the middle of a doubleheader, the Domínguez trade allowed the Orioles to get one of their best returns on the fire sale. It was a one-for-one trade, with 23-year-old RHP prospect Juaron Watts-Brown heading to the Orioles in return. The former 3rd round pick in the 2023 draft has one of the best sliders in minor league baseball and gives the O’s a potential MLB starter with four above-average pitches.
Watts-Brown was dominant in seven appearances with the Baysox after the trade, holding opponents to a .159 average while posting a 0.91 WHIP and striking out 43 batters in 35.1 innings. In MLB.com’s late-season prospect rankings, Watts-Brown checked in as Baltimore’s No. 13 prospect and the second-highest-rated prospect among players acquired at the 2025 deadline. He will compete with the likes of Michael Forret, Trey Gibson and Nestor German to become the first promising pitcher to debut in 2026.
Since joining Toronto, Domínguez has been a more reliable piece for the AL champions as a setup man for closer Jeff Hoffman. In 24 regular season appearances for the Jays, Seranthony struck out 25 in 21 innings while posting a 3.00 ERA and .169 average against. Importantly, he allowed just one HR in the regular season for Toronto, reducing his HR/9 rate from 0.9 with the Orioles to 0.4 with the Blue Jays.
He was just as solid for the Jays in their one-game run to a World Series title, with a 3.60 ERA in 10 appearances. He allowed two ill-timed home runs for Toronto in October. He gave up a grand slam to Eugenio Suarez in the Jays’ 6-2 loss in Game 5 of the ALCS, and the game-tying home run to Shohei Ohtani that led to the Dodgers’ victory in the 18-inning World Series marathon. The latter of these two homers led Orioles legend Jim Palmer to tweet the following:
Domínguez will only be remembered as another volatile reliever in the Orioles bullpen. And yet, he’s still the first player to be an Oriole and win a championship in the same season since Trey Mancini in 2022. Or, if we’re lucky, he’ll be remembered as the player traded to acquire future Orioles star Juaron Watts-Brown.
