Kyle Virbitsky thrives as Blue Crabs starter back home in Maryland

Kyle Virbitsky took the ball in Southern Maryland’s 6-1 win over the High Point Rockers on June 28, clinching the Atlantic League South Division first-half title. Through 12 starts, he led active qualified pitchers with a 3.97 ERA, tied for third with six wins, ranked 10th with 60 strikeouts and held opponents to a .262 average.

He was born in Media, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 8, 1998, pitched at Penn State and was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 17th round of the 2021 MLB Draft, 518th overall. Oakland traded him to Baltimore on Jan. 26, 2023 in the Cole Irvin-Darell Hernaiz deal, and the move brought him closer to the East Coast parks he knew from Aberdeen and Bowie. His wife grew up in Frederick.

Baltimore moved him to the bullpen, but Southern Maryland sent him back to the rotation, and Virbitsky said he was “really thankful” to manager Stan Cliburn and Brett Jodie for giving him the chance to start again, adding that he believes he is at his best when he can work on his own day. Entering 2026, he had posted a 3.94 ERA, 357 strikeouts and 328.2 innings in affiliated baseball, and in 2022 he piled up 140 strikeouts while drawing praise for his control. Baseball America named him the best control arm in the Oakland farm system at the time of the trade.

The Chesapeake Baysox released Virbitsky on Aug. 2, 2025, and he resurfaced with the Blue Crabs, a franchise founded in 2005 and in the Atlantic League since 2008. The club was first in the league to 25 wins on May 31 and had won six straight at that point.