Roth Rolling with the Rainiers

Houston Roth is one of the new faces with the Rainiers this season, signing a minor league contract with Seattle on February 13, having only pitched in the Orioles organization prior. Roth was born and raised in Oxford, Mississippi. He attended Oxford High School and was going to Ole Miss baseball games as a kid. When he committed to play baseball at Ole Miss, it was a fulfilling “a childhood dream.” His parents were bringing him to games at Swayze Field before he could walk and remembers thinking, “how cool would it be to be one of them.” So, the first time he stepped on the mound as a Rebel, it was “a full-circle moment” for him.

In his freshman year, Roth won the 2017 SEC Freshman of the Year award, with a team-best 1.57 ERA over 28.2 innings with 41 strikeouts. He credited his early success to “not trying to do too much” when he got to Ole Miss and continued to do what gave him success in high school. He explained “a lot of guys come in thinking they need to be more than what they are” when trying to make the jump from high school to college. Roth believed that he did not need to change his approach until he was proven wrong and used that mentality to dominate the SEC.

In 2019, Roth came down with an injury before starting his junior season and dealt with lingering injuries for most of the first half of the spring before returning to the bullpen for the second half. So when it came to draft day, he did not know what to expect and was hoping to get an opportunity from one of the teams to showcase what he could do. On the third day in the 29th round, he got the call from the Orioles that they were giving him that opportunity. With all the ups and downs he faced in his junior season, Roth was “just excited to hear his name called,” extremely grateful to the Orioles, and could not wait to start his professional career.

Last year, Roth had the best season of his professional career, pitching to a 6-2 record with a 2.96 ERA in 36 games across two levels (Double-A Chesapeake and Triple-A Norfolk). Going into the season, he focused on “going out there and attacking each batter” and that he believed that he “was going to win” every at-bat. Just like Roth’s freshman season at Ole Miss, being confident in himself and what he could do allowed him to dominate on the mound. His stellar performances earned Roth his first promotion to the Major League when

the Orioles called him up on July 29, 2025. He became what is known as a “phantom ballplayer,” someone who is added to a Major League roster, but never appeared in a game. Roth was optioned back to Norfolk on August 4, still waiting to make his Major League debut.

Roth is using the confidence he gained last year to put together an amazing start to his 2026 campaign. Over his first 13 games, he holds a 2.66 ERA and has recorded three saves. What has helped him elevate this season is just continuing to trust in himself and his ability. Roth explained that “it is really hard to hit in this game” so he steps on the mound with the mentality of “lay it out there on the field and see what the result is.” Roth has been doing all of this as one of the main high-leverage relievers for Tacoma this season. He loves pitching in these situations because “it’s win or lose, you get the job done or you don’t” and described it as “electric,” especially when all the fans are cheering and the stadium is rumbling.

The bullpen as a whole has been on a tear to start the season and the group has really jelled according to Roth. “It is a fantastic group here. We all get along, talk about what we do and how we go about it.” Then, he mentioned how amazing it has been to learn from veterans like Casey Lawrence, Randy Dobnak, and Dane Dunning. “They’ve seen everything there is to see in baseball” Roth exclaimed, and he has enjoyed getting to learn from them these past couple of months.

With the tear he has been on, keep an eye out for Roth to make it back to the bigs and make his Major League debut.