The Orioles are at their lowest point since the rebuilding era. Dramatic changes could be coming soon.
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Folks, it’s not getting any better. Just when you think you’ve seen the worst that the 2025 Orioles have to offer, they play another game and lower the bar even further.
Yesterday’s loss to the Twins was embarrassing in so many ways that the Orioles have practically devolved into self-parody. The Birds were shut out by a pitcher who’d entered the game with a 4.76 ERA, while continuing to let the worst hitters in opponents’ lineups do damage. They got swept in the six-game season series by the Twins — a team, mind you, that was 15-20 before the Orioles first faced them last week. Minnesota has now won 11 straight games, in large part because more than half of them came versus the sad-sack Orioles.
It’s funny how struggling teams tend to get a lot better when they play against the Orioles. Too bad the O’s can’t play against themselves. Even if they did, they’d still lose.
In dropping to 12 games under .500, the Orioles have plummeted to their lowest depths since 2021, a rebuilding season in which they weren’t particularly trying to win. At 15-27, the O’s have the fourth-worst record in the league, and two of the other three teams have already fired their managers.
At this point it seems like just a matter of time before the shoes begin to drop. There’s no saving this disgrace of a season, and the only question is just how quickly the Orioles will begin to make changes. The most notable one will likely involve manager Brandon Hyde, whose job security must be at an all-time low. Members of Hyde’s staff, especially the Orioles’ trio of hitting coaches, could face scrutiny. And general manager Mike Elias, whose horrific offseason moves began the collapse of the once-powerful team he’d built, shouldn’t be considered safe either, depending on how owner David Rubenstein is reacting to this pitiful display of baseball.
Roster changes will certainly be on the horizon, too, even if we’re not 100% sure who will be making those decisions. Every veteran Oriole who’s not signed for next season figures to be on the trade block, from Cedric Mullins to Zach Eflin to Ryan O’Hearn. Trade activity around MLB usually doesn’t pick up until July, so the Orioles have a couple of months to sort out which players they’d like to move. And the players have a couple of months to dream about escaping this cursed ballclub.
It’s profoundly sad. I really didn’t think we’d be having this conversation this season — let alone before Memorial Day! — but here we are. The Orioles are broken, and it’s time to start the arduous process of trying to reconstruct them. It’s a task that’s going to require a lot of time and a lot of work. Good luck.
Links
Despite worst record since ‘21, O’s ‘believe we can turn things around’ – MLB.com
I understand why the players say things like this, because what choice do they have? But at this point it all just sounds so hopelessly naïve.
Jon Meoli: Tomoyuki Sugano’s success stands out on underperforming Orioles – The Baltimore Banner
Sugano is one of the few good things about watching this team. Enjoy him now before he gets traded in July.
Has the Orioles’ window for contention closed? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com
Rich Dubroff does not, in fact, think the Orioles are doomed forever. He’s probably right, but right now I’m too cranky to agree.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Three former Orioles were born on this day: infielders Luis Sardiñas (32) and Ivanon Coffie (48) and the late outfielder Dave Philley (b. 1920, d. 2012).
On this date in 1984, Jim Palmer’s legendary Orioles career officially came to an end as the O’s released the Hall of Fame right-hander. Palmer was in his 19th year in the Birds’ organization, during which he won three AL Cy Young awards and three World Series championships, but he had struggled to an 0-3 record and 9.17 ERA in five games before his release. Of course, it was by no means the last time Orioles fans would see Palmer, as he remains a fixture as a color commentator on O’s TV broadcasts.
And on this day in 1999, the O’s bludgeoned the Rangers, 16-5, in a 24-hit performance in which every batter in the lineup had multiple hits. Mike Bordick led with four of them, including two doubles, while Albert Belle and Charles Johnson swatted two homers apiece.
Random Orioles game of the day
On May 16, 1980, the Orioles eked out a 2-1 win at Tiger Stadium. With the score tied in the eighth, catcher Dan Graham knocked an RBI single to give the Birds the lead, and Mike Flanagan took it from there. The O’s lefty tossed his third complete game of the year, holding the Tigers to five hits, and the only run he allowed was unearned. The win improved the Orioles to 14-18.