Although their playoff hopes have gone up in smoke, the Orioles still have plenty to prove in what’s left of 2025.
A sweep of the Chicago White Sox is nothing to brag about, but for an Orioles team that has struggled to string together wins it was a big deal. The O’s 3-2 win on Sunday gave them their first series sweep of the year and marked just the second time all year that they have won three games in a row. It also created some breathing room for them above the basement in the American League.
The 2025 Orioles were supposed to be competitive this year. Their talented, young core was supposed to be hitting its stride. A deep playoff run was on the table.
Those hopes all got wiped away in May. The team fired their manager, they slipped to 15-32 at one point and ended the month 9.5 games back of a playoff spot. Sure, there is time for them to make up ground, but leaping eight teams in four months is a tall task that they are unlikely to achieve.
However, that does not make the rest of the season a meaningless write off. The way in which the Orioles play from here on out matters. For the players on the field. For the coaches in the dugout. For the executives in the warehouse. And for the fans that watch them day to day.
If the team goes back into a downward spiral, the entire structure and philosophy of the organization needs to be rethought. Why did the once-revered farm system not produce the elite offense it was supposed to? Why did the club neglect the pitching staff? What was Mike Elias thinking?
But if the team is able to bounce back and play closer to their standards for the next four months, the entire narrative changes, regardless of if they sneak into the playoffs or not. Maybe Brandon Hyde wasn’t the right manager for this team. Maybe the injuries were the main cause of their collapse. Maybe this team just needs to retool in the winter to get right back into the mix in 2026.
Right now, the latter feels like the path that the team is on. As of this writing, the Orioles have won six of their last eight games. The injury bug continues to bite, but it is getting manageable. Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg, and Ramón Laureano could all be back this week. And most importantly, the starting pitching is finally pulling its weight.
In those six games that the Orioles have recently won, their opponents have scored a total of nine runs. Pretty good!
Since May 1, Orioles starters own a 4.48 ERA, 4.52 FIP, and 3.98 xFIP. Those are all league average or worse numbers, but they are worlds better than what they did in April, when they were the worst starting staff in MLB by just about every metric.
Charlie Morton is back from the dead, winning his first two games as an Oriole. Trevor Rogers made his season debut and twirled a gem against the Red Sox. Zach Eflin returned from the IL to provide stability. Tomoyuki Sugano continued to be a solid contributor in his first MLB season. And Dean Kremer has a 2.27 ERA over a team-high 36.1 innings in May. It’s almost like the Orioles now possess a competent rotation and can now be more competitive game-to-game as a result. Interesting how that works.
The offense has been better too. Since May 1 they have a 100 wRC+, making them exactly league average. Gunnar Henderson (134 wRC+ since May 1) is heating up. Ryan O’Hearn (182 wRC+) is hitting like an MVP candidate. Jackson Holliday (132 wRC+) is cementing himself into the leadoff spot. Laureano (202 wRC+) and Dylan Carlson (142 wRC+) have been pleasant surprises as outfield fill ins. If those things can continue and pair with the impending returns of Cowser and Westburg, this lineup might even jump into the top 10.
There are still problems, of course. Adley Rutschman is struggling. Heston Kjerstad is not turning the corner like some hoped. Coby Mayo finally got an RBI, but still looks overmatched. Tyler O’Neill is on his second IL stint of the season and has not produced when healthy. Cedric Mullins has fallen off and is now dealing with hamstring issues. But at least the problems are isolated to half the lineup rather than the whole kit and caboodle, like it was in April.
However, the area of most concern right now is probably the bullpen. Their 5.99 ERA is 27th in MLB since May 1. The only reliever that you feel confident in at the moment is Andrew Kittredge. The veteran righty was activated in May, and has looked solid in limited exposure. Everyone else is scary to watch pitch.
The wheels have fallen off of Yennier Cano (9.64 ERA in May). Seranthony Domínguez (5.56 BB/9, 2.38 HR/9) is a walk and a home run waiting to happen. Félix Bautista is being challenged to pitch more often, and doesn’t always look sharp. So while the first six innings of the game have gotten easier for the Orioles, the last three now have a lot of question marks.
But the things that are going poorly, are not catastrophic. A team can work around a couple of struggling bats. They can protect a reliever that is working things out. They can skip a start for a rotation member that is finding their stuff. These things happen to every team.
In short: the vibes are better in Birdland. The Orioles are still a far cry from being a contending team, but they are also separating themselves from the absolute worst teams in the sport.
The 7-8 record they have since Tony Mansolino took over feels about right for what this group should be. They are better than they showed early on. But the fact remains that it is a flawed team that is still missing some of its most crucial players.
The results are improving. The team is more fun to watch each day. It is still reasonable to ask questions about the processes that were used to assemble this squad, but each win serves to reassure the fan base that the organization is not entirely in the wilderness after all.