So far, 2025 gone according to plans for the Baltimore Orioles.
After their most pathetic performance yet this weekend in Detroit, being swept by the Tigers, the Orioles are seeing their season slip away.
Or are they?
First, let’s establish a timeline here.
Baltimore, through 27 games, stand at 10-17, which can be viewed as both the bad and the good news.
Having played just 27 games, the O’s still have 135 games remaining to change directions.
The 10-17 mark is the third-worst record in baseball, better than the Chicago White Sox (7-21) and Colorado Rockies (4-23).
A month ago, when I attended the home opener, I wasn’t expecting the Orioles to be hanging out with the likes of the White Sox and Rockies.
Yes, 10-17 puts you in the low-rent section of Major League Baseball.
This past weekend, the Tigers clearly pointed to why Baltimore finds itself in an early hole.
Three games, and not one quality performance from a starting pitcher.
The offense, loaded with top prospects, went AWOL.
And the dugout appears lifeless.
To be blunt, this team at this point in the season is not good, and they aren’t fun to watch.
The Orioles begin a three-game series on Monday with the New York Yankees in Camden Yards, and I was planning on being in attendance.
Instead, I’m sulking away in the unspoiled beauty of OBX.
Not a bad alternative.
But the fact remains the Orioles simply aren’t good at any aspect of baseball right now.
They can’t pitch, they are struggling to hit, and their once-trademark defense is inconsistent.
Baserunning?
To be kind, I will just suggest that they often make bad decisions.
Going into the season, I questioned whether the starting rotation was solid.
After all, Baltimore lost former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes via free agency to Arizona, and replaced him with 41-year-old Charlie Morton, who may have pitched with Cy Young once, and 35-year-old Japan star Tomoyuki Sugano.
My frustration over losing Burnes grew when I chatted with USA Today MLB Insider Bob Nightengale, and he said that, according to Burnes, the Orioles “never made a serious offer.”
Which may be the root of the Orioles’ woeful lack of pitching depth.
Since taking over as executive vice president and general manager of the organization in 2018, Mike Elias has not placed a high priority on drafting pitchers high, rather, going after position players, which he feels are more solid bets and with greater durability.
On that front, Elias has graded out well.
Starting with Adley Rutschman, who was the first overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, Elias followed that up with solid picks like Gunnar Henderson, Jordon Westburg, Colton Cowser, Coby Mayo, and current No. 1 minor league prospect Sam Basallo.
Last year, the Orioles’ draft included selections such as former UNC player Vance Honeycutt, and Virginia’s Griff O’Ferrall and Ethan Anderson.
Both Honeycutt and O’Ferrall are on the fast-track to Baltimore, according to Orioles insider Steve Melewski.
The lack of focus on drafting pitching high might now be the Orioles and Elias’ downfall.
But Elias, for now, is not on the hot seat.
That spot, fair or not, is occupied by manager Brandon Hyde.
In all honesty, when Hyde was hired by Elias in December 2018, there was no way I though he’d still be around for the 2025 season.
Hyde was hired for one specific purpose: fill out a lineup card that was purposely built to lose, game after game.
Losing meant being assured of picking high in the MLB Draft.
On that account, Hyde did what he was hired to do.
Baltimore either picked first or second in the draft in the first four years under Elias.
But now Hyde’s ability to manage a roster loaded with talent and navigate an injured and questionable pitching staff has come under high scrutiny.
Over the offseason, the Orioles promoted longtime Norfolk Tides manager Buck Britton to a seat in the Orioles dugout.
Britton is well-regarded in the Orioles organization and managed each of the Orioles’ top prospects while at Triple-A Norfolk.
The old saying in baseball is “you can’t fire all the players, so you fire the manager” might be happening sooner than later for the Orioles.
It’s not Hyde’s fault that the starting pitching has been awful this season.
The club’s top starters, Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez, are injured. Kyle Baddish, a quality starter, is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and won’t return until July.
The lack of hitting, the baserunning mistakes, the nightly lineup juggles, they belong to Hyde.
And, you know, the manager is the easiest scapegoat.
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