BALTIMORE -- Amid the Orioles¡¯ slow start to the 2025 season, disappointment has been expressed by various sources.
The players are frustrated with their results. Manager Brandon Hyde knows the team is capable of more. Fans expect more wins after seeing Baltimore reach the postseason each of the previous two years, a span over which the O¡¯s have been among the best teams in the American League.
General manager Mike Elias hasn¡¯t been happy, either.
¡°Look, we¡¯re 6-9. That¡¯s disappointing,¡± Elias said Tuesday afternoon. ¡°I wish we were 9-6.¡±
Instead, the Orioles are now 6-10 after taking a 6-3 loss in Tuesday night¡¯s series opener vs. the Guardians at Camden Yards. It was another game in which little seemed to click for Baltimore, which scattered eight hits and again didn¡¯t get the best from veteran right-hander Charlie Morton (five runs allowed in five-plus innings).
This hasn¡¯t been the worst start for the O¡¯s during Elias¡¯ regime (which began in November 2018). They also began 6-10 in both ¡®19 and ¡®22. Expectations were much lower then, though, as the club was still rebuilding and hadn¡¯t reached contender status.
Many believe the 2025 Orioles should reach the postseason for a third straight year and perhaps even contend for a World Series championship. They¡¯ll need to perform better to get anywhere close.
Elias remains confident in the potential of this year¡¯s club despite its sluggish play thus far.
¡°Still see an enormous level of talent in this team. Still see a playoff team,¡± Elias said. ¡°We¡¯re going to keep pushing away and working to get things back into place -- to the degree that they aren¡¯t in place -- and doing everything we can across the organization to improve things and improve our record, and I think it¡¯s going to happen.¡±
The offense has to be more consistent. Baltimore has scored five or more runs six times (all wins but one), but it has tallied four or fewer in its other nine games (all losses).
The bats should heat up. Gunnar Henderson is still getting reacclimated after missing the first week of the season due to a right intercostal strain, while others -- such as Jordan Westburg, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday and more -- have the talent to put up better numbers.
¡°We¡¯re definitely not clicking on all cylinders offensively,¡± said Hyde, whose team didn¡¯t score Tuesday until Cedric Mullins¡¯ solo homer in the seventh. ¡°Just can¡¯t have that many bad at-bats through six innings.¡±
A bigger concern may be the starting pitching. The Orioles¡¯ 5.54 rotation ERA ranks last in MLB. They¡¯ve gotten only four starts of six innings, and three of those came from Zach Eflin, who is now on the injured list and expected to miss multiple weeks due to a right lat strain.
Morton (8.84 ERA through four starts) and Dean Kremer (8.16 through three) have struggled the most among Baltimore starters.
¡°They both look fine in terms of their stuff and velocity, and their track records that they've laid down at the Major League level certainly suggest that there's good reason to believe that this is an aberration,¡± Elias said. ¡°But yeah, especially while we have pitcher injuries, you also don't want slow starts from some of your proven Major League starters at the same time. But unfortunately, that's what we've gotten.¡±
Speaking of injuries, those haven¡¯t helped. Nine players are on the IL, including seven starters. The rotation is down to four healthy starters for the O¡¯s, who will either need to utilize a bullpen game or tap into their farm system by Saturday.
Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez (right elbow inflammation) were expected to be the Orioles¡¯ top two starters. Outfielder Colton Cowser (left thumb fracture) was in position to build upon his stellar rookie season. Andrew Kittredge (left knee debridement) was a key offseason acquisition for the bullpen. Albert Suárez (right subscapularis strain) brought versatility to the staff that is missed.
¡°Is it a factor in our slow record to start the year? Yes. Is it an excuse or a totality of the reason? No,¡± Elias said.
For now, there continues to be no panic -- from players, from Hyde or Elias. There are 146 games remaining to turn it around and become a successful team.
¡°It¡¯s not ideal, right? It¡¯s like, ideally, you go out and you win 75 percent of the games, at least, and you get going early, you get momentum going early,¡± said Morton, an 18-year MLB veteran. ¡°But I¡¯ve been on teams that struggled, I¡¯ve been on teams that struggled early and still did some pretty special things. ...
¡°To do great things, you have to go through those periods of time where things are difficult. Because that¡¯s what creates character, that¡¯s what creates a bond, that¡¯s what creates chemistry.¡±