Orioles have nobody to blame but themselves

Orioles have nobody to blame but themselves

Heading into the 2025 MLB Season, the American League was viewed as wide open.

The New York Yankees lost Juan Soto in free agency, but were followed by adding Max Fried, Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt (before losing Gerrit Cole due to Tommy John surgery); the Boston Red Sox added Alex Bregman and Gerrit Crochet to an 81-win team stuck in quicksand searching for a leader; the AL Central had three playoff teams for the first time since 2014, though none of them stuck out over the rest; Houston took a slight step back after trading away Kyle Tucker and there were no other AL West teams that completely stuck out over the other.

It was wide open. But one AL East foe, coming off an underwhelming 2024, didn’t do enough to address perhaps their biggest weakness heading into the new season, and now they’re experiencing their fourth-worst 49-game start since 1988 because of it.

The Baltimore Orioles have the worst ERA in MLB, and they don’t have the personnel to suggest much improvement:

Mere weeks before the start of the 2024 season, the Baltimore Orioles, coming off their first 100-win season since 1980, swung for the fences by acquiring former Milwaukee Brewers Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, who was entering the final year of his contract.

Burnes pitched like the ace he was acquired to be, sporting a 2.92 ERA and a 3.55 FIP in 32 starts. His peripherals still weren’t perfect–led by a strikeout rate that declined for the fifth-straight season–but he was still one of the best pitchers in the American League.

Baltimore didn’t retain Burnes, who signed a six-year, $210 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. It also lost switch-hitting outfielder Anthony Santander to the Blue Jays, leaving two gaping holes that didn’t get plugged.

Instead, Orioles banked on internal improvements from young starters Grayson Rodriguez and Cade Povich plus veterans in Dean Kremer, Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers, acquired at last year’s deadline for one top-5 prospect and one former top-10 prospect in the organization. They signed Tomoyuki Sugano and 37-year-old Kyle Gibson, hoping to bridge the gap lost by Burnes after posting a near-league-average ERA last season.

Well, that’s done anything but backfire.

Heading into Saturday, the Orioles–at 16-33–sport the worst ERA in FIP in the sport at 5.77 and 5.10, respectively. Their rotation owns a 5.84 ERA and a 5.31 FIP with the sport’s worst park-adjusted ERA (151) and FIP (133).

Ultimately, general manager Mike Elias and the Orioles organization have nobody to blame but themselves.

The Orioles Are Running Out Of Time To Extend Gunnar Henderson

The Orioles did spend some money this last offseason, but it’s fairly disappointing that they still didn’t push more chips to the table to fix the glaring hole that was their rotation. They’re going to have to maximize this tantalizing core that is Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg and Jackson Holliday.

Baltimore’s offense hasn’t performed when it’s needed the most over the last two postseasons, scoring two runs or fewer in four of those five games. But you can’t redeem yourself if you’re on pace for 53 wins, which the Orioles are currently due to their lackluster pitching staff that doesn’t have any answers on the horizon. Firing their manager isn’t going to do anything.

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