The 2025 season hasn’t gone according to plan for the Baltimore Orioles.

At 19-36, the O’s have dug themselves quite a hole to kick off the campaign. Time is not their friend. 

As the calendar rapidly approaches June, expectations from the offseason feel distant. A great comeback is still possible, but Baltimore is heading toward the middle innings down a handful of runs. 

This week on “The Bird’s Nest,” Annie Klaff and I zoomed in. Expectations, hopes and goals must be modified as circumstances change. The standings are what they are, and now, pose a new question: what does a “successful” rest of the year look like? 

That’s the question we attempted to tackle. With a quick rundown of our thoughts here, you can find more in-depth analysis in our latest episode: https://masn.me/c9bhmg4f 

MILWAUKEE – Baltimore was right there. The losing streak was over. 

The Tony Mansolino era had its first victory in the palm of its hand. 

For the first time this season, Baltimore could come back to win a game after trailing entering the seventh inning. They found clutch situational hits when they needed to. Their former All-Star closer was on the mound with a chance to seal things in the ninth. 

Baltimore was one strike away. 

In a 2-2 count, American Family Field erupted at the sight of a Caleb Durbin RBI single to tie the game at three runs apiece. 

MILWAUKEE – There haven’t been very many positives to point to in the brief Tony Mansolino era. Today, there’s one in plain sight. 

Andrew Kittredge, who the O’s signed to a one-year, $10 million deal with an option for 2026 this offseason, was reinstated from the injured list today. Kittredge missed a chunk of spring training and the beginning of this season after undergoing “knee debridement” surgery. At his healthy best, he’s one of the best setup men in the game. 

“I definitely wasn’t expecting to have surgery during spring training,” Kittredge said this morning with a laugh. “That was kind of out of my control. So, I just attacked the rehab and feeling good, and just excited to be back now, even though it wasn’t the beginning of the season that I hoped for. Excited to be back.” 

Kittredge made 74 appearances for the Cardinals a season ago, top-10 among pitchers’ games played. He posted a 2.80 ERA, a return to form in his first full season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022. 

Having previously gone through a long rehab, Kittredge knew the drill this time around. 

MILWAUKEE – The story of the O’s first two games in Milwaukee has felt eerily similar. 

The starting pitching didn’t take them out of it but wasn’t stellar, the bullpen was adequate but not great, and some late life from the offense wasn’t enough to push Baltimore ahead. 

Any way you slice it, it added up to the Orioles’ eighth consecutive loss, this time 5-2. The Orioles haven’t won a series against the Brewers since 2003. 

The first turn around the order was incredibly uneventful for both teams. If you like pitching and defense, the first 18 plate appearances were right up your alley. Three walks between both teams, with the most excitement coming in a Sal Frelick fly out to the warning track. 

Batter No. 18 was a Chayce McDermott three-pitch strikeout of Joey Ortiz. It was the 19th batter that presented the first sign of trouble. 

MILWAUKEE – Mike Elias isn’t a stranger to addressing the media in the midst of a losing season. 

Since taking the reins of the O’s front office in November 2018, Elias oversaw tough years in the win and loss columns from 2019 to 2021. 

The caveat there, of course, is that Baltimore was rebuilding. Soon, players like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg and more would join the fold to propel the Orioles to a 100-win season and division title, and back-to-back postseason appearances. 

A stranger to this type of address? No. Just a bit unfamiliar. 

His next one just came much sooner than anyone expected. 

MILWAUKEE – The first two innings haven’t been kind to the Orioles in the Tony Mansolino era. Late deficits haven’t been kind to Baltimore all season. 

In the first game of their new series against the Brewers, the Orioles beat both trends. But they couldn’t beat the Brewers, falling 5-4 in Game 1. 

Yesterday, the ever-reliable Zach Eflin allowed seven earned runs in his first two frames against the Nationals. On Saturday, Kyle Gibson and Charlie Morton combined to do the same. 

The Orioles, on the other hand, found their earliest runs of those two games in the fifth inning. 

Tonight’s deficit of 3-1 after two innings wasn’t quite 7-0, but it still wasn’t the start the Orioles were looking for.

MILWAUKEE – It’s been quite the 72 hours in Birdland.

Tony Mansolino found out that he would be the Orioles' interim manager on Saturday morning. Without much time to settle and adjust, Baltimore had two afternoon games against the visiting Nationals. 

“Being totally honest, just an absolute ton of anxiety Saturday and Sunday,” Mansolino said today. “Didn’t sleep a whole lot. Just going through the information and getting my mind prepared for what the job is. I slept last night, which was a really nice feeling waking up today.” 

Now the Orioles find themselves as visitors in Milwaukee for a three-game series, the first in which Mansolino has found himself at the helm from the jump. 

“Last night, getting on the plane, I pulled out the advanced binder, and I was able to just start looking at what’s going on in terms of the strategy of the game," he said. "I was able to pull out my computer and start looking at lineups and players and things that would help us get ready for the next day. I think that exercise, just kind of strangely, settled me down.”

So how about those minor leagues, eh? 

Without much going the O’s way up in the big leagues, let’s take some time to highlight some prospects who are thriving down on the farm. 

Braxton Bragg

How about starting with a pitcher that isn’t even currently ranked in MLB Pipeline’s 30 best Orioles prospects?

Bragg has been utterly dominant in 2025, splitting time between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Chesapeake. In his first seven games of the season, Bragg has a ridiculous 0.80 ERA with 47 strikeouts in just 33.2 innings. 

ANAHEIM – The Orioles needed a bounceback in the worst way. 

After being swept in three games in Minnesota, the Birds flew to Anaheim in search of answers. Perhaps they found some in a 7-3 victory that wrapped up a series win. 

The sun was shining brightly on a beautiful Mother’s Day in Anaheim. It was a bit too bright, perhaps, for Taylor Ward. 

Gunnar Henderson led off the game with a left-on-left double into the right-center field gap. A few batters later, it appeared as if the O’s had stranded another runner in scoring position when Adley Rutschman flew a ball with a 99 percent catch probability to left. Instead, Ward lost the ball in the Sunday sun and it dropped safely onto the outfield grass for a Rutschman triple. Henderson scored, and the Birds had given Zach Eflin an early 1-0 lead. 

That advantage quickly dissipated. 

ANAHEIM – It hasn’t been the start to the season that the Orioles’ offense was expected to have. 

The Birds have scored five runs or more just a dozen times in the 38 games they've played so far in 2025. They’re 10-2 in those games, an almost maddening statistic considering the fact that five runs isn’t an incredibly high bar to reach. Baltimore has just struggled to get there. 

“Unfortunately, the start of the season had been more down than up,” hitting coach Cody Asche said today. “There’s no hiding behind that.” 

Entering this afternoon’s Mother’s Day rubber match against the Angels, the Orioles rank 27th in baseball in hits, 28th in walks, 26th in batting average, 26th in on-base percentage and 20th in OPS. 

None of those numbers are incredibly encouraging, especially considering the talent in this lineup that has produced much better numbers in the past.

ANAHEIM – The Orioles started their series in Anaheim hot, with three runs in their first two offensive frames. 

Tonight, though, it was the Angels’ turn, as Baltimore fell 5-2. 

Los Angeles recorded three straight singles to start the game, and in the blink of an eye, it was 2-0 Halos. After a few more baserunners and nearly 30 pitches, Kyle Gibson worked out of the remaining trouble, but the early damage had been done. 

The O’s did the same to veteran Kyle Hendricks last night. But after three early runs, Hendricks settled in, because “that’s what a veteran pitcher does,” as Brandon Hyde noted last night. Gibson did the same for tonight's second and third innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth. We’ll get back to that. 

"I think the teams have been pretty aggressive," Gibson said of his recent first-inning struggles. "So, best way to combat that is maybe use a little off-speed a little bit earlier or just execute a few pitches here and there a little bit better."

ANAHEIM – Kyle Gibson hasn’t been off to a perfect start on the mound. 

The 37-year-old, signed too late to have a Spring Training, has made just two starts to begin the year after his ramp-up. His ERA, after allowing four first-inning home runs to the Yankees in his first start, is all the way up at 14.09. 

His second start was much improved, and he’s looking for another step in the right direction against the Angels tonight. 

The ERA will settle down, and Gibson hopes to provide some stability in the back of the O’s rotation.

But the value that the veteran brings can’t be quantified by his ERA. 

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Entering tonight’s game against the Angels, the Orioles had gone 16 consecutive games without scoring a first-inning run. 

That changed on a 1-0 count to Gunnar Henderson. 

Kyle Hendricks, better known for his days with the Cubs, threw a changeup that caught too much of the plate, and Henderson drove it 400 feet to right field. An early lead became a 4-1 victory, and behind a stellar start from Tomoyuki Sugano, the Orioles got back in the win column.

“He’s got the art of pitching down,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “The way he changes speeds and moves the ball around, super unpredictable, keeps hitters off balance. And we played really good defense behind him tonight. When we needed it, Tomo stepped up for us.”

Thanks to Henderson, Sugano entered the bottom of the first frame with a lead, a luxury they haven’t had often in 2025. The MLB newcomer went 1-2-3, and the O’s were off and running. 

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Zach Eflin’s return to the big league mound has been grabbing most headlines. For a rotation in search of stability, the veteran right-hander provides just that. 

The rotation, however, hasn’t been the main culprit of the Orioles’ recent woes. That has been Baltimore’s lineup, which has plated more than three runs in just one of their past six games. 

A healthy Tyler O’Neill, and his career OPS just shy of .800, could be the shot in the arm that Baltimore needs. 

The outfielder, activated to the active roster today after missing time with a neck injury, wasn't hitting like himself to begin the 2025 season. O’Neill hit just .215 with a .385 slugging percentage and .668 OPS, all some of the worst numbers of his career. 

That neck injury, as it turns out, had been an issue for O’Neill throughout much of the season and had a big impact on what he was able to do at the plate. 

April wasn’t the Orioles’ month. 

After entering the season with lofty expectations, Baltimore has fallen flat to kick off the new campaign. The Birds won just 9 of their 25 contests in April, bringing more showers than flowers. Maybe that’s what May is for. 

The O’s went 17-9 in May of 2024, and they would love a repeat performance in 2025 to turn their season around. 

Here, let’s break down five factors that could propel them in the right direction. 

Zach Eflin 

Through the Orioles’ first 30 games of the season, there have been plenty of “moments.”

14 games into the year, it felt as if an Adley Rutschman bat flip after a huge home run and a Cedric Mullins RBI triple could be a turning point. The energy had returned to Camden Yards, and the Birds were seemingly back on track. 

The next day, the O’s allowed three runs in the eighth inning against the Blue Jays and fell in extras. 

One week later, a Ramón Laureano two-home run game helped propel Baltimore to a 9-run outburst, with five runs coming against one of the best young arms in the game, Hunter Greene. 

The next day, the Orioles fell 24-2.

There have been countless conversations about what is plaguing the Baltimore Orioles. 

Of course, a league-leading 5.37 ERA as a staff doesn’t help their 10-17 record, but those problems are easier to pinpoint. The pitching woes can be chalked up to injuries to both key pieces and depth arms, combined with slow starts of healthy pitchers. 

What is harder to explain is the struggles of the lineup. As a team, the Orioles have a .677 OPS, just 21st in the big leagues. Their 79 walks are fourth-fewest in the majors, as is their .223 batting average, leading to the sixth-worst on-base percentage. And for the cherry on top, the athletic bunch has only combined to steal 15 bags, sixth-fewest in the game. 

If you’ve watched the last few seasons of Orioles baseball, that doesn’t really make sense. 

It’s a lineup that features some of the best young players in the game, three of whom were All-Stars a season ago. They’re flanked by savvy veteran pieces, and only one key starter, Colton Cowser, is missing significant time with injury. 

WASHINGTON – Left-hander MacKenzie Gore presented a huge challenge for an Orioles lineup that has struggled to hit lefties all season.

How could the Orioles lineup hope to find its rhythm against a lefty that led Major League Baseball in strikeouts per nine innings entering the night? That's all anyone was talking about entering tonight’s game.

As it turns out, Gore wasn’t the story. Cade Povich was. And on the back of their young left-hander, the Orioles avoided a sweep and left D.C. with a 2-1 win, their first victory scoring fewer than five runs this season.

Tomoyuki Sugano had been the only O’s starter to put up consistent numbers in recent weeks. The veteran right-hander, in his first major league season, did so again last night, tossing an admirable seven innings.

Povich was even better.

WASHINGTON – Roughly 10 percent of the population is left-handed, according to Norgen Biotek. Lefties, though, make up a much larger percentage of pitchers in Major League Baseball. And in 2025, the Orioles have faced a left-handed starter in over 30 percent of their first 23 games.

Tonight, the Birds face another, as the Nationals roll out one of the best young lefties in the game, MacKenzie Gore.

In the seven games that the O’s have faced a lefty starter to begin 2025, Baltimore is just 1-6.

Gore, the former elite prospect, ranks in the 70th percentile or better in expected ERA, expected batting average, fastball velocity, whiff percentage, strikeout percentage and walk percentage this season.

In fact, he is in the 93rd percentile in whiff rate and leads Major League Baseball with 14 strikeouts per nine innings.

WASHINGTON – The Orioles' offense had plenty of opportunities to cash in for a breakout inning in tonight’s 4-3 loss to the Nationals. Instead, they made smaller deposits. 

For the most part, pitching held up its end of the bargain. Sometimes, you can still win baseball games like that, even when you go 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. In this case, the offense came up just short. 

“I’m really happy with how we played,” said Brandon Hyde after the game. “We play baseball like that, we’re going to win a lot of games.”

The Orioles' offense started the contest with three straight batted balls hit over 100 mph off the bats of Cedric Mullins, Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman. Only one, a single from Rutschman, resulted in a hit. Despite the loud contact, Baltimore left the top of the first without a run. That would be a theme. 

“We hit a lot of balls hard that we weren’t rewarded for,” Hyde noted. “I thought we took really good at-bats for the most part.”