Orioles executive vice president Mike Elias spent about 15 minutes in the dugout today talking about the state of his 12-18 team and why he thinks it can get back to playoff form and meet the high expectations carried into the season.

He blames injuries and inconsistencies among players. And he continues to take responsibility for the record based on his role in the front office.

“It’s been really disappointing for all of us in the organization,” he said. “It’s been very difficult and we have not performed to expectations, so we all feel that. I feel that. I look at the team, look at things, and with the offense, the position player group, I think we’ve had obviously a lot of health issues. We’ve had some guys individually with just literally tough luck on the balls that they’re hitting. And then we’ve got a lot of players and guys with long major league track records who just aren’t performing to their norms. So all those being the case, I’m really optimistic and we’re optimistic that we’re gonna work out of that and things are gonna get better.

“With the starting rotation, having injuries and also starting so poorly and putting us in a bad spot because of that, it is difficult to contend with that level of injuries. But even that aside, they’ve had a poor start and that’s my responsibility and I’m in charge of baseball operations and when we have a bad record to start the year, that’s my responsibility. But we are all working very hard and we have a lot of faith in this very talented group, and piece by piece, step by step, we’re gonna get guys healthier, we’re gonna get guys performing more to their norms.

“If there’s something we can fix with a player, we’re working on that. And I’m very optimistic and confident that we have a lot better baseball ahead and we’re gonna play like the way that we should be this season.”

This type of adversity always leads to self-reflection and Elias is no different. And that includes in the processes that he’s built.

“I analyze stuff all the time,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve been doing this for a while, in some different jobs, but the consistent thing is that I’m always adapting. Certainly, when you’re not getting the results you want, you try to see if there’s things you can do to adapt.”

What else came out of the scrum?

* Elias certainly is aware of the external pressure on manager Brandon Hyde and also the media speculation about his status after back-to-back playoff appearances.

Does Elias remain confident that Hyde is the right guy to lead this team?

“Very confident in Brandon Hyde,” he replied.

“I think that you look at the job of a major league manager, and it would take me 45 minutes to talk about everything that goes into the job of a major league manager, but when things are going great, and they have at times here, we’ve had that, and then when we’re experiencing failure, it’s really important in that job and in my job, too, to be consistent with your approach. And he’s doing that.”

Elias didn’t exhibit any concerns about Hyde losing the players’ confidence.

“That clubhouse, I’ll kind of throw out some of the rebuilding years earlier because a little different group of guys and a different mode, but since this team started coming together in 2022, it’s been a very consistent place and it still is that way to me and the people that are down there all the time,” Elias said. “And he’s right in the middle of that.”

Asked about Hyde’s biggest strengths, Elias said, “He knows baseball really well. He’s a good evaluator. He uses information at his disposal in a way that is intelligent, but also in a way that cares for his players. And he’s a tough guy. This is wearing on both of us, but he’s handling it well.”

Elias said he talks to Hyde “probably multiple times a day on average.”

Said Hyde: “Nobody’s happy with how we’ve performed so far. We have higher expectations for ourselves. I talk with Mike multiple times a day. We’re not satisfied in the least bit. We know our team can play better than we have.” 

* Elias isn’t blind to the early failings of some moves made in the offseason.

“I think this is my 18th year in Major League Baseball, a lot of that in scouting the draft, international scouting, and then this job,” he said. “I am constantly second-guessing, analyzing, looking at things that I’ve done, that I didn’t do, the way that I did them, the processes, the outcomes. I’m doing that all the time.

“It’s a big part of how I go about my career.”

* The Orioles aren’t ready to begin a dramatic makeover of their roster 30 games into the season.

“Obviously, there’s a point for any of those things,” Elias said. “Sitting here, what is it, May 1, May 2, the answer’s ‘no.’ But if making changes to the roster, whatever those might be, when we’re confident it’s going to improve the team, we’ll consider those things.”

Asked again later in the session about the possibility of doing something drastic, Elias said, “I think if we didn't have confidence in the talent level of some of the players that are underperforming, we'd address it at that time.”

* Payroll space exists to make other moves.

“I think that the ownership group has a lot of desire to win and wherewithal, and if that becomes a factor, we're in a position to leverage that at the trade deadline,” Elias said.

“I expect these guys are going to continue to do the right thing by the team. They've done nothing else and they've expressed nothing differently.”

Elias has regular conversations with an owner group led by David Rubenstein.

“I had one today, for instance,” Elias said. “They’re pretty frequent. I’d say pretty constant, ongoing. We have formal calls on a regular basis, and they’ve been terrific.

“It’s very early in their tenure, but everything I’ve seen from them has been really great. And we’ve talked a lot about how to make Baltimore baseball as good as it can and should be, and we’re really committed toward doing that. All of us are passionate about it. We want to win. We want to win with this team, this season. And this is not up to anyone’s standards or expectations, and that includes them.”

* The rotation remains the primary concern beyond having 13 players on the injured list.

It’s just a little too early to do much about it.

“We’re talking about a lot,” Elias said. “The guys that aren’t healthy, training staff, strength coaching staff, coaching staff, working to get those guys healthy. The guys that aren’t performing the way they should be, coaches, analysts, we’re all talking and working at that. If there’s outside help to be had, the front office is working at that. So I just think we have to push in all directions to get our rotation in a better place.

“I do have optimism that that’s going to happen. I think it’s going to stabilize. I think we should have better health than we’ve had. It’s hard not to. And I think we’re going to pitch better.”

Grayson Rodriguez is a big loss. He was supposed to be the No. 2 starter and eventually become staff ace, but he hasn’t pitched due to elbow/triceps/lat injuries.

Elias expects Rodriguez to contribute this season.

“He's still healing,” Elias said. “We got to let his lat heal and once that happens we'll do some re-imaging and that may happen in the next couple of weeks. And if that looks OK, it's possible that he's throwing a baseball before the end of this month, but then we got a long way to go.”

The club is trying to figure out why lat injuries are on the rise at the major and minor league levels.

“It's kind of hard data to really get your hands on, but we've pulled what we can and we're discussing it and it's not isolated to us,” Elias said. “But it's certainly something that we are talking more intensely about right now with our staffs.”

* Outfielder Tyler O’Neill and infielder Jordan Westburg are progressing from their neck and hamstring injuries, respectively.

“I don't have exact dates but I think they're both going to be off the IL here pretty soon,” Elias said. “We're discussing rehab assignments or not with both of those guys right now, but these are kind of days-away thing more than weeks away is how it looks right now.”

O’Neill has started baseball activities, doing some “outfield stuff” earlier today, according to Hyde.

“He’s run the last couple days,” Hyde said. “He’s going to start doing some more offensive things, hitting off the machine in the cage, etc., etc. He is progressing.”

* Elias is satisfied with the level of clubhouse leadership, though some key veterans have departed.

“The guys that are in there, I think, we’re organically having guys kind of step into leadership roles in this team, and I think the character of this team and the heads on the shoulders of the guys who are in there are positive traits for this team,” Elias said. “But we’re seeing guys here in 2025 emerge as leaders of the team.”

* The Orioles are batting .172/.256/.236 against lefties this season, and they face Kansas City’s Kris Bubic again on Saturday night. Elias obviously expected better production after signing O’Neill, Ramón Laureano and Gary Sánchez.

“Very frustrating because it’s been a major factor,” Elias said. “The numbers are significant. I don’t think it’s permanent. We had these issues last year and we brought in some players that, scouting-wise, we believed in against left-handed pitching, but then their track records against left-handed pitching are really, really strong. And it’s a pretty small sample out of the gates for those guys.

“So I’m optimistic, I’m hopeful that they’re going to start producing like they normally do against left-handed pitching. We did some things to address that that I don’t think were too unpredictable and here we are, so it’s been frustrating.”

* Zach Eflin and Andrew Kittredge are pitching Sunday at High-A Aberdeen.

“Eflin TBD after that, Kittredge it will be the beginning of kind of a long rehab assignment. But that’s happening Sunday in Aberdeen,” Elias said.

Hyde couldn’t provide a timetable on Eflin rejoining the rotation.

“It’s going to be a little bit how far he goes, how he reacts to pitching against competition for the first time in a while, how he feels physically the next day,” Hyde said. “We’re hoping it’s not too long. We’ve got some hopeful calendar dates, but nothing set in stone right now.”

* Ramón Urías was scratched from the lineup with right hamstring tightness. Emmanuel Rivera is playing third base and batting ninth.

By coincident, Elias was asked earlier today about Triple-A Norfolk corner infielder Coby Mayo, who's batting .255/.353/.539 with seven doubles, two triples six home runs, 21 RBIs, 16 walks and 27 strikeouts in 27 games.

“I think he’s really close," Elias said. "I’m really happy with where he is. It seems like he’s in a good spot, the production that we’re seeing out of him, the quality of his at-bats, the work that he’s putting in. He’s going to be a big part of this team.

"I think it’s really important for us as we look at the timing of when that next major league opportunity is going to be, that it’s kind of the right opportunity for him if we’re able to control that. Sometimes, injuries force your hand like they did last year and we can’t control the timing. But we really want Coby to have the right pathway, and he’s certainly putting himself in a really good position for that.”

* High-A Aberdeen pitcher Michael Forret went on the seven-day injured list today. He was removed from his last start with lower-back discomfort.