NEW YORK – This is it.

The 162^nd game will be played later this afternoon, with more first-pitch swinging if one team didn’t need the win. The Yankees are fighting for the division title, still tied with the Blue Jays. The Orioles made their travel plans and are set to scatter.

Fire the starting pistol and watch them go.

The Orioles probably need a general manager with Mike Elias’ promotion to president of baseball operations. They need to decide on a manager, which could impact the entire coaching staff. They need pitching and bats. And they need to search for silver linings in a season with 86 losses heading into today.

There must be knowledge gained from it.

“Learn from what went wrong in the season. But like, if you don't, then what did you go through it for?” said shortstop Gunnar Henderson.

“I feel like that's the biggest thing, using these experiences to take them into next year. Feel like, take that as a team purpose and as a player purpose. You learn from everything that goes on in the season. That's why experience is huge, and feel like everybody's going to be better for it.”

"I think everyone in this clubhouse isn’t exactly having the year that they would want or think that they can have,” said second baseman Jackson Holliday. “So for us to kind of have a down year and still put up a pretty decent season, I’m pretty confident in this team."

“I think whenever you look at the year that we’ve had,” said pitcher Tyler Wells, “it didn’t start off the way that we wanted to, it hasn’t ended the way that we wanted to, and it hasn’t really gone in any way, shape or form the way that we thought it would. But I think what you can say is that you’ve seen glimpses of what we are capable of as a team, especially in the second half.

“Whenever you look at some of the guys like a Jeremiah Jackson, you see (Samuel) Basallo, you see (Dylan) Beavers and you see these young guys who are coming up who are able to contribute that are getting very valuable time at the big league level right now and hopefully being able to bring that into next year and provide some consistency for all of them. And whenever you bring consistency into the lineup, whenever we bring consistency into the rotation and into the bullpen, I think you’ll start to see some really, really good things happening. Consistency is really the big key for us.”

Winning 101 games and the division in 2023 and earning the first Wild Card the following season didn’t produce credits that transfer to 2025.

“Nothing’s given to you in this league,” said catcher Adley Rutschman. “You’ve got to earn it, and I think next year I hope everyone comes back inspired, ready to go, and I know they will. I think that’s the biggest thing. We’ve just got to go out and do it.”

It wouldn’t be fair to accuse the Orioles of becoming complacent, but the disappointments and underachievement that showered this team could light a fire under it.

“I hope so, and I believe so, just because of the quality of guys we’ve got in this locker room,” Rutschman said. “I really believe everyone’s gonna take this to heart and be ready to go. I see everyone in his locker room with a very high character and I think that goes a long way, especially in a clubhouse in a team setting.”

The Orioles won’t go anywhere without a strong rotation. Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers can be a potent 1-2 punch but might slide down or be separated by an outsider, with the front office scouring the trade and free agent markets for upgrades. Dean Kremer also is a lock and Wells could join the group if he isn’t used in relief. Grayson Rodriguez hasn’t pitched since July 31, 2024 and will be recovering from surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow, with the assumption that he’s ready for spring training and another shot at reaching his ceiling without hurting his arm.

Gone are Zach Eflin, who’s a free agent coming off lumbar surgery, Charlie Morton and Kyle Gibson.

“Just a matter of keeping them healthy,” Henderson said of the returnees. “They've proven it before, and it's just a matter of staying healthy and being able to get the innings in. I feel like they do that and we'll be in a great spot.”

Rogers could receive some down-ballot votes for American League Cy Young. His worst start came in his last, with three home runs surrendered in three innings to tie his career high, but he finished with a 1.81 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and .180 opponents’ average in 18 starts.

“Keep doing what I’m doing, but it’s starts like (Friday) that get me better, and I finally realized that instead of kicking myself over such a bad start,” Rogers said. “Learn from it, and I’ll be able to get better from this and help this team come next year.”

Wells doesn’t know whether he’s starting or relieving after being used four times in the rotation following elbow reconstructive surgery and posting a 2.91 ERA and 0.877 WHIP. His exit meeting didn’t provide all of the answers.

“Really, just right now it’s kind of just taking it month-by-month, day-by-day,” he said. “That’s usually how my offseasons start anyway. As far as like any specific role right now, I’m letting the front office figure out their plans and kind of what’s going on and go from there.”

Workouts won’t be impacted during this period of uncertainty. Train like a starter and pivot if told to do it.

“The approach typically is pretty consistent, stays the same for me,” he said. “I have a pretty solidified system in the way that everything works for me, and then by the time that we start throwing bullpens and lives and stuff like that, usually I have a pretty good sense of what’s going on and what they need for me. That’s whenever I’m able to kind of adjust my volume.”

The entire team wants to adjust what happened this year. The miserable start and injuries and perplexing slumps. Gazing up at every other team in the division. Reduced to playing spoiler and failing at that job, as well.

“If you look at the Yankees, they’re in the playoff run," pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano said via interpreter Yuto Sakurai. "They’re a good team. If you look at our team, on the other hand, we’re not too far behind, I feel like. But yeah, obviously, it’s an unfortunate season for us.”