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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.
Adley Rutschman and Cedric Mullins return to the Orioles’ lineup tonight in the series opener against the Yankees at Camden Yards.
Jordan Westburg remains out with a sore hamstring.
Heston Kjerstad is in right field and Ramón Laureano is in left. Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter.
Ramón Urías gets another start at third base, with Jackson Holliday playing second.
Rutschman owns a .416 on-base percentage against the Yankees, third-highest among catchers with a minimum 150 plate appearances, per STATS. Johnny Bassler is first at .433 from 1914-27. Rutschman’s mark is second-highest among active players behind Mike Trout’s .419.
The Orioles have made the following roster move:
- Returned 27th man RHP Colin Selby to Triple-A Norfolk after tonight’s doubleheader.
DETROIT – The bullpen gates swung open and Charlie Morton jogged onto the field, glove tucked under his arm and his routine scrambled. This wasn’t the typical starter’s stroll to the mound to begin warming for the first inning. The 41-year-old Morton was reliving the final game of his rookie season.
Manager Brandon Hyde chose to use Morton in relief after Keegan Akin went 1 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 2 of the doubleheader against the Tigers. Perhaps a change would do him good.
The results were mixed, which leaves unclear the immediate plans for him. The outcome for the Orioles was bad.
Riley Green hit a three-run homer and Morton walked five batters, but he had better results over 3 2/3 innings with the bar lowered in the Orioles’ 6-2 loss to the Tigers that completed the sweep at Comerica Park.
Today’s results left the Orioles with a 10-16 record, the first time they’ve fallen six games below .500 since July 5, 2022. They’re 1-5 going back to Sunday’s Easter egg hurt.
DETROIT – The Orioles began the day with an injury update that removed a second outfielder from the roster. They sent a rookie to the mound for his second major league start in the first game of a doubleheader and watched him walk five batters in two innings.
A tall order against the first-place Tigers kept growing, along with an organization’s collective frustration.
Brandon Young battled through 4 2/3 innings in a 4-3 loss in Game 1 at Comerica Park. He gave the Orioles a chance with a later departure than anticipated and only two runs on the board when he left, but the bullpen had to shoulder another heavy load.
Bryan Baker let his first inherited runner score and the Orioles, unable to win back-to-back games for a second time, fell to 10-15.
Young was charged with three runs to give him a 6.23 ERA in 8 2/3 major league innings. He allowed four hits and struck out six, and his walk total held at five with all of them condensed into 1 2/3.
The Orioles have made the following roster moves:
- Recalled LHP Grant Wolfram from Triple-A Norfolk. He will wear number 86.
- Optioned RHP Brandon Young to Triple-A Norfolk.
- Added RHP Colin Selby from Triple-A Norfolk to serve as the 27th man for tonight’s doubleheader.
DETROIT – The Orioles couldn’t wait any longer on Tyler O’Neill.
Prior to today’s doubleheader, the Orioles placed O’Neill on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his neck and recalled outfielder Dylan Carlson from Triple-A Norfolk.
The move is backdated to Thursday and O’Neill is eligible to be reinstated on May 4.
“He’s been dealing with that probably since last week,” said manager Brandon Hyde.
“When he’s able to come off the IL, we’re expecting him to not miss any more time.”
Tyler O’Neill is out of the Orioles’ Game 1 lineup today as he continues to receive treatment for neck discomfort.
Outfielder Dylan Carlson is on the taxi squad. He didn’t play yesterday in Triple-A Norfolk’s doubleheader.
Reliever Colin Selby also is on the taxi squad. The Orioles won’t announce their 27th man until the conclusion of Game 1.
Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle also are on the bench. Jordan Westburg remains the designated hitter. Heston Kjerstad is in left field and Rámon Laureano is in right.
Jackson Holliday is the second baseman.
DETROIT – Charlie Morton is having trouble with the curve.
Game 2 of today’s split doubleheader against the Tigers presents Morton with another opportunity to spin his season in the right direction. He’s gone 0-5 with a 10.89 ERA and 2.226 WHIP in 20 2/3 innings, and the Orioles can’t promise an extended run of starts.
The opponent could provide the cure. Morton hasn’t allowed an earned run to the Tigers in his last 23 2/3 innings, one of the longest streaks against them since 1995, according to STATS. It began in May 2017 and has continued through June 2023. Derek Lowe owns the longest stretch in the Wild Card era at 33 1/3, followed by Mariano Rivera (27 2/3), Jamie Moyer (27), Jon Garland (26) and Sean Lowe (24).
Morton will grasp onto any possible advantage. He’s the third pitcher to go 0-5 with a 10.00 ERA in his first five appearances with a team, per STATS. Jeff Weaver lost his first five starts and posted a 15.35 ERA with the Mariners in 2007 and Jason Marquis was 0-5 with a 14.33 ERA with the Nationals in 2010.
In five starts since signing for $15 million, Morton has allowed 31 hits and 25 runs with 15 walks in 20 2/3 innings. He hadn’t allowed four-plus earned runs in his first five starts in his previous 17 major league seasons, and his 10.89 ERA is the highest over any five-game span in a minimum 20 innings. It’s also the second-highest in a pitcher’s first five starts with the Orioles after Ty Blach’s 11.32 ERA in 2019.
The Orioles have moved on to Detroit, relieved to snap a three-game losing streak and to avoid being swept by the Nationals.
They lost two of three games to the Tigers at Comerica Park last season and two of three at Camden Yards. Their last three-game sweep in Detroit happened in 2004.
They’d settle for a series win, their second in 2025.
The season is 24 games old for the Orioles and they are counting on track records and improved health until perhaps able to make some moves closer to the deadline.
This also would help:
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.
The Orioles are in D.C. again tonight, trying to avoid being swept by the Nationals before flying to Detroit.
The losing streak has reached three games and the record has fallen to 9-14. The Orioles haven’t been six games below .500 since July 5, 2022.
Left-hander Cade Povich is making his fifth start. He’s posted a 6.38 ERA and 2.073 WHIP in 18 1/3 innings.
The last outing was his worst, with the Reds totaling seven runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked five batters and surrendered three home runs.
Povich hasn’t faced the Nationals. Nathaniel Lowe has two at-bats against him and is 1-for-2 with a double.
The news was good in the way that Orioles manager Brandon Hyde presented it yesterday.
How high you choose to raise your hopes is up to you.
Grayson Rodriguez sought additional opinions after undergoing imaging on his sore right shoulder, which always leads to the worst assumptions. I said it, too. Athletes don’t normally contact other physicians or surgeons if the first appointment brought positive results.
Hyde told the assembled media yesterday in D.C. that Rodriguez has a “mild lat strain,” and that he improved “quite a bit this last week.” He also described Rodriguez as “symptom-free.” Sadly, I’ve become optimism-free based on the number of times that mild has led to months-long absences from the active roster.
Rodriguez won’t begin throwing again for a couple of weeks, so the Orioles aren’t getting him back anytime soon. He’s starting over again with flat ground tossing, bullpen sessions, live batting practice and a rehab assignment in the minors. Meanwhile, the rotation must hold up with Zach Eflin also sidelined by a lat strain.
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.”
WASHINGTON – Expected stats don’t show up in the box score. That makes them easy to dismiss.
They’re not interchangeable with counting numbers, nor should they be used as a crutch for a struggling offense.
But, in this case, it could help explain why a lineup with so much talent has struggled to score runs. It’s one thing to say, “This team is talented and they should be hitting better than they are.”
Expected numbers support that claim.
Entering tonight’s game against the Nationals, the Orioles have the 19th-best team OPS and have scored the 18th-most runs in the game. On paper, with stars like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Jordan Westburg, they are far better than a fringe top-20 unit.
Left-hander Trevor Rogers made his first injury rehab start today at Double-A Chesapeake and gave up a two-run homer to Altoona’s Kervin Pichardo two batters into the game. Rogers worked three innings and allowed two runs and four hits with one walk and three strikeouts. He threw 44 pitches, 29 for strikes.
Rogers is on the injured list after dislocating his right knee in January.
Braxton Bragg made his Double-A debut and tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings with three hits, two walks and eight strikeouts.
Silas Ardoin hit his second home run.
Heston Kjerstad stays in left field tonight for the Orioles, who continue their series against the Nationals in D.C., and Jackson Holliday remains at second base.
WASHINGTON – The pain points in the Orioles' 2025 season aren’t difficult to locate.
They were apparent in Sunday’s lopsided game and they showed themselves again tonight in a 7-0 loss to the Nationals.
“We did not play well,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “It is disappointing. Coming off a game we definitely wanted to throw away a couple of days ago, an off-day, to come out and not take great at-bats and not play very good baseball tonight, that was disappointing.”
Entering tonight’s contest against the Nationals, Orioles starting pitchers had the highest ERA in the majors by a significant margin. Dean Kremer’s outing didn’t help that figure.
“When he was in the middle part of the plate, they hit him hard,” said Hyde. “Some of the other balls that went for RBIs were just in the middle part of the plate. Just had a tough night.”
WASHINGTON – Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don’t.
An adage applicable to your driver on the golf course, your falsetto at karaoke and a starting pitcher’s feel for off-speed and breaking pitches.
Dean Kremer doesn’t have an overwhelming fastball. It averages about 93.6 mph, according to FanGraphs, and opponents are hitting .304 against the offering this season. Last year, according to Statcast’s run value, it was the worst of his five consistent offerings.
When Kremer has found success, he’s mixed the four-seamer with well-placed cutters and sinkers, plus a curveball to change speeds. But last season, the right-hander found a new, effective off-speed offering: the splitter.
In 2024, he had it. But in 2025, he hasn’t.
