Yes, we’re all overreacting to the Orioles’ sluggish 4-6 start.
As everyone who knows how to hit the reply button on the website formerly known as Twitter can tell you, the Orioles have only played 10 games. You’re not going to believe this but you guys, that’s more or less the equivalent of a single football game. I can’t believe it! I definitely had no idea and couldn’t have possibly figured that out had it not been for those of you who sent me basically the exact same response to a very mild thought I had while watching a baseball game this weekend.
I’m not here to waste column space attempting to explain a silly tweet. I’m here because we’re all trying to figure out what to make of a team that’s been lethargic for a long period of time.
Obviously, there’s no reason to panic about a baseball team being 4-6. Good teams will have 4-6 stretches during the season multiple times. The real issue we’re dealing with is whether this current 4-6 start has any connection whatsoever to the team’s 42-46 (42-48 if you count the playoffs) close to the 2024 season.
The loudest panic about this team continues to be about the pitching, and that’s understandable. Their 4.71 team ERA and 1.41 WHIP both rank in the bottom third of MLB. Quality starts have been so sparse that when Cade Povich pitched to a 2.16 WHIP in the finale of the Royals series, most of us thought something along the lines of, “That was a pretty good effort.”
Corbin Burnes’ departure was the biggest frustration Orioles fans felt this offseason (combined with less-than-convincing alternatives to replace him), but Burnes has struggled so far. In his first two starts with the Diamondbacks, he has allowed six earned runs (eight total) in just 9.1 innings.
Still, it’s fair to expect that a pitcher of Burnes’ caliber will figure things out moving forward. It’s much harder to figure out what any of Charlie Morton (10 strikeouts was neat!), Tomo Sugano (who was really good other than the sixth inning), Dean Kremer (bad luck and bad results) and Povich might do until (if?) Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish return.
What’s more perplexing is the inconsistency of the offense. In all six of their losses, the Orioles have scored four runs or fewer — and in five of them, they’ve scored three runs or fewer. They’re still in the top 10 in runs, batting average and OPS, though, because of four big-output games. The biggest step back has been in the power department. The Orioles have hit just 11 home runs total and five in their last nine games after crushing six in their Opening Day win against the Blue Jays.
Despite Gunnar Henderson’s no good, very bad weekend in Kansas City, his return should help reshape this number. Ryan Mountcastle and Tyler O’Neill are both off to good starts, but the team badly needs some more power from their bats. It’s not unreasonable to expect that to happen.
Still, I think it’s fair for us to be concerned. This hasn’t been a very good baseball team since mid-June 2024. There appears to be a general malaise instead of the joyous brand of baseball that made is fall in love with this group in 2023 and the first half of 2024.
I don’t freak out about Brandon Hyde’s daily lineup construction the way some of you do. It is of course fair to second-guess the idea of Jorge Mateo playing center field in anything other than an emergency situation. But I have reason to believe there is organizational input in the bulk of these decisions and that Hyde and GM Mike Elias walk hand in hand.
It is dramatically too soon to ask questions about their futures in Baltimore. Again, the team is 4-6, not 4-26. But it isn’t too soon to say that the spotlight is brighter and/or the microscope is in greater focus. If the Orioles don’t shake their lethargy for another couple of months, it may well be time to discuss whether a change needs to be made simply to shake things up. Typically when that happens, it’s the manager that goes so the general manager might protect himself.
But it’s not unfair to question which party is more responsible for said lethargy. At some point we can revisit that should things continue like this. In the meantime, we remember just how early it is in the season and hope the Birds can shake this funk soon.
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox