The Orioles season is over. They failed to repeat as AL East Champions and got swept in their first playoff series for the second year in a row. Despite stellar back-to-back performances from Orioles 2024 ace, Corbin Burnes, and impactful trade deadline acquisition Zach Eflin, the O’s failed to give their star pitchers more than one run of supporting offense in 18 innings of playoff baseball. Here’s what’s clear: The Orioles can’t get it done in the playoffs, but what’s not clear… Why not?
Coming off a historic 101-win season in 2023, the Orioles were ready to get back into Camden and build off a historic year. In hopes of doing this, they answered one burning question in a huge move: “What are we going to do about starting pitching?” After the O’s were sold to new management, David Rubenstein and his managing group made the decision to sign former Cy Young winner, Corbin Burnes to become Baltimore’s new ace. The move came with a $15 million dollar price tag, but that ended up being an expense worth undertaking. Burnes ended season 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA and was in Cy Young talks throughout the year.
Baltimore continued to make moves throughout the season, such as calling up former top MLB prospect, Jackson Holliday, who had a slow start but came back and ended the season with significant contributions to the O’s offense and filled in well for the mid-season victim to injury, Jorge Mateo. Despite fighting the injury plague, the Orioles made up for it with great seasons by the likes of Anthony Santander, deadline acquisitions like Zach Eflin and Seranthony Dominguez, and Orioles prospect Heston Kjerstad.
Despite all these additions, the Orioles could not win the AL East and did not get past the wildcard, the biggest downfall being a scarcity of hits with runners in scoring position (RISP) in the second half of the season, hitting .254, a drop of 85 points compared to last year. So, with the season over, how do the Orioles recover from a disappointing end this year and get their first playoff win in over a decade?
First of all, hope is not lost – The Orioles still have a young core who have high ceilings, and their world-series window seems to be just opening, but they have some important questions to answer. Here’s my opinion.
Orioles General Manager, Mike Elias said he was “pretty confident” that the payroll would increase. After decades of having one of the smallest payrolls in the league, Baltimore is changing. No doubt the O’s are still a small market team, but with a new management group led by Baltimore native billionaire, David Rubenstein, and new sponsors such as T. Rowe Price, they have a little more money to work with, not to mention the increased revenue that comes with putting a more successful team on the field.
So, where should this money go? First of all, Baltimore shouldn’t let Corbin Burnes go, they should hand him a blank check if that’s what it takes to keep him in the state and continue to haunt opposing offenses. They should re-sign Anthony Santander, Danny Coulombe, Cionel Perez and Ryan O’Hearn. This will help the pitching staff continue to have success, along with the return of injured Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodrieguez, and Felix Bautista, and the offense to have reliable hitters with good power.
Next, the Orioles need to be willing to go all in and make more acquisitions. They cannot let this World Series window slip by. The coaching staff will need some revision, skipper Brandon Hyde has already been confirmed, but the hitting coaches need a lot of work, especially after the all-star break collapse of Gunnar Henderson, a disappointing offensive season from Adley Rutschman, and a general scoring struggle in the second half.
In conclusion, the Orioles are going to have to make some changes, but once the dust clears from being swept in the playoffs once again, it will be clear that this team has a promising future, and I eagerly await the start of the next season.
