Orioles hope long homestand can provide a spark

Through 13 games, 8 percent of the 2025 season, the Orioles are 5-8. They’ve yet to win consecutive games or a series. They finished a road trip to Kansas City and Arizona with four losses in six games.

“This wasn’t our best road trip,” manager Brandon Hyde told reporters in Phoenix. “Didn’t catch a lot of breaks. Feels like things didn’t go our way a lot of the time.”

The Orioles wrapped up the trip with a 9-0 loss to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday. That followed a 4-3 loss on Tuesday night. The Orioles had just four hits in each game.

“I feel like we’re hitting balls hard, but not really finding any holes right now,” first baseman Ryan Mountcastle said. “Hopefully, will soon.”

In 2024, the Orioles began the season with a starting rotation of Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, Tyler Wells, Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin. Kyle Bradish and John Means rejoined the rotation later, but weren’t there for long.

In June, Wells, who was shut down after just three starts, Bradish and Means had season-ending elbow surgeries. After a promising start, the Orioles played .500 ball in the second half and scored just one run in two losses in the Wild Card Series to Kansas City.

Through 13 games, the Orioles have scored 55 runs, an average of more than four a game, but as fans watching have seen, the offense has been incredibly inconsistent. Thirty-seven of those, have come in four of the five Orioles wins. They’ve scored just 13 runs in their eight losses.

Their starters’ ERA is 5.37, one of the worst in baseball. The bullpen has been better with a 3.35 ERA, though they’ve yet to have a save opportunity.

Can the rotation improve? The Orioles didn’t re-sign Burnes, their top starter from last season, who’s now with Arizona. Because of injuries only two starters from last season are in the rotation.

They hoped to begin the season with Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez anchoring the rotation. Eflin suffered a right lat strain in Monday night’s game and will be on the 15-day injured list through at least April 23^rd.

Rodriguez, who has right elbow inflammation, is probably still multiple weeks away from pitching for the first time in 2025.

Albert Suárez, who tied Kremer for second most starts last year with 24, is on the 60-day injured list with a right tendon injury.

For now, Kremer, whose ERA is 8.16 through his first three starts, Tomoyuki Sugano, in his first year in the major leagues, Cade Povich, who has a 6.10 ERA in his first two starts, and 41-year-old Charlie Morton, with an 8.78 ERA in three starts, comprise the rotation.

The Orioles could decide to use those four until April 19^th when they’ll need a fifth starter or add another starter sooner. They seem likely to promote Brandon Young, who hasn’t allowed an earned run in 11 1/3 innings in two starts at Triple-A Norfolk.

Young, an undrafted free agent in 2020, would be the first pitcher signed by the Orioles in the Mike Elias era to debut. He was named the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year. Last August, Elias said Young was on the team’s radar. He was added to the 40-man roster and pitched in Grapefruit League games.

Kyle Gibson, signed by the Orioles on March 21^st, will pitch for Norfolk on Thursday night. He’s unlikely to pitch in the majors before May 1^st.

The Orioles need stronger starts from Kremer, Morton and Povich while they wait for reinforcements.

What’s wrong with the offense? The Orioles have 12 home runs, just under one per game, but like runs, that stat is skewed. They hit a team record six on Opening Day, and 10 in their first three games. They’ve hit only three in the last 10 games.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson is sure to get better. He’s played just six games after missing nearly all of spring training with a right intercostal strain. He’s just 4-for-25 (.160) with 10 strikeouts.

Mountcastle is hitting .268, but he has just two extra-base hits and his OPS is only .619.

Third baseman Jordan Westburg, who was rested on Wednesday because of what Hyde termed an “upper-body injury,” is hitting .256 with a .798 OPS. Catcher Adley Rutschman, who’s reached base in each of the 12 games he’s played, has a .267 average with a .787 OPS.

Centerfielder Cedric Mullins (.286, .971 OPS) and rightfielder Tyler O’Neill (.316, .912 OPS) are fine, but second baseman Jackson Holliday, who started hot, is hitless in his last 10 at-bats and hitting .250 with a .668 OPS.

The Orioles miss leftfielder Colton Cowser, whose ill-advised dive into first base in the season’s fourth game, could sideline him until June. They could use his power, speed and outfield defense.

What’s ahead? The Orioles have played just three of their first 13 games at home. After a Thursday offday, they’re scheduled for nine straight at home, their longest stretch of the season, with three games against Toronto, Cleveland and Cincinnati before playing three at Washington.

“We need to pitch better out of the rotation to give our guys an opportunity,” Hyde said. “We should be scoring more runs than we are. We need to have more competitive at-bats. Nothing to do except to keep on going.”

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.