MLB Notebook: Baltimore Orioles Preview

Brandon Hyde is in his seventh year in the Oriole dugout and has become one of baseball’s solid managers. After going through the rough rebuilding process of his first three years, Hyde’s Birds have put together three straight winning seasons and two straight playoff trips. Can the success continue?

Here’s our preview of the 2025 Baltimore Orioles:

HITTING FOR POWER

Baltimore signed Tyler O’Neill in the offseason. The corner outfielder hit 31 homers in 113 games for the Red Sox and was a good power hitter in St. Louis before that…when healthy. That’s the rub for O’Neill. Ryan Mountcastle has put up good power numbers, but he’s also been in steady decline since a career year in 2021. On the flip side, Colton Cowser’s stock is rising—in his first year of regular duty, the corner outfielder hit 24 home runs.

Jordan Westburg at third base and Ryan O’Hearn DHing are both respectable, as is centerfielder Cedric Mullins, who hits 15-20 homers a year.

But everything in this offense comes back to the success of shortstop of Gunnar Henderson and catcher Adley Rutschman. Henderson was one of the best players in all of baseball last year, on the rung that’s right behind Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.

Conversely, Rutschman spent 2022 and 2023 on an upward trajectory, emerging as one of the game’s best catcher. Last year, his numbers plummeted. Just like Henderson has to keep producing, Rutschman needs to return to form. Those two issues will define the Baltimore offense.

GETTING ON BASE

Everything said about Henderson and Rutschman in the power category also applies here. Perhaps even more so, because the rest of Baltimore’s hitters don’t get on base consistently. There’s a reason this team’s offense tends to go in boom-and-bust cycles, which has led to postseason flameouts. They don’t have table setters. Mullins can run—25-30 stolen bases a year, but he needs to be aboard with greater frequency. And he’s been in the league long enough that expecting improvement seems unrealistic. This area is a problem.

STARTING PITCHING

Corbin Burnes is gone, so Hyde is looking for an ace. Whether he finds that depends on how good Tomoyuki Sugano, the 35-year-old rookie from Japan is. But even without an ace, the rest of the rotation—Grayson Rodriguez, Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer, and veteran Charlie Morton, signed from Atlanta, are at least steady. One caveat is that Rodriguez will miss a month with an elbow injury.

BULLPEN

Relief pitching has been an Oriole strength and should be so again this year. Felix Bautista was an electric closer for most of 2023 until a late elbow injury cost him the rest of that season and all of 2024. Bautista is back. Seranthony Dominguez and Yennier Cano are dependable in setup. So is Cionel Perez. And Keegan Akin is consistently lights-out. If the Birds get through five innings with a lead, they’re going to be tough to beat.

OUTLOOK

Baltimore slipped from 101 wins in 2023 to 91 wins last year. Betting markets see a gradual decline, with an Over/Under win total of 86.5. That’s about where I’m at. I respect Hyde, the relief pitching and the power enough to say this is likely a playoff team. But the boom-or-bust cycles are a problem, and it’s tough to say that the Birds are still on a par with the Yankees in the AL East.