4 Massive Overreactions From Orioles Stumbling Out of Gate This Season

The Baltimore Orioles have gotten off to a shaky start in the 2025 season for a multitude of seasons.

An injury to star shortstop Gunnar Henderson caused him to miss the first week of the season, while left fielder Colton Cowser went down with a fractured thumb and will miss 6-to-8 weeks.

The pitching staff has been abysmal, just as many feared it would be coming into the campaign.

The Orioles' inconsistent performance has led to some wild overreactions, some more justified than others. Here are four of the most massive ones so far.

Felix Bautista Won’t Return to All-Star Form

Prior to 2025, the last time Bautista was on a Major League mound was August 2023, when he was lifted from a game because of injury. A few weeks later, he underwent Tommy John surgery and his 2024 campaign was lost.

After making the Opening Day roster, he still has some rust that needs to be worked off. He looked like the All-Star version of himself in his debut, pitching a scoreless inning with three strikeouts. He struggled in his second outing, however, giving up two earned runs without a punchout.

Up and down performances like that are expected as he rounds back into shape. Eventually, he will take over as the team’s closer and showcase his dominance once again.

Heston Kjerstad Will Never Figure It Out

Baltimore has an impressively deep stable of young positional players. Some have emerged and turned into everyday contributors, while others haven’t quite found their groove.

Falling into the latter is Kjerstad, who hasn’t had the clearest path to playing time yet in his career. But, with Cowser dealing with an injury, the opportunity to play regularly is there.

Will he take advantage of it?

He hasn’t yet, going 2-for-9 with five strikeouts. In his Major League career, he has a .246/.331/.406 slash line. The team may be better off using him as a trade piece instead while he still has trade value.

Charlie Morton Was Worst Free-Agent Signing of Winter

The Orioles' strategy to fill out their starting rotation has been disastrous to this point. It's easy to imagine that things would be better had they retained Corbin Burnes or pushed to acquire one of the other aces who changed teams this winter.

Instead, they spent money on Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Kyle Gibson. Morton has been disappointing, getting rocked in his two starts against the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, giving up 13 hits, three walks and nine earned runs.

The 41-year-old's 3.93 FIP indicates he has pitched better than his raw numbers suggest, and he does have 13 strikeouts in 8.1 innings. But the team needs more to justify their spending and strategy.

Jordan Westburg Is Second-Best Youngster on Team

This isn’t an overreaction anyone would be mad at, as it means Westburg has ascended to being an All-Star caliber player.

Without Henderson in the lineup, he has done his best impersonation of the star shortstop with a .375/.444/.750 slash line and three home runs through 27 plate appearances.

When he suffered an injury last year, the team’s production plummeted without him. A strong argument could be made that he is as important as Henderson to the team’s offensive success.

Felix Bautista Won’t Return to All-Star Form

Heston Kjerstad Will Never Figure It Out

Charlie Morton Was Worst Free-Agent Signing of Winter

Jordan Westburg Is Second-Best Youngster on Team

Recommended Articles