Baltimore Orioles Failure at Key Position Could Cost Them Postseason Berth

The Baltimore Orioles could find themselves failing to make the playoffs and this position group would likely be to blame.

Apr 28, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano (19) delivers during the third inning against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

It has been a disastrous start to the season for the Baltimore Orioles and there is plenty of blame to go around.

For a team that has won the most games in the American League in the last two years, the start of 2025 has been shocking and disappointing. After a long rebuild, it looked like Baltimore had finally turned the corner of late and was building a team that could sustain success for quite some time.

While it is just one month of baseball, this team now looks like a mess and the campaign is quickly getting away from them.

Since the Orioles are in last place with a record well below .500 at this stage of the season, there is a lot of blame to go around. However, it has been one aspect of the team that has received most of it.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) recently spoke about reasons to be pessimistic about the Orioles. While the list was long, the main reason was the starting rotation.

“It doesn’t look like this rotation is good enough to get the Orioles to the postseason. In terms of the offense, most of us believe the O’s will figure it out and start producing soon," he wrote.

While the starting rotation hasn’t been the main strength of Baltimore during their recent success, the unit has taken a massive step backwards.

This winter, they lost their ace Corbin Burnes to free agency and didn’t properly replace him, resulting in a bit of a mess in 2025.

The Orioles added free agents Tomoyuki Sugano and Charlie Morton to fill the void. While Sugano has been their best pitcher, Morton has been their worst and has already been relegated to the bullpen because of his production.

Losing an ace is never a good thing, and Baltimore clearly didn’t do enough to replace him.

Furthermore, their top two projected starters, Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez have combined to miss most of the season, with only Eflin pitching a bit in 2025 before hitting the injured list.

In addition to the key injuries, some of the young arms haven’t taken a step forward.

All of these factors have contributed to a perfect storm of struggles for Baltimore.

While the campaign is still early, the thought of the Orioles making the postseason right now feels highly unlikely. The timetable to return for their two top pitchers is still up in the air, and nobody has stepped up for them.

Even though the lineup hasn’t been nearly as good as they should be, it will end up being the starting rotation that keeps them from making the playoffs.