Baltimore Orioles Have Posted Another Impressive Feat During Exciting Era

During this exciting era of Baltimore Orioles baseball, they continue to get better and better by doing this impressive feat.

Jul 20, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Baltimore Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins (31) celebrates with designated hitter Anthony Santander (25) in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Texas Rangers in the third inning at Globe Life Field | Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles have entered a time during their rebuild where they are now true World Series contenders for the foreseeable future.

They have superstars in Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, young players starting to blossom like Jordan Westburg, Grayson Rodriguez and Colton Cowser, plus they have veterans who are major contributors, and the best farm system in baseball.

If everything continues to progress, this group will be at the top of this game for a long time.

That's exactly what general manager Mike Elias set out to do when he took over this role in November 2018. Knowing this would be a complete teardown, the franchise allowed him to operate in that manner, getting high draft picks and selling off their assets to rebuild their pipeline.

So far, it has worked.

Enter Sunday's contest, the Orioles are 60-38, leading the AL East by two games. They have a real chance at winning back-to-back division crowns for the first time since 1973 and 1974.

Baltimore's 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday got them to the 60-win mark.

It was also the earliest they have ever won this many games under Elias' leadership.

Dates on which #Orioles reached their 60th win during the Mike Elias era:

2024: July 20
2023: July 22
2022: August 15
2021: Never
2020: n/a (60-game season)
2019: Never

This is the 2nd straight year the O's have been 60-38 at the 98-game mark.

— Jake Rill (@JakeDRill) July 21, 2024

The Orioles continue to get better during this time period, something that is a scary thought for the rest of Major League Baseball considering they weren't expected to be true contenders for another few years.

Even though Rutschman has been a star for a couple seasons and Henderson burst onto the scene with his AL Rookie of the Year-winning performance in 2023, they were still seen as a group who couldn't compete with some of the best teams around the league.

That was clearly wrong.

Baltimore is ahead of schedule with a real opportunity to make a deep playoff run, and if they are able to keep Corbin Burnes on this roster, they will have an ace the front office can build around.

How dominant this team truly becomes will be seen, but this exciting time in franchise history continues to get better.