After Another Horrible Series Loss These Three Things Must Change For The Orioles

Their best players needs to get a breather, they better back off their best starter and change needs to happen in the pen

Jun 5, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2) slides in to home plate to score a run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

When Mike Elias opens his mouth in front of the microphones in season, mostly meaningless pablum comes out about his baseball team and then they go into another tailspin.

He tries to put his spin on a franchise that has been in steady decline for over two years now, and that hasn’t come close to winning anything in nearly nine years with this person leading their baseball operations. The players listen to him make excuses for them and try to gaslight fans into thinking they don’t know what they’re watching and then his janky roster goes into a further slide. He did it in late April and tried to tell you this season won't be like last season, and damn if it’s not a carbon copy as we head toward 90 games in.

Elias bloviated again over the weekend and his vaunted lineup (newsflash: it ain’t close to special) came up short o the Nats and their lowly pitching staff. They ended up dropping two of three and head into a series with the White Sox – yet another rebuilding franchise like Washington that has passed them by – with a chance to drop back to a season low eight games under .500 with a loss Monday night.

This latest listless series that featured all the hallmarks of The Elias Way – can’t hit garbage starting pitchers, can’t hit much in the clutch at all, cannot field the ball and cost runs with bush league errors and continue to play a Little League style of baseball with the contact play on in critical junctures and they make outs at home plate and third base in those instances.

Here’s what this latest series loss told us about the Orioles and what ails them and how to bandage their many wounds:

Gunnar Needs To Sit and Drop

They cannot continue to roll Gunnar Henderson out in the No. 2 hole. It’s just impossible for him right now and he expressed his frustration again after Sunday’s loss and continues to say how hard he is grinding, This inept baseball operations staff let Adley Rutschman fall into a two-year funk and they kept batting him in the top three of the lineup all the time and it’s happening with Henderson now and it will help torpedo another season.

Move Blaze Alexander up the damn lineup, duh and drop Henderson. These games need to be treated as more urgent as another season spirals away.

Henderson has a .700 OPS for the month of June, with just a .367 SLG, and he now has an incomprehensible .701 OPS for the season. He has a .709 OPS with runners in scoring position and his at bats are back to being lost. No signs of life. He has a .710 OPS in close and late situations. He has a .685 OPS at Camden Yards, which should be tailor made for him.

He has struck out 91 times and has a ridiculous .291 OBP. Elias cares more about saving face and looking smart, so nothing will likely change here, but Henderson in the top three of a perpetually erratic lineup is asking for trouble.

The Orioles have one batter on their entire roster right now with an OPS above .800 – slugger Pete Alonso. But Elias really wants to be a buyer. Get out of here.

Back Off Bradish

It continues to be a wildly erratic season for Kyle Bradish, who couldn’t command anything on Sunday. We’ve written it and talked to experts like Jim Duquette and Buck Showalter and Mike Bordick about it on “The Daily Flock” and they all agree this is an incredibly tricky situation that requires delicate care.

Watching him walk five batters in four innings and get the quick hook was ugly. He was struggling last month and then had two great outings, but he was also pumping velo and ringing up strikeouts in those starts, and for a guy who hasn’t thrown 40 innings in a season since 2023, this second half could be quite trying. Sustaining anything will be difficult.

Pushing back his Tommy John surgery has compromised three seasons now, and Bradish is already at 93 IP. Dean Kremer was good in Norfolk the other night and if he’s back by the All Star break this should be a six-man rotation for a spell. Will they smart about this while the GM tries to pretend this isn’t a failed rebuild and he talks about playoff pushes and how bad the rest of the league is?

Elias never deserves the benefit of the doubt going on a decade here.

Wolfram In Garcia’s Role

It looks like Grant Wolfram is going to be replacing Rico Garcia in high-leverage spots, and they might as well ride that wave while they can.

They tried it with Anthony Nunez and he’s back in AAA and Garcia is getting absolutely demolished whenever he comes and getting him to the All Star Break not totally shattered will take some doing.

Wolfram is a lefty with reverse splits and he’s in great form right now and he and Yennier Cano are the two arms back there I’d probably truth the most. Ryan Helsley was shaky, is shaky and will always be shaky until Elias trades him at the deadline.

Because we know this team better than Elias does, and always have, and that’s where this is headed.

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