The Baltimore Orioles' Defensive Woes Continue Going Into August

Let’s face it. Whether the issue is mental, physical, or psychological, the missteps of this Orioles defense have been growing more apparent as each day passes.

Time after time, we’ve seen infielders like Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, and Jeremiah Jackson misplace their glove on the ball or when they do gain possession, fail to gather themselves and make a wild throw to first baseman Pete Alonso.

In the 2026 season, the Orioles are ranked 25th in errors given up per game at 0.65, behind just five other teams. They are also in the bottom five in unearned runs given up in all of baseball. In fact, the only consistent fielding we’ve seen is from Alonso, Adley Rutschman, and Blaze Alexander. Now that two out of these three players are injured, this defense will have to step up if they want a shot at postseason play.

What makes this issue even worse is the lack of accountability from manager Craig Albernaz. In a post-game conference from the loss to Boston on July 20th, Albernaz was posed with the following question: “Are you concerned about eight errors in three games?” His response? “No”.

Like many fans, Orioles Hall of Famer Mike Bordick was not impressed by Albernaz’s answer: “I think you have to acknowledge it the right way and say, ‘Listen, we're having a problem. We cannot play fundamentally sound defense right now and we have to make an adjustment, and this has to be done by each personal player.’”

It’s Not Just The Infielders

The problems don’t stop with the infield, though. Bordick also brought up the fielding flaws in pitchers Shane Baz and Yennier Cano. He references game one in the Red Sox series when Baz made an egregious over-throw to first, in which that runner would advance to second and later score.

In that same game, Cano would enter in relief and fail to back up catcher Sam Huff at home plate, creating chaos on the base path and even more runs to score. Looking back on this, Bordick claims, “It has to be addressed and should be addressed in the media. Throw this out there: when pitchers don't back up bases and when pitchers don't know how to throw to first base. He would add on, “This is consistent every night, and we see that there's just a lack of attention to detail and this is the stuff that really needs to be harped on.”

Can The Coaching Staff Do More?

While the coaching approach to these issues is clearly not working – Holliday’s 10th inning throwing error Friday spoke to that - Bordick isn’t necessarily sold that a new staff is the answer.

“I don't know that any manager could fix this team's defense because this is something that’s happened over time,” Bordick said.

Bordick believes former interim manager Tony Mansolino would have taken a better approach had he been named full-time skipper.

“I just always will go back to Mansolino last year when he was thinking about being a manager and he said, ‘The first thing I will do is bring back a 1990s spring training.’ It's something that's been overlooked in all of baseball for years.”

Mansolino emphasized a fundamental fielding approach where every player should be in the right place at all times. As a former player himself, Bordick vouches that this strategy both increases focus and improves the mental part of the game significantly. Perhaps under Albernaz, the O’s have fallen out of touch with what really works.

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