Nine games really shouldn’t change one’s expectations for the 2026 Orioles.
In NFL terms, it’s the equivalent of there being four minutes to go in the Ravens’ Week 1 opener in Buffalo last September.
OK, that might not be the most reassuring example, especially on the heels of the Orioles suffering a blowout loss on Easter Sunday for the second straight year to fall to 3-6. But we all know — or should know anyway — it’s very early.
The opening weeks of the baseball season are always under an irrational microscope when we know every team in the majors is sure to lose five of six games at some point just as the Orioles have since the opening series win over Minnesota. All 30 clubs — including the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers — suffered such a stretch last year, and only Milwaukee avoided a losing streak of five games or worse over the course of 2025.
But after an offseason of notable changes ranging from the hiring of first-time manager Craig Albernaz to the lucrative signing of five-time All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso, the 2026 Orioles have looked too much like last year’s club that ultimately went down as one of the more disappointing groups in franchise history. The 2025 Orioles exhibited no redeemable qualities in the midst of a disastrous 16-34 start that included the mid-May firing of manager Brandon Hyde and sunk any practical postseason hopes by Memorial Day.
To this early point, the Orioles haven’t hit, pitched, fielded, or run the bases particularly well against two opponents that lost 90-plus games last year and another that finished 81-81. A forgiving early schedule was supposed to position Baltimore for a fast start before facing its first AL East rival in late April.
It’s one idea to allow a new season to breathe, but you’d like to see a few more encouraging signs in the process.
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There haven’t been many.
While Opening Day starter Trevor Rogers has picked up right where he left off in 2025 and Shane Baz has been good in all but one of his first 11 innings as an Oriole, Kyle Bradish hasn’t impressed and the 37-year-old Chris Bassitt has been awful through two starts. Even worse, Zach Eflin is getting a second opinion on the elbow injury sustained in his season debut, which leaves his 2026 status in real question.
The bullpen looking shaky at best — especially without Andrew Kittredge, Keegan Akin, and now Dietrich Enns — hasn’t been all that surprising, and the only way it figures to be good enough is with the starting rotation being a strength, which just hasn’t been the case so far.
With Alonso and Taylor Ward joining the lineup and a talented young position core™ — that includes some players who aren’t that young anymore — being another year older, the Orioles were constructed to hit the ball and score runs at a high rate. But that was also the expectation last year before they finished 24th in the majors in runs scored per game (4.18). The Orioles were 21st in runs per contest (3.78) entering Monday.
While Adley Rutschman and Ward are off to encouraging starts, one only assumes Alonso will slug more than .343 and Gunnar Henderson will bat higher than .216 over the season’s final 153 games. But will some combination of a healthy Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser, Coby Mayo, Samuel Basallo, Dylan Beavers, and hopefully Jordan Westburg at some point produce enough to make this lineup as formidable as many have anticipated?
At some point, the steak needs to live up to the prospect sizzle for the Orioles to succeed both now and in the medium-term future.
The defense and baserunning have also been shoddy after a spring of “trying to redefine ourselves as getting back to fundamental baseball” as Albernaz described it after the three-game sweep in Pittsburgh. While no one expects Gold Glove-caliber defense or a stolen-base crown from this roster, it’s not too much to ask for players to throw to the right base and to avoid running into outs on the bases, especially with a new manager in place.
8A cleaner brand of baseball is a must.
Even if Hyde received disproportional blame for last year’s debacle, the sloppy performance out of the gate was a poor reflection on him and the coaching staff when a club should be sharper from focusing on such fundamentals in February and March. But when does the blame shift more dramatically to the players — and especially Mike Elias and the front office picking those players — if such problems continue?
To reiterate, we’re dealing with a sample size that’s a good week of baseball away from largely being forgiven. Writing such a column at this point wouldn’t be warranted if not for the mental scar tissue that dates back to July 2024 for the Orioles and anyone who’s watched them. That’s why so many were pointing to the need for a fast start under a new manager to put last year in the rearview mirror for good.
The feel-good vibes of spring training only linger so long before you begin to think, “Here we go again.”
There’s been quite a bit of turnover from last year’s disappointing team, but that also means there are fewer holdovers from the fun times of a few years ago that preceded the last 1 1/2 seasons of mediocrity at best. Until it shows otherwise, this team warrants some doubts, which is why even the most rational fans are more concerned than a 3-6 start would typically justify.
Yes, it’s a new season and a new team with less than two weeks of baseball in the books. But this start feels a little too familiar to brush off entirely. Whether talking about familiar faces or the new ones, the Orioles collectively have to live with the reputation earned over the last couple years and do something to change the narrative.
And that needs to happen much sooner than later.
