ESPN gives Orioles early-season ‘F’ grade

The Baltimore Orioles are enjoying a revitalization over the past couple of years. They won at least 90 games in each of the last two seasons behind co-stars Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman. In 2025, Brandon Hyde is trying everything he can, but his squad is underperforming expectations, earning them a rough grade from ESPN.

After one month of the Major League Baseball season, the Orioles are still waiting for injured players to return. Grayson Rodriguez, Colton Cowser, and Zach Eflin are all on the IL. Without them, it is difficult to put too much weight on a tough start to the season.

Rutschman and Henderson are struggling to get out of slumps, but their teammates aren’t picking up their slack. Their rough stretch might be a continuation of last year’s rocky end to the season, according to ESPN’s David Schoenfield.

“This goes back to the second half of 2024, when the Orioles were two games under .500 the final three months and then got swept in the wild-card series, scoring one run in two games,” said Schoenfield about the team’s struggles.

On paper, Baltimore has as much young talent as any team in the league. Henderson garnered serious 2024 AL MVP consideration and might have won had it not been for his competition. Rutschman is still one of the league’s best catchers. The Orioles even added Tyler O’Neill to replace Anthony Santander’s bat in their order.

Regardless of their offensive shortcomings, the most glaring problem facing the team is their pitching. Baltimore’s staff has one of the highest ERA’s of any team. Their starters are terrible outside of Tomoyuki Sugano.

Despite their fans’ reaction to the start of their season, the Orioles aren’t hitting the panic button just yet. However, if they continue to struggle, even when Rodriguez and Eflin are back on the mound, they face serious questions about the team’s viability moving forward. A shaky finish to 2024 that saw them swept out of the postseason might have been just the tip of the iceberg.