Five Takeaways From the Baltimore Orioles’ 2025 Season

An obvious one to start things off.

This Orioles team is only going to go as far as Gunnar Henderson can take them. And while Henderson had a good year in a vacuum, his 4.8 fWAR was a ways off from his 7.8 fWAR in 2024.

A drop in OPS by over 100 points can certainly be explained by the 20 fewer homers that he hit in 2025 compared to 2024. His defensive metrics also worsened; he went from being an even defender in 2024 to producing -3 Outs Above Average this season.

Within the last couple of seasons, many thought this Orioles team was going to be filled with high-end talent and multiple stars. 2025 proved that theory incorrect, as Adley Rutschmann had a second straight down year, and Colton Cowser regressed. Coby Mayo still hasn’t panned out, and the pitching staff just isn’t where it needs to be.

Gunnar is a superstar, but if he doesn’t play like it, this Orioles ballclub can’t achieve its goals.

Windows Aren’t Always What They Seem

As I said before, it wasn’t long ago that many thought the Orioles were on their way to becoming a force in Major League Baseball. Young budding stars, the best farm system in the sport, and reaching the postseason earlier than expected left fans believing that we were heading into a golden age of Orioles baseball.

Like previously stated, a lot of those young guys have taken a step back, and the front office has not done its part to supplement the homegrown pieces of this team.

Is the Orioles’ window officially closed? Certainly not. There is too much raw talent on the roster for that to be the case. But, even thinking about trading away Rutschman would have been an asinine thought just over a year ago, and now he is a hot name on the trade rumor mill.

Heading into 2024, the Orioles were in contention for the best front three of a rotation in all of baseball with Burnes, Kyle Bradish, and Grayson Rodriguez. Everyone knew there was a chance Burnes wasn’t brought back for 2025. But, none of those three pitched for the Orioles in 2025 until Bradish made a late-season return from Tommy John surgery.

The Orioles are a great example of why it is my belief that the present is always the time to go all in if you have a shot. With trades, free agency, injuries, and regression, you never know what the future holds, no matter how much you try to project.

Windows close fast, and if the Orioles front office doesn’t do something substantial this offseason to help achieve another playoff berth in 2026, their window could quickly be coming to a close.

Kyle Bradish Is Still That Guy

A huge blow to the 2024 season came when Kyle Bradish went down with an elbow injury, which resulted in Tommy John surgery, knocking him out of the 2024 season and the bulk of 2025.

Bradish returned to the mound on August 26 and went six strong innings, allowing just two earned runs while striking out 10. Bradish would go on to post a great 2.53 ERA across six starts to finish the year, giving Orioles fans confidence that he will be fully healthy to open the 2026 season.

Bradish didn’t just post great results as far as his final stat line was concerned; his stuff looked great as well. In 2023, Bradish averaged 94.6 mph on his fastball. After returning from injury in 2025, that fastball average was 94.7, a clear confirmation that he is healthy.

While Grayson Rodriguez is expected to be healthy for the start of the 2026 season, at this point, it is hard to truly count on him. Having Bradish back in the fold as his old self is a big boost to the 2026 team’s outlook.

Unwarranted Pressure on Samuel Basallo

Samuel Basallo, Just Baseball’s number six prospect in all of baseball, made his MLB debut in August, and, maybe unfairly, it was a bit disappointing.

In 118 plate appearances, Basallo slashed .165/.229/.330 while striking out 30 times and walking just six. He did hit four home runs, with a couple of them being absolute nuke jobs, showing off that insane raw power that has fans so excited for him.

Now, why is there so much pressure for Basallo to be successful beyond his status as a top prospect in baseball? The Orioles signed him to an eight-year, $67 million contract extension in August. Couple that with the rumors of Rutschmann being traded away this offseason, and it is clear that the O’s are really banking on Basallo to be a guy right away.

Rookies deserve time to develop at the big league level. Some take longer than others. Basallo really isn’t getting that grace heading into 2026. With how disappointing 2025 was for this club, they need bounce-back seasons from multiple young guys. So, for Basallo, those first 30 games were about it for his grace period. He absolutely deserves more time, but the Orioles don’t have time to waste.

With the uncertainty around other young guys such as Cowser, Jackson Holliday, and Coby Mayo, this team desperately needs Basallo to hit the ground running in 2026. And that is an unfair ask.

Zero Accountability for Ownership and the Front Office

An agreement to buy a controlling stake in the Orioles was made by David Rubenstein on January 31, 2024. Corbin Burnes was acquired on February 1, 2024.

Vibes were high in Baltimore as it seemed this new regime was showing that it was going to be aggressive and not just hoard prospects that had no spot in the big league lineup.

That was followed up with a trade deadline where the Orioles acquired Zach Eflin, Seranthony Domínguez, Trevor Rogers, and Gregory Soto.

There was a belief that the 2025 offseason would be a big one for the O’s, as they had seen this new regime do some real work in improving the big league roster throughout the 2024 season. That didn’t happen.

I already highlighted the pitching additions of Sugano and Morton; the other big addition was former Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill.

It is safe to say that the 2025 offseason was a total letdown. And that led to the letdown that was the 2025 season.

My question is, where is the accountability for the top of the organization?

Manager Brandon Hyde was fired on May 17, 2025. An early-season firing after a rough 15-28 start for the O’s. I understand that things were not going well to begin the year. But, without replacing your ace in Burnes, knowing you won’t have Bradish for the bulk of the year, and the injury history of Rodriguez, how could you expect things to go well?

That’s not even to mention the loss of Anthony Santander and his 44 home runs on offense. A team that was the four seed in the playoffs in 2024 lost multiple key pieces from the roster and didn’t replace them. That is on POBO Mike Elias and this ownership group.