Orioles’ biggest disappointment after missing MLB playoffs

The preseason optimism surrounding Baltimore was palpable and justified. Coming off back-to-back playoff appearances, including a 101-win AL East championship in 2023, the Orioles were widely projected to win between 85-95 games by most major outlets. ESPN’s bold prediction even suggested the team would reach the World Series, calling their offense “one of the best in baseball”. Instead, the 2025 campaign became what Jayson Stark of The Athletic deemed “the most disappointing team of modern times”.

The collapse was immediate and devastating. Baltimore stumbled to a 3-2 start before never climbing above .500 again. By May 24, they had plummeted to 18 games below .500 at 16-34, a deficit they would never recover from despite playing better baseball later in the season. The slow start ultimately cost manager Brandon Hyde his job on May 18, when the team sat at 15-28.

The magnitude of this disappointment cannot be overstated. As one National League executive noted, “The difference with them is that most of the teams that we would qualify as disappointing were teams that added big-time free agents and spent a bunch of money and then it just didn’t work. Where this one probably is even more disappointing is, I think we all just felt like it’s a lot of young positional players that are just going to continue to get better”.

The Pitching Staff’s Complete Breakdown

While expectations centered on the Orioles’ elite young position players continuing their ascent, the pitching staff’s failures became the primary culprit in their downfall. After losing ace Corbin Burnes to free agency, Baltimore’s attempts to patch together a rotation proved catastrophically inadequate.

The numbers tell a damning story. The Orioles’ starting rotation posted a collective 5.48 ERA, ranking dead last in Major League Baseball. The team’s Stuff+ rating of 95 ranked among the worst in baseball, indicating fundamental issues with the quality of their pitching arsenal.

Perhaps most frustrating was the complete absence of ace Grayson Rodriguez, who never threw a single pitch in 2025 due to ongoing elbow, shoulder, and lat injuries. Kyle Bradish, another key rotation piece, didn’t return from Tommy John surgery until August 26. The lack of quality depth became evident when the team was forced to use a record-breaking 70 players in a single season, a shameful organizational milestone that highlighted their roster instability.

The bullpen fared little better initially, though Felix Bautista’s return from Tommy John surgery provided one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal pitching picture. However, even Bautista was limited to just 35 games before returning to the injured list with shoulder issues.

Offensive Regression Across the Board

While pitching failures dominated headlines, the Orioles’ offensive struggles were equally shocking given their talented young core. Star catcher Adley Rutschman, a two-time All-Star and cornerstone of the franchise, suffered through his worst professional season. Limited to just 85 games due to multiple oblique injuries, Rutschman hit a career-low .227 with only nine home runs and a .683 OPS.

Rutschman’s decline has been precipitous and concerning. After posting an .809 OPS in 2023 that ranked second among all qualified catchers, he dropped to .709 in 2024 and plummeted further to .676 in 2025. His offensive production placed him behind 41 other catchers in OPS this season, a stunning fall for a player once considered among the game’s premier young talents.

Ryan Mountcastle also disappointed, struggling with a ground-ball tendency that sapped his power potential. The organizational decision to move back Camden Yards’ left field wall, which had been shortened in recent years, seemed to affect Mountcastle’s approach and confidence at the plate. Jordan Westburg battled injuries throughout the season, limiting his ability to build on his 2024 All-Star campaign.

Even Gunnar Henderson, the team’s best player and a legitimate MVP candidate, saw his power numbers decline from his spectacular 2024 season, though he remained productive overall. The cumulative effect was an offense that failed to compensate for the pitching staff’s inadequacies, despite preseason projections suggesting it would carry the team.

From Contenders to Sellers

The depth of Baltimore’s struggles became clear at the trade deadline when general manager Mike Elias made the difficult decision to become aggressive sellers. In a span of days, the organization traded away nine major league players for 15 prospects, including popular veterans like Cedric Mullins, Ryan O’Hearn, and Ramón Laureano.

“We are sorry that 2025 has gone this way,” Elias apologized to fans after the deadline fire sale. “A lot had to go wrong, and it has. We’re addressing that”. The trades represented a stunning reversal of fortune for a team that entered the season discussing championship aspirations.

The decision to sell was both pragmatic and painful. With playoff hopes effectively dead by late July, Elias chose to extract value from expiring contracts rather than let them walk for nothing in free agency. However, the sight of fan favorites being shipped out served as a stark reminder of how completely the season had unraveled.

The Baltimore Orioles’ 2025 season stands as a cautionary tale about the unpredictability of baseball and the fragility of championship windows. Despite possessing one of the game’s most promising young cores and coming off consecutive playoff appearances, injuries, pitching failures, and unexpected offensive regression combined to create a perfect storm of disappointment. The franchise that seemed poised to compete for World Series titles instead found itself eliminated from playoff contention on September 16, marking their return to irrelevance after just two years of success. For a fanbase that had endured years of rebuilding, the 2025 collapse represents not just a disappointing season, but a painful reminder that nothing in baseball is guaranteed.