Orioles Need Superstar To Return to MVP-Like Performance To Have Any Hope

Not much has gone right for the Baltimore Orioles during the 2025 MLB regular season, who has been the most disappointing team in baseball.

With a 19-35 record, they are already 15 games behind the New York Yankees in the cellar of the American League East. The Chicago White Sox are the only AL team with fewer victories, and in all of baseball, only the Colorado Rockies have fewer.

Many people will point to the team’s pitching as the main culprit for their lack of success and it would be hard to argue against that.

All of the moves the front office made in the offseason to reinforce the pitching staff have backfired.

Without pitching, it is impossible to imagine the Orioles turning things around and getting back into the playoff race, as their odds of doing so are minuscule.

However, the pitching staff isn’t the only reason the team is struggling to string together wins.

Their offense has also fell woefully short of expectations, another area that the front office failed in over the winter.

None of the players they have signed are making as positive an impact as they had hoped. Outfielder Tyler O’Neill has failed to stay healthy, as has been the case throughout his entire career.

Catcher Gary Sanchez has also spent time on the injured list.

So many whiffs likely have the front office on the hot seat, with pressure rising to make the most out of a lost season by trading away some of their valuable pieces ahead of the trade deadline.

Orioles Need Gunnar Henderson To Play at Highest Level

Another thing that has hurt the Baltimore lineup is their star shortstop, Gunnar Henderson, not producing at the MVP-like level he did in 2024.

After starting the campaign on the injured list, it took a little while for the talented slugger to find his groove. He hasn’t been as bad as some of his teammates with a .261/.325/.447 slash line with 1.9 WAR (per ESPN), but it isn’t at the level the team had hoped for or needs to succeed.

“It's getting late early for the Orioles, who will need every last bit of production from their franchise cornerstones to get back into the pennant race. Henderson (119 wRC+) isn't struggling, but he's also not replicating his fantastic 2024 season (155 wRC+) in which he finished fourth place in AL MVP Award voting,” wrote Jared Greenspan of MLB.com in a piece highlighting players who have to step up to help turn around underwhelming clubs.

Returning to that MVP-level production would certainly help get the Orioles out of the rut they are currently in, providing the team with a much-needed spark and someone for the rest of the teammates to feed off of.