The Plight Of Being A O's Fan

 It's only May and its been a long season for the O's, and truth be told its only going to get longer. Somewhere between their playoff exit last year and this season, they've forgotten how to play fundamental baseball. Brandon Hyde was fired to save Elias ass, Rubinstein suddenly had fallen back from the spotlight. And everything everyone knew was a problem for the team, had combusted all at once. Lack of quality starter pitchers, and lack of scoring if their not hitting Homer's.

Once again the franchise seems to be in a tailspin. And O's fan's are on edge about the competitive window of the team. Quite frankly it is tough, very TOUGH to be an Oriole's fan. The last time the Orioles won the world series was three years before I was born, which means there is an entire generation out there (Gen X) have not seen the O's win since they were Kid's. Millennials like myself and Gen Z'ers who have never even seen them in a world series. And at this rate Gen Alpha and possibly the newest name Gen Beta may not see them either.

I remember the '96 O's, and looking back even if Jeffrey Maier hadn't reached out and took the ball from Tony Tarasco. We still would have lost to the Yankees because it was their year. The '97 team was a different story, we should have beat the Indians and made the World Series. After that we did not sniff the playoffs again until 2012, a 15 year gap.

 Then came 2014 which I just knew was our year. I remember being at Game 2 of the division series against the Tigers, and the amazing atmosphere after we came back to win. Then we got swept by The Royal's with the same issues that plague the team now. Lack of timely hitting if there are no Homer's.

2016 was a dud. Then another seven years passed before we made the playoffs in 2023. And we all know how last years playoffs went, which gave us plenty of warning signs about this season.

Honestly we O's fan's are tired. From Baby Boomers on down, we all are exhausted of the teams inability to be competitive for long periods of time. We use to live on hope, with every proclaimnation that a new era was upon us. I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty much out of hope.

I'm not throwing in the towel just yet. However, there definitely needs to be some changes in the warehouse, on how they scout, draft, and develop talent. Knowing when to actually pay for the missing pieces to bring a game changing talent here. And just what they want the culture of the O's to be in the long haul.

Truth be told, I just want to sit in a corner and cry tears of joy. Sooner rather than later when the Orioles finally win a World Series in my lifetime.

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Regression Is The O's Theme This Year

 

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program for this news brief, the Oriole's are crashing out! In fact they are crashing out HARD! A month into the 2025 season, and the O's are in last place in the division with a 10 and 17 record. 6 1/2 games back from first place, which if they get on a hot streak soon as in very soon, is not unattainable. However, it seems the theme for the Orioles this year has been regression.

Things started off hamstrung, with injuries to pitchers Grayson Rodriguez and Zach Eflin just as the season was kicking off. Kyle Bradish is still recovering from Tommy John Surgery slated to return near the end of the summer. Same goes for Tyler Wells who is recovering from UCL surgery and also slated to return late summer. Charlie Morton who was bought in on a one year deal to kind of off-set the pain from losing Corbin Burnes, has made that pain even worse. He is 0-6 this season and seems to get hammered every outing.

While pitching is bad, the hitting is even more depressing. Adley Rutschman has not recovered from his late season and playoff slump last year. Gunnar Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle seem to have taken a step back as well. Jackson Holliday seems to be improving, but still has yet to live up to the hype. Jorge Mateo has been looking lost out there for some reason. Heston Kjerstad has been consistent, and Cedric Mullins has been Mr. Reliable. Yet the Oriole's are still plagued by their inability to manufacture runs, if they not hitting homers their not scoring. That was their downfall in the playoffs last year and was supposed to be resolved with the hiring of new hitting coach Cody Asche.

It look's like Cody's philosophy hasn't changed much thus far. Speaking of coach's Brandon Hyde's Achilles heel continues to be lineup and bullpen management. However, I'm starting to wonder if his methods of communicating and his message is losing reverence with the team. If by miracle we turn thing's around and make the playoff's, I don't believe he is the guy to get us over the hump.

Hyde isn't alone in who's to blame. Mike Elias has escaped a great of deal wrath during his time here. First it was because everyone was aware it would take time to rebuild the organization from the ground up. Then it was well known when he wanted to make moves, the Angelos family overruled him when the money got too high. Now, I'm not sure how much wiggle room David Reubenstein and his fellow owners have given him now. But he definitely didn't really look to make a impact signing in the off-season, and he seems to be playing things cool when it's obvious the club needs some help.

I don't know what's going on in the warehouse, but it seems across the board the entire organization has regressed in various aspects. I'm hoping it was just a rough April and May brings brighter days for the organization. If not it's going to be a long summer for us fans, as we try to make sense of what has gone wrong with the O's. 

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