Baltimore Orioles Freefall in MLB Power Rankings Entering Final Week of Season

The Baltimore Orioles took a massive hit in a recent MLB Power Rankings

Sep 21, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles Manager Brandon Hyde (left) removes pitcher Seranthony Domínguez (56) from the game in the eight inning against the Detroit Tigers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

It has been quite some time since the Baltimore Orioles have played good baseball, and this was another tough week.

Coming into the penultimate week of the season, the Orioles were hoping to keep pace in the American League East with the New York Yankees. Since they were trailing by a couple of games with a big series coming up, there was still a chance they could win the division.

However, that is looking quite unlikely at this point now, as the Orioles lost both of their series this past week. To start the week, Baltimore lost two out of three games to the San Francisco Giants, which included a 10-0 loss to start the series.

Following the disappointing showing at home, the Orioles followed it up by losing two out of three games to the red-hot Detroit Tigers. This was the second straight week in which the Tigers were able to win a series against Baltimore, as they have been surging up in the standings.

For months now, the Orioles have been playing below .500 baseball, and it looks like they will be under .500 once again in September unless something miraculously changes.

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently released his MLB Power Rankings heading into the last week of the year. For Baltimore, they dropped four spots in a massive switch all the way down to 10th.

“Though their record is still good, it's been a minute since the Orioles truly felt like a good team. They had losing records in July and August, and an 8-11 record has them on track for more of the same in September. This is not all one guy's fault, but it's still worth noting that Adley Rutschman has been cold for a while now. In 32 games since August 15, he's batting just .186 with two home runs.”

There are a lot of things currently wrong with the Orioles, as their starting rotation doesn’t have much outside of Corbin Burnes and Zach Eflin right now. Their bullpen has dealt with injuries and are underperforming. Also, their lineup isn’t providing the punch that they are capable of.

If the campaign was another couple of weeks, it feels like Baltimore would miss the playoffs with how poorly they are playing, but they fortunately only have six games to go. However, those six games will not be easy against the Yankees to start the week, or the Minnesota Twins to end it.

Considering how poorly they have played down the stretch, a good final week of the season is much-needed to restore some confidence in the Orioles.