Baltimore Orioles Must Avoid Major Offensive Slumps to Contend Next Season

If the Baltimore Orioles want to compete in 2025, their offense has to be better than it was in the second half of the season.

Oct 2, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) hits a single against the Kansas City Royals in the fourth inning in game two of the Wild Card round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles have been very busy so far this offseason trying to improve a team that struggled in the second half of the season. 

It has been a busy winter so far for the Orioles. After another successful campaign in 2024, which resulted in more than 90 wins, Baltimore is trying to take the next step forward. 

Unfortunately, two of the best players on the Orioles are still free agents, and them returning is still very much up in the air. Both Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander are still free agents, but it seems unlikely that their slugger will be returning based on the team signing Tyler O’Neill this offseason. 

Losing the talented switch-hitter could be felt in 2025 and beyond, however, as this was a team that didn’t pack the same amount of offensive punch in the second half of the season. 

David Schoenfield of ESPN.com recently wrote about one stat that could make or break a team in 2025. For the Orioles, the number was 4.40, which was the amount of runs per game they scored after the trade deadline. He highlighted the need for Baltimore to do more if they are to improve from a bad second half of the season. 

With that average, Baltimore went 26-28 in August and September and that fade took them out of the AL East race. Plus, it spilled over into its AL wild card series, in which the Orioles scored just two runs in two games before they were eliminated.

Schoenfield contrasted that with what happened to start the season, as Baltimore averaged 5.07 runs per game through July. The margins between winning and losing can be narrow.

“The Orioles still finished with the second most runs in the AL, but to get back to the 100-win level of 2023, they'll need to count on six months of high-powered offense, especially since the left-field wall is being moved in from Hagerstown, Maryland, to a more reasonable distance.”

The offense not performing up to expectations in the second half of the season was certainly a reason why the team struggled in the last two months. 

Baltimore’s foundation as a team is built on their talented young lineup and them struggling to score runs was surprising. In the playoffs, the Orioles could have easily beat the Kansas City Royals if their offense was on par with how they usually perform. However, that was just never the case after the trade deadline. 

As the team heads into 2025, avoiding such a drop-off in production from the offense will be key. There is a good chance that their ace won’t be back, meaning they won’t be able to rely on him next season to carry them through tough stretches.