Baltimore Orioles Second Half Swoon Has Major Impact on Season Grade

It has been a tale of two halves for the Baltimore Orioles in the 2024 season.

Jul 4, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde (18) pulls relief pitcher Bryan Baker (43) from the game during the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

The 2024 season has been a tale of two halves for the Baltimore Orioles.

They experienced the highest of highs early on, steamrolling opponents with ease. But, injuries and a steep drop in production have the team running on fumes and limping toward the postseason.

The falloff is a major reason why Bradford Doolittle of ESPN has given them a so-so regular season grade of a B-.

“On the one hand, they're going to make the playoffs. That's good! On the other hand, they're going to win about 10 fewer games than last season, it looks like the Yankees will take the division, and it's been a mediocre slog since early July, when the Orioles were on pace to win 104 games. This has raised a lot of doom and gloom from Orioles fans,” he wrote.

Just over two months ago, Baltimore looked like legitimate World Series contenders. There were a few holes that needed to be addressed, such as starting pitching depth behind Corbin Burnes.

The former Cy Young Award winner had little backup beyond Grayson Rodriguez and Albert Suarez with Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells and John Means all suffering season-ending injuries.

Ahead of the deadline, the team made moves to acquire starting pitchers Zach Eflin from the Tampa Bay Rays and Trevor Rogers from the Miami Marlins. Eflin has been stellar while Rogers was on the opposite end of the spectrum. 

He performed so poorly he was demoted to Triple-A.

Another failed deadline acquisition has been Eloy Jimenez from the Chicago White Sox. 

He has not provided the kind of jolt to that the Orioles were hoping for, as their lineup has disappointed for a while now.

“Certainly, injuries have played a key factor here -- Corbin Burnes has been the only starter to post all season. Injuries to Jordan Westburg, Jorge Mateo, Ryan Mountcastle and Ramon Urias tested the infield depth, although that was supposed to be a strength. Touted rookies Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo have both struggled. Adley Rutschman has played through injury issues and had a miserable second half (OPS under .600),” added Doolittle.

The team has struggled to string together offensive performances, but the pitching is arguably their biggest question mark.

Veteran closer Craig Kimbrel was designated for assignment after late-game woes. Seranthony Dominguez has taken over as the closer, but the bullpen is a little less shaky than the rotation with Yennier Cano, Keegan Akin, Jacob Webb, Cionel Perez and Danny Coulombe also available.

Overlooking this group based on recent production is an easy thing to do. But, that is not what opponents should be doing, as they showed in the first half just how good they can be when things are clicking.