Baltimore Orioles Skipper Explains How Their Superstar Will Improve This Season

After some strange late-season struggles last year, the Baltimore Orioles skipper explains why he thinks their star is going to bounce back.

Oct 2, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals 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 need their offense to perform more consistently in 2025 than it did last year.

While the total numbers look great, finishing second in homers (235), fourth in total runs (786) and RBI (759), seventh in hits (1,391) and top 10 in batting average (.250) and slugging percentage (.435), it became apparent late in the season and during the playoffs that this group has some things to work on.

General manager Mike Elias and skipper Brandon Hyde stated as much following their second consecutive sweep, and the two men made changes to the organization and coaching staff coming into this year.

But perhaps the most troubling thing that developed during the second half of the season was the erosion of Adley Rutschman at the plate.

The star catcher was been the face of this new era.

Ever since the moment the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft reached the Majors, the Orioles started to play better.

That's why it was so shocking to see him struggle at the plate.

In the first half of the year, the 2023 Silver Slugger winner looked like he was on his way to securing another award, having made his second consecutive All-Star game with a slash line of .275/.339/.441, 16 homers, 28 extra-base hits and 59 RBI across 90 games played.

After the Midsummer Classic, though, Rutschman was just a .207/.282/.303 hitter with only three homers, 13 extra-base hits and 20 RBI in 58 games.

Injury was being speculated upon since he had never performed that poorly at the plate before, but neither Baltimore nor the star announced anything was wrong during or after the season.

Was this stretch a fluke or a sign of things to come?

The Orioles skipper explained why he's confident Rutschman will be able to turn things around and get his offense back on track in 2025.

"I think his approach was a little different last season than the first couple of years. He has always been a very patient hitter with the ability to hit the ball to all fields. You know, very selective/aggressive. He was very selective on the first pitch last year then would get over-aggressive at times on the second pitch and kind of run himself into some bad counts. I think you are going to see him get back into really good counts offensively like he did the first couple of years," he said per Steve Melewski of MASN.

That would be a welcome thing for Baltimore.

They are going to need this lineup to perform like it did last year when putting up those raw numbers, while also hitting much better with runners in scoring position, something that plagued them in the playoffs.

If Rutschman can get back to being a real weapon for this offense like he was during the first part of the season, then the Orioles should be able to compete for another division title and make a deep playoff run.