Just hours after GM Mike Elias expressed confidence that the struggling team was “ready to pull this together” and had “some fun in store,” the O’s collapsed once again. In their latest setback, they opened their final homestand by surrendering 10 runs to a Giants team that had been shut out three times in its last four games while failing to score a single run themselves. The Orioles looked uninspired, out of gas (cough Craig Kimbrel), and utterly lost. In a game that seemed to mock Elias’s optimism, the team failed on the mound, at the plate, and in the field, putting together one of their worst performances of the year. For a full breakdown, check out Stacey’s recap.
So, what has happened to this team? It’s hard to believe that these are the same Orioles who dominated the first three months of the season, establishing themselves as one of baseball’s best. It feels like a lifetime ago when the O’s took two out of three from the Phillies in June in a series hyped as a potential World Series preview.
Now, the Phillies have the best record in baseball, having rebounded from a brief July slump, as good teams do. Meanwhile, the Orioles have let their struggles spiral out of control for months. They’ve been unable to stop their downward slide, and nobody seems to have any answers.
Is this as painful as the rebuilding seasons of 2019-2021? Not quite. Back then, the Orioles were intentionally awful, so expectations were low, and fans were prepared for the losses. If you had told O’s fans in those dark days that the 2024 team would be 17 games over .500 in September with a likely playoff spot, most would have gladly accepted it. Making the postseason is a big achievement for a team that hasn’t seen October in a while.
But these 2024 Orioles were supposed to be different. Coming off a 101-win season and armed with a young, talented core, this year was supposed to be memorable for all the right reasons. Instead, this team’s collapse from early dominance to their current state is one of the most disappointing Orioles seasons in recent memory.
Sure, Elias is right: there’s still time to turn things around. But after last night’s performance, it’s hard to believe they have the capability.
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