The 2025 Orioles Will Be Headed Back To The Playoffs Thanks To A VERY High Powered Offense

I'll just come out and say it, this is the year the Orioles are winning a playoff game. Dare I say, even a series?! You know how last season's playoff series ended for them, and the one before that, and the one before that. I get it, I'm sick and tired of hearing about the 10-game losing streak in the playoffs and so are the Orioles. So this is the year that talk gets put to bed. The 2025 season officially kicks off today (stop saying Japan was Opening Day) and I've got your O's preview for the year, my 11th Orioles preview blog at Barstool, time flies when you're having fun. This won't be the same position by position preview as years past, but wanted to give the folks a little bit on the Orioles and some predictions and thought I've got surrounding this team.

Baltimore Sun. Getty Images.

Offseason

It was a frustrating offseason for a lot of Orioles fans, folks wanted the big splash of a Snell, or bringing back Burnes, or bringing Santander back home, maybe even flirting with Nathan Eovaldi, Michael King or Dylan Cease. None of that happened, none. What did happen was signing 3 pitchers over the age of 35, Tomoyuki Sugano (35) from Japan, Charlie Morton (41) and as of last week they brought back Kyle Gibson (42). Not who fans or pundits expected they'd bring in to replace Corbin as he headed out to Arizona after turning down a bigger contract in Baltimore. Offensively they brought in Tyler O'Neill (31 homers in 113 games) to match with Heston Kjerstad as they replace Anthony Santander who went to Toronto. That's pretty much it, no major moves, no extensions, but they added necessary depth for this team. We obviously all want them to spend the money and I believe they eventually will, it just never happened this offseason. That money also needs to go to the homegrown players who are watching their peers get hitched longterm to their teams (Bobby Witt Jr, Cal Raleigh). Bottom line is the offseason was very underwhelming from all angles, I love and understand the depth moves but adding a legit piece for a longterm run would have been great and really put them in a good position to win the division. 

Top Offense In Baseball?

I said above I believe this team makes the playoffs and I think it's because we see this offense take a step up and finish as a possible top 3 offense in baseball. Major factor is the wall coming in, we've all talked about it. They fucked up moving it back a few seasons ago so they're overcorrecting and bringing it back in a significant amount. That's such a massive help for a guy like Ryan Mountcastle who really struggled with the power last year, trying to avoid that massive wall sapped his power but I'm fully on board with a 30+ homer season for Mounty. Gunnar Henderson will be back soon from his intercostal strain he suffered at the end of February and you know he'll be in the MVP conversation, a solid 35/100/.280 season from him. I'm also buying all of the stock that people sold on Adley Rutschman. 

I'm buying it all, I fully believe that he'll be back to the 2023/first half of 2024 Adley we saw. Came into the season in great shape, nice refreshing off-season and he had a great spring simply because he was hitting the ball VERY hard. He's the straw that stirs the Orioles drink, they go when he goes and I think he GOES this season. Fully believing in the bounce back after his uncharacteristic second half. I'm also confident in AL ROY runner up Colton Cowser taking a step up, it was up and down for him in 2024 but I'm confident he's worked on the off-speed stuff and has a really good season at the plate. Gold Glove caliber defense paired with a 30/.260/90 season isn't out of reach for Colton if you ask me. He's a really, really good player. It's time for Heston Kjerstad to show us why he was taken #2 overall and talked about as the best lefty power hitter in college, seems like kind of a last ride for Cedric Mullins with his contract expiring at the end of the year as well. Jordan Westburg's broken hand was kind of the missing piece in the 2nd half last year, it all fell apart there. Lineup didn't mesh when he was out, defense was thrown off, he's back and healthy and I look for another robotic season from Westy. He's just a baseball player man.

You're going to be shocked, but I think Jackson Holliday has a solid year, maybe even an All-Star season. Spring Training stats don't tell the whole story, but I think it helps paint the picture for a guy like Holliday who struggled hard last year. Left off OD roster last year, called up quickly after (too soon), sent back down after struggling mightily, what a season for little Holliday. But he's not little anymore, the kid is built like a statue and looks so much smoother and comfortable this offseason. He's going to be using his speed a lot more this season, I'm talking 35+ bases. Whole team is going to steal more but Jackson could be a 20/35 guy. Cameras are out of his face, lights aren't as bright and he can just focus on playing baseball instead of the circus following him around. I'm not sure why people threw a fit after a 20-year old struggled to hit major league pitching, but I think all that is behind him and we see a really good, fun season from Holliday. 

Those are kind of the big pieces in the offense and I think once Gunnar comes back, hopefully soon, it really comes together. Their bench is going to be super strong so you can't play cat and mouse games with them late in the game. Again, the wall coming in helps every bat in the lineup out, TON and Mounty should abuse that thing. They should be stealing every time up with Mullins, Mateo, Gunnar, Kjersatd, Holliday and Cowser, creating chaos on the base paths leads to runs baby. I think they mash in the Baltimore heat, top 3 offense in all of baseball. 

The Rotation Is A Biiiiiiiit Shaky

The pitching is where this team starts to scare you. They lost an ace and never came close to replacing him and saw their #2 guy in Grayson Rodriguez suffer another injury. Missed the last part of 2024 and the playoffs due to a lat issue and this spring has been fighting a tricep thing. I don't think it's a TJ situation but I'm not a DR. Everyone and their mother is getting their UCL repaired so you are terrified every single time one of your pitchers has an issue. Hopefully Grayson is back soon to follow Zach Eflin who I think is a really, really good pitcher. He won't walk anyone, has pitched in big games before and always somehow ends up in the playoffs. I'm a big ZE fan and am excited for a full season of him. 5-2 with a 2.6 ERA after coming over in the trade, he's awesome. We talked above about the old guys in Sugano, Morton and Gibson but they've got some youth too on the bump. 

Cade Povich is the lanky, lefty who is identical to Max Fried in stature and physically. He'll be a fun guy to watch after his incredible September last year and dazzling spring. Slim has a chance to make some noise this year. Dean Kremer rounds out the rotation and is pretty damn consistent. You know what you're getting from Dean, he'll give you stretch of some very, very good baseball but he'll have a stinker every now and then. He'll cough up a homer early and then usually settles down but I'd still love that ERA to creep out of the 4s. He's a nice back end or the rotation guy but I think they need to add more. Grayson will be back, as well Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells but boy oh boy I'd love to see Sandy Alcantara come over in a trade. Get an arm mid-season and solidify this rotation to make it a strength.

The Big Guy Is BACK

I'm running long here so I'm going to try and fly through some bullpen notes….

 -Seranthony Dominguez had an ERA of 19.50 in spring, can't have that. 

-Cionel Perez and Keegan Akin both show flashes at time and need to just be a little more consistent locking lefties down.

-Albert Suarez is going to be the long guy and probably save the pen again on multiple nights.

-Bryan Baker throws some nasty cheese, just needs to keep the ball in the park.

-Yennier Cano needs that 2023 bounce back to match his friend The Mountain's energy. 

-Felix Bautista made is way all the way back from Tommy John late in 2023 and looked about 90% this spring in his limited appearances. Speed never got back quite to what it was before but at times he looked really good and crisp. The velo will come back, just takes time. Don't expect to see him appearing in back-to-back nights for quite some time, and he's going to be strictly one inning per night when he's in. Prob on a pitch count too, but the fact that he's made it back and is closing games again is huge for the pen. 

2024 had massive expectations for the Os laid on them by everyone. We thought the World Series was a legit possibility and that dream died the day Westburg's hand broke. They never rebounded and found their footing in the 2nd half and October. 1 damn run in October still keeps me up at night. This season they really don't have expectations, no one is really talking about them even though Pecota has them winning the division and DraftKings has them at +1600 to win it all, 7th best odds and 3rd best in the AL. DK also has them at +265 to win the East, just behind New York at +160. Over/under for wins being 87.5 is pretty spot on too. I could see them winning 86 but I can also see them winning 94 and up.

I jhink the offense has matured A LOT. I think they will go as far as their core takes them, they go as Gunnar, Adley, Westy, Jackson, Cowser and Mounty go. They see much more focused and ready and are tired of getting their asses kicked in the playoffs. 2 years in a row getting swept out and laughed off the diamond, these regular season wins they're stacking up don't mean shit if you can't win in the playoffs. They're tired of hearing about October failures and the only way to get that monkey off their back is sack up and hit. They're going to do plenty of that. I also believe the rotation will be solidified by a big name arm via trade from the dwindling pool of prospects, this is the year to do it, you don't really have a choice. This fanbase is growing tired and restless with the young guys not being so young anymore and no one signed long-term, I know it takes two to tango but they've got to start making something happen on that front too. At the end of the day these are my guys and I'm rolling with them. It's a clubhouse full of frat guys who mash, I wish they'd pitch a little more but I think that help is coming.

92 wins and the AL East crown, ALCS appearance loading. See ya on Eutaw Street. Now turn it up to 11 baby, I've got some Boh to drink. Go O's.