Welcome back to another edition of ‘O’s Magic’, a Cool Sports Newsletter series made by a die hard Orioles fan! This is it! Tomorrow is the opening day of the MLB Season for the Baltimore Orioles, and oh am I excited. We’ve done four individual positional previews (all here on the Cool Sports Newsletter), but now it’s time for an overall preview. Let’s combine everything, and come up with an in-depth preview of the O’s season. And I wouldn’t put the World Series title out of the picture!
I’d like to separate this into five categories. The first of which is The Stars: Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson. Now we broke both of them down in our infield preview, but let’s look at it with a different, less analytical approach. These two will determine what the O’s will do this season. It’s been amazing to see these players grow and develop. They’ve turned into stars and have been two of the best players on one of the best teams in the league at a very young age. However, with now over one year of professional experience, the talent and ‘top prospect’ potential goes out the window. This is the time for Rutschman and Henderson to show they are two of the more proven and best players the sport has to offer. In his first full-season of play last year, Rutschman made All-MLB. Gunnar won unanimous Rookie of the Year.
These are superstars. This could be the season where they show the whole world they are. Where THEY turn into the veterans. When THEY are the stars. When THEY are the MVP’s! This could be the year Rutschman and Henderson go from future stars…to superstars.
However, there is another problem. Baltimore doesn’t have much experience. They don’t have people like Rutschman and Henderson who are ready to become veterans. They have Kimbrel and Burnes, two new offseason additions to add postseason experience and ability when it matters most. On the hitting side…James McCann?? They let go of Adam Frazier and Aaron Hicks, so they even have less experience. So Baltimore is going to have all of the talent but with three games of postseason experience from last season to show for it.
So that sets up the second category: The Transition! While they’re young, Rutschman and Henderson are the future; MLB proven players who will run the franchise for years to come. On the pitching side the same goes for Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez. So it’s not like the building-blocks for the franchise aren’t ready or old enough. It’s the other players. The O’s will have to transition from a former 30+ SB player in Mateo or former Gold Glove winner Ramon Urias to a tennager in Jackson Holliday in just a few months as their STARTING SHORTSTOP! Not that the MLB Pipeline #1 prospect isn’t ready for the job, but from a mental standpoint someone in the same age group as yours truly may not be MLB ready.
Or how about Colton Cowser, who will have to be a huge player for the Orioles this coming season? He batted .115 last year and is still unproven in the majors. Baltimore will have to bring up Heston Kjerstad, and maybe even Connor Norby or Coby Mayo. Baltimore is talented and is doing a great job while winning during this process. But as we saw in last year’s postseason, when you rely on unproven players and are still finding out who the core pieces on your team are coming up and down from the minor leagues, it’s hard to win baseball games in October and November. You have to wonder how long the Orioles can sustain this high level of success with such a fluctuating roster.
My third category is The Starting Pitchers. Now, adding Corbin Burnes to this team was nothing short of an amazing move. Burnes will come in with experience and still in-prime superstardom and make an impact. He was exactly what Baltimore needed. However, the injuries still continue to bug Baltimore. Bradish and John Means will have to miss the first portion of the season due to injury. And with both of their injury histories, it makes you wonder if that timetable is too unrealistic or if they will play the same way when they come back. And Baltimore has to put a lot of faith into former top-tier prospect Grayson Rodriguez, who despite a great second-half last year, has not had a full-year of consistency in the pro’s. There is no question Baltimore has the talent to have a World Series winning starting pitching rotation. The real question is are they ready to?
I think, though, the main concern I have with Baltimore’s team is the amount of close games they won last year. They won 101 games, the second most in baseball, but their run differential didn’t even total one run/game. Baltimore was able to thrive in the clutch because of clutch hitting, but also because of the amazingness of Felix Bautista and his ability to end games with ease. Here’s the fourth category: Tight Games. If Baltimore’s bullpen is not the same as it was last year, Baltimore will lose a ton of those tight games they won last year. You have to wonder how sustainable that style of play is. And who would take the role for Baltimore as the clutch hitter if they need to? I’d say it would probably be Adley, but there’s only so much a player can do. Will Baltimore be the same team in tight games?
Now this seems so negative. But when you have World Series aspirations, there are questions that have to be asked. However, all of this sets up the fifth and final category…They’ll Figure It Out! They won 101 games with early 20 year olds and have only improved and those players have only improved. All of these questions are what separates the Orioles from a great team to a champion. But the team sure has the talent and ability to be there. They have pieces everywhere at all times. Very few teams can say they have two MVP level hitters and two Cy Young level pitchers. Whether they have an experienced second baseman or not won’t tell the whole story.
I’ll make this simple for you all…the Orioles are winning the World Series or something close to it this year! Barring an injury this team is great. Everything else is just an add-on to elevate the O’s. But a team this special with this much pride can do anything you ask of them. They have the coaching, they have the players, and they have the superstar. The O’s are gonna do something special this year, and I just can't wait to watch them go along with this journey. Soak It In Birland, you’re going to have a fun summer!
Chase Coburn
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