The hottest team in baseball right now is unquestionably the Boston Red Sox, who have won 13 games in a row for the first time since 1948. A month ago, there was perhaps no team in the sport outside of Queens that seemed more disappointing than the Red Sox. Now they’re more likely to make the playoffs than not. It has been a remarkable turnaround.
But I couldn’t help but notice the other hot AL East team, the one that also swept its first series out of the break and came into Monday – when, coincidentally, it starts a three-game series at Fenway Park -- on a significant win streak. Yep, I’m talking about the Baltimore Orioles who, with their sweep of the Astros over the weekend, have won seven in a row and may well be on their way to reversing a slide that looked like it was going to have some serious ramifications.
In fact, I’d argue the Orioles are even a more interesting watch moving forward than the Red Sox. The Orioles have been building toward this season since president of baseball operations Mike Elias was hired as general manager back in November 2018, yet up until about 10 days ago, it looked like it was all falling apart. The team was in last place in the AL East, the young players who were supposed to be stars were flailing and everyone else seemed to be hurt. It was fair to wonder if the end of the line could be coming for Elias and his staff.
To be clear: It still could, if the Orioles falter again. For that reason, I’m not sure there’s a team in baseball with more on the line during the next three weeks than the Orioles, who could either break through and have the season they’ve been trying to have since winning 101 games (!) in 2023 … or collapse and perhaps have to start completely over. (Again.) And it all starts with this Red Sox series.
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Here are the five major questions facing the Orioles over the next two weeks leading up to the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline -- and the rest of the season after that.
Can the pitching keep this up?
Remember when the Orioles had all of their position players locked into place but couldn’t put together a pitching staff? That has been turned entirely upside down. The Orioles have the third-best ERA in July at 2.75, and much of that has been driven by, ironically enough, the rotation that everyone was so worried about in the first place.
Leading the charge has been Kyle Bradish, who just signed the biggest contract in Orioles history for a pitcher. But the rotation has been the most reliable aspect of the Orioles, with Shane Baz, Trevor Rogers and, especially, Brandon Young giving them four starters in their 20s who offer a chance to win every night. The Orioles, considering they’ve locked up two of these starters long term (Baz as well), obviously believe in this crew. The rotation has kept them afloat during offensive struggles. Now they just have to keep doing so.
Will the young players finally click?
The Orioles were supposed to be rolling right now, and it was supposed to be entirely because of their trove of young hitters. But while Samuel Basallo has been mostly as advertised (while still learning) and Adley Rutschman has bounced back, the list of underwhelming young hitters remains long. Check out the OPS+ (with 100 being league average) for the supposed up-and-coming hitters for the Orioles this year:
- Dylan Beavers (age 24): 96
- Colton Cowser (age 26): 79
- Jackson Holliday (age 22): 94
- Jeremiah Jackson (age 26): 87
- Coby Mayo (age 24): 86
You figured at least one of those guys would have broken through by now, right? Instead, they have collectively held back this offense, which ranks tied for 15th in the Majors with a 101 OPS+. There have been a few encouraging signs lately, but it’s still mostly veteran additions such as Pete Alonso, Taylor Ward and Tyler O’Neill doing the damage. Which brings us to …
What in the heck is going on with Gunnar?
Seriously, what is happening? Gunnar Henderson won the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 2023 and finished fourth in MVP voting in 2024. He took a small step back in 2025, but only a small one, and there was no reason to think he wouldn’t be an impact player in 2026.
Instead, it’s been a nightmare season for Henderson, even though he’s been healthy enough to play in all but one game and be tied for the AL lead with 453 plate appearances. Henderson is slugging a full 130 points less than two years ago, to go with a rising strikeout rate, a collapsing walk rate and an alarmingly diminishing hard-hit rate. His defense has been fine, but this was supposed to be an MVP candidate, and he is very much not that right now. It’s also worrying that the problem hasn’t gotten better, with Henderson sporting a .464 OPS in July. If Baltimore is going to make a serious run to October, it’s hard to imagine it happening without Henderson turning things around.
Are the injuries going to come back?
Every team deals with injury issues, but the Orioles have been hit particularly hard by them this year. Most of the injuries have been concentrated on the pitching staff -- closer Felix Bautista may be the most damaging example -- but as we’ve seen in July, they’ve weathered that. The injuries have finally settled down a bit, though the bug may be biting again Basallo left Sunday’s game with right shoulder discomfort.
Seriously, is this really it?
The Orioles know as well as you and I do -- better, really -- how important this season is. Orioles fans have been patient, with the idea that a breakthrough was supposed to be happening by now, and yet even with that seven-game winning streak, they’re two games under .500 and facing roughly 31 percent playoff odds, per FanGraphs.
Elias and his crew have had nearly a decade to build this thing from the ground up, and if it crashes out now, the changes, one suspects, will go beyond just the front office. You can feel the pressure in the stands; the joyous days of the Homer Hose feel a long time away, which means it also carries the risk of making everyone a little too tight.
So much rests on the next couple of weeks. How the Orioles handle that pressure may well decide this whole thing. Buckle up.