BALTIMORE -- Who currently ranks second in the American League in OPS behind Yankees slugger Aaron Judge? Unless you’ve been watching the Orioles a lot lately, the answer may come as quite the surprise.
It’s Ryan O'Hearn, the 31-year-old who has been a bright spot amid Baltimore’s disappointing start to the season. And he’s been on an absolute tear that continued on Tuesday night.
O’Hearn crushed a three-run home run in the fifth inning of the Orioles’ 7-4 loss to the Cardinals at Camden Yards. It was the ninth homer of the year for O’Hearn, who is now hitting .340 over 45 games with a .986 OPS -- a mark below only Judge's 1.234 among qualified AL hitters, and fourth in MLB.
Those are more than All-Star-worthy numbers. Those are stats that could help make O’Hearn the 2025 Most Valuable Oriole on a club still trying its hardest to dig out of a 19-35 hole, especially considering he’s also helped by bouncing around between first base, designated hitter and corner outfield, wherever he’s needed.
The personal numbers are less important than those in the wins column, and O’Hearn wishes things were going better for the O’s. But he can also take pride in the success he’s had over the first two months of the season.
“I want to win games. I want to help the team win,” O’Hearn said. “But yeah, that’s what comes along with playing well and helping the team win, good numbers.”
After seeing sporadic playing time for the Royals from 2018-22, O’Hearn became a key part of Baltimore’s success in ‘23 and ‘24, hitting .275 with 43 doubles, 29 homers, 119 RBIs and a .779 OPS in 254 games while helping the O’s reach the postseason both of those years. His numbers have had a big uptick early in ‘25, even if it doesn’t always happen in a flashy manner.
Last Wednesday, O’Hearn racked up four hits during the Orioles’ 8-4, 11-inning win in Milwaukee -- a performance featuring a double and three singles and leaving him one knock shy of matching his career high. It’s exactly what Baltimore has come to expect.
"I looked up at one point and saw that he had four hits, and I was like, ‘How did Ryan get four hits?'" interim manager Tony Mansolino said that day. "But I think you just kind of get used to this guy every day and how he just puts the ball in play, hits the ball hard. He gets hits. I think his numbers probably show that he’s been doing this all year, and really the last couple of years.”
In a seven-game span beginning last Wednesday, O’Hearn is 16-for-28 (.571) with two doubles, two homers and seven RBIs. That’s three more hits than he’s had in any previous seven-game stretch of his Major League career.
It’s likely the best O’Hearn has felt as a big leaguer, too, which is backed up by all the red metrics (indicating those that are above average) on his Baseball Savant page.
“Seeing it good. Just making adjustments between at-bats, between pitches. Not trying to hit homers, trying to find the barrel, stay in the middle of the field,” O’Hearn said. “Swing feels good right now. Probably the difference is when I take a bad swing, I’m instantly making an adjustment. And I think that just comes from years of hitting and making a lot of mistakes.”
O’Hearn’s 405-foot homer to right-center field on Tuesday gave Baltimore a 4-3 lead, but it was also the O’s only hit in 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Then the bullpen couldn’t preserve the slim advantage in the late innings.
The Orioles are getting runners on base, but they often are unable to cash in on prime scoring chances. It will likely help when such key hitters as infielder Jordan Westburg (left hamstring strain) and Colton Cowser (left thumb fracture) -- both of whom are scheduled to begin rehab assignments at Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday -- return and offer support to a lineup for which O’Hearn is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Those additions should complement some of the encouraging signs Mansolino is seeing.
“The guys battled. They did a good job,” Mansolino said. “As I watched the at-bats, it felt competitive, it felt good, it felt like we were in it. A couple big hits here or there and it might’ve been a different story, but I appreciate the effort and the battle.”