The Orioles Get Swept Out Of The Playoffs Yet Again And Have Lost 10 Straight Playoff Games As An Incredibly Disappointing Season Comes To An End
Choke, lights are too bright, pissed down their legs, any of those would apply to the Baltimore Orioles. Swept out of the playoffs yet again and didn't really put up a fight. 10 straight playoff losses going all the way back to the 2014 ALCS where they were swept by a pesky Royals team who bloomed them to death. Death by 1,000 paper cuts in 2014 and 2024. Who could have seen that coming? I literally wrote 2 days ago that this team was healthy, they were hitting, they were playing well. In the blink of an eye we get the "Thank You Fans" tweet, that is how quick it ends. The playoffs are a fickle bitch. 4th most runs in baseball this season and they scored a grand total of 1 run in the playoffs. 1. 1 fucking run. Changes have to be made, coaching staff, hitting coaches, something. Two years in a row of laying absolute eggs in the playoffs. 192 wins in the past 2 regular season and 0 to show for it. Not a single win. Hell, the TIGERS won a series before the O's had scored a run, it's fucking pathetic. 1 run in 2 home playoffs games is insane. It would almost be surprising if the team didn't look like they completely abandoned all hitting approaches after June.
No one offensively showed up this series except Cedric Mullins. 2 hits in Game 1, solo shot in Game 2 and thats it. Let's look at how the rest of the big boys did.
Gunnar Henderson 0-7, 4 Ks
Adley Rutschman 1-8, 2 Ks
Ryan Mountcastle 0-7, 4Ks
Anthony Santander 1-8, 2Ks
Jordan Westburg 1-6, 1 K
Colton Cowser 1-7, 3 Ks
I mean look at that, 4 for 43. 4 FOR 43! That is good for a .093 average. Their 6 best players absolutely no showed this series. 1-7 with RISP in Game 1, 0-6 in Game 2. And boy oh boy were there some PATHETIC swings this series. The pitching was incredible, you give up 3 runs in 2 playoff games you will usually win those games. Corbin Burnes pitched maybe the best game I've seen from an Oriole outside John Means no-no, nothing to show for it. Zach Elfin was good enough in Game 2, nothing to show for it because the offense never even showed their god damn face. Disgusting approaches, disgusting at-bats, some boneheaded mistakes. Just an awful series all around, it really is the cherry on top of this disappointing season. It's not even like the Royals played that much better, they scored 3 runs! 3 runs on 14 hits is all it took for the O's to start making tee times.
This was a failure of a season, absolutely no other way to look at it. You trade for a legit ace and have nothing to show for it, he'll walk in the off-season and the O's will continue to look for a top of the rotation guy. Yes, the injuries killed them this year....but the offense hadn't been this healthy in months. Just an absolute no-show. The injuries also are not an excuse, literally every team has them. Can't use that excuse. Getting Burnes was great but there were plenty of other holes that were not filled. Craig Kimbrel was not the correct replacement for Felix Bautista, they needed another middle of the order bat, needed more pen pieces. Things have to change this offseason. A full season of new ownership, David Rubenstein better be opening the checkbook. Make Burnes a legit offer, see if you can keep 40+ HR hitter Anthony Santander, go get another pitcher, go add to the bullpen, get some veterans who know how to handle adversity.
Things just did not go right for this team. Young guys like Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo simply were not ready to make an impact on this team, they were ready and it showed. We saw flashes from Jackson but it's clear he was not ready. Adley Rutschman was terrible in the 2nd half, that is putting it nicely. He hit under .200 and has to be battling some sort of hand injury, he has to be. He has to be better, and he wasn't. Gunnar had an MVP run and eventually hit a wall, as did Santander, Westburg getting hurt was a killer, as was losing Jorge Mateo for the year. Nothing went right for this club, nothing. No lucky breaks and that followed them into the playoffs. They didn't have the star power and veteran leadership to get through the bad times. This whole swing for the fence approach needs to be fixed, it was appropriate that the ONLY run the O's scored was on the Cedric homer, so fucking poetic.
Spend the money David, revamp whatever you need to revamp and get them over this hump. This young core is here, this is the time to pay guys and win something meaningful. Not a division title where the reward is a t shirt. Increase the payroll, make changes, and show everyone that you're serious about keeping this team in the winning light. It's an incredibly disappointing ad sad ending to the season. Last year they just ran into the buzzsaw that was the Rangers, that happens. This series they flat out did not show up. What happened? How did they completely fall off in the 2nd half? How? WHY?! What is going to change within the clubhouse and warehouse. Guys have to look in the mirror and figure it out, it's too late for 2024 but Jesus Christ guys, figure it out for next year.
The O's needed 1 guy to step up and they just didn't get it. Disappointing, frustrating, infuriating, those are the words I'm stuck on. Maybe next year.