Searching for The Oriole Way…Are the Orioles Turning a Corner or Just Treading Water?
On May 16, I questioned whether the Baltimore Orioles needed a managerial shakeup. ‘Is a shakeup at the helm necessary ? Without a course correction soon the 2025 risks slipping away before it ever takes shape.’ The very next day, the team answered: Brandon Hyde was out, and Tony Mansolino stepped in as interim manager. It was a move that could either spark a turnaround or expose deeper flaws. I felt it was pretty obvious this team was underperforming at the time, and changing managers is pretty standard in that situation.
As of June 26th 2025, the Orioles under Mansolino are 19–18, a .514 winning percentage—a significant leap from their 15–28 (.349) start. If they’d played at The MansolinO’s clip all season, they’d be in the 4th Wild Card spot, just one game shy of the playoffs.
In that scenario, the trade deadline would be straightforward: they’d look to be buyers, weighing internal options versus external acquisitions. (For a deeper dive into that playoff mindset, see my Phillies Outlook blog.)
But reality is less rosy. With one game left before the season’s halfway mark, the Orioles sit at 34–46. Their current win percentage puts them on pace to win 69 games this year, falling well short of any type of playoff hopes.
The Orioles best chance to make the playoffs would be as a WC3. The current WC3 threshold sits around 85 wins. To finish with 85 wins, the Orioles need to play .622 baseball the remainder of the season.
If The Orioles maintain Mansolino’s current pace .514, they’re projected to be 49–60 by the July 31st trade deadline—a critical checkpoint and if all else remained equal would finish the season 76-86.
In order to be on pace to hit 85 wins by the end of the season the Orioles need to be 51-57 on the season by 7/29 or go 17-11 over their next 28 games. This would give the Front Office 2 days to either sell or buy.
As my main man Keith Madison would say, keep the important decisions at the top of your list and ‘decide when you will decide’. That point could obviously come sooner if the team mathematically can’t get to .622 by 7/29. Those are the numbers - the Orioles need to play at a top tier Elite Level.
The real question: Can this team exceed its current trajectory and play at a Top Tier Elite Level before the Deadline?
A few days after my May 16 post, I set a clear challenge to this team: string together 10 consecutive clean defensive games. Since then, by my account the Orioles best defensive streak has been five games, winning several in that stretch. There were glimpses of Oriole Baseball, but defensive woes persist. Back in May, The Orioles ranked 16th in MLB fielding percentage; now, they’ve slipped to 24th. So by the numbers the Orioles are a below average defensive team and not trending in the right direction.
What my eyes see…
I attended their June 24th game after their Career Fair, and the defensive lapses were glaring:
4th inning: Coby Mayo fails to dive for a grounder to keep the ball in the infield. The ball scoots into the outfield allowing a run to score.
4th inning: Gunnar Henderson has a physical throwing error on a 90ish foot throw to the plate.
7th inning: Keegan Akin doesn’t cover first on a grounder to Mayo.
8th inning: Rangers score without a hit. Soto failed to hold runners and the Rangers took full advantage.
10th inning: Defensive struggles behind the plate throughout the game from Sanchez, especially in the 10th.
If the Orioles play a clean defensive game they probably win that game in regulation. Something I’ve said on handful of occasions, so the chance is there, and I know these guys are talented enough to do it, but they have to show it everyday. On the bright side, Henderson and Ramón Urías showed hustle diving for balls getting their uniforms dirty. Mullins tracked down a few balls well in CF. But the Rangers’ broadcasters even knocked Baltimore’s defense—a sign the team’s reputation is taking a hit. The book is out, the Orioles are not a good defensive team. This is not the Oriole Way. Buck Showalter even said something during the Yankees series that had me fired up, ‘90 foot giveaways’. Plays that may not be errors or show up in a final line or box score, but give teams extra bases without earning them. It’s difficult to earn bases against MLB pitchers, you can’t make it any easier for the opposing team by giving them away.
Here’s the hard truth: Without consistent, fundamentally sound defense, the Orioles won’t win consistently and be an elite team. Their pitching staff, average at best, can’t compensate for sloppy fielding. Regardless of how good anyone thought this offense was or should be doing, you can’t out-hit mediocre pitching paired with subpar defense over a full season. The WC3 threshold hovering around 85 Wins is favoring a team that can go and take it. To me, playing great defense is the most controllable thing this team can do is put themselves in a position to be an elite team.
The challenge stands: 10 straight clean defensive games. Until they hit that mark, talk of a turnaround is just noise. I want this team to be dirty. I don’t want a single clean uniform after games.
If I’m playing GM or in the Front Office, I’m not calling up any internal pieces to try and make this a winning ballclub. I don’t love the idea of calling a guy up and putting the weight of this teams playoff hopes on their shoulders with every at bat. This is the group of players you either do it with or not. If this team fails to play the minimum of .622+ baseball over the next month, then you offload as many walk guys to acquire as many MLB ready to 1-2 year away pieces and call up any players that have potential to be impact everyday players in 2026. Then reassessing the team at the end of the season. If the Orioles can acquire pitching that would be ideal. I would have scouts attending all the top contenders farm systems games, looking at arms. I would be talking to my own systems players about arms they have seen. For example, I am having conversations with Westberg, and Cowser about what they saw from Andrew Painter down in Norfolk. I’m talking to Tyler O’Neill about what he saw from Jonathan Santucci. I’d pick up the phone to see if Billy Ripken can stop by the Yard to help out and talk fundamentals. It takes a village.
Don’t forget to subscribe and follow me on Twitter | LinkedIn | Medium | IG | TikTok . As my guy Clint Hurdle says, if you loved this blog or hated it let me know, but remember 3 ups & 3 downs. Give me 3 things you liked followed by 3 things you hated.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading and I want to try and let some people in on the things I have been reading/sharing some of the insights. Last week I finished Keith Madison’s Coaching with Purpose. It was a super easy read, and I couldn’t put it down. Super applicable to today’s game as it was published in 2024. It dealt with more of the Coaches perspective on things and being on those front lines.
Words are like seeds. Be careful what you say. You might have to eat what you plant one day.
(S.E.A.) set the Standard, clarify Expectations, hold Accountability.
Decide when you will decide.
Yesterday, I picked up Built To Win by John Schuerholz. The 90’s Braves ruined my childhood as a Phillies/Astros fan growing up, and I hope to get the chance to pay that forward. This will hopefully get me one step closer to understanding that Front Office perspective. I’m 20 pages in and it’s awesome. The first chapter jumps right into the chaos.
Lastly, not to get political, but don’t forget to vote…the first phase of MLB All-Star voting for 2025 concludes tomorrow, Thursday, June 26th at noon ET!!
Go O’s!!
-Chris Boz
Failure to plan is planning to fail. Remain resolved in your pursuits.
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