With the calendar flipping to September, postseason baseball is officially on the horizon. The Orioles are not the same front-runners they were in 2023 and they’re currently on pace to win eight fewer games this season. The good news for Baltimore is that no one in the American League is truly elite. There isn’t a single AL team on pace to win 95 games and all six teams currently in playoff positions are within five games of each other.
When there isn’t a clear favorite to take home the pennant, who finds success in October becomes more about minimizing weaknesses than highlighting teams’ strengths. With that in mind, let’s take a look at each AL contender’s biggest weakness and how likely it is that they can overcome that weakness come postseason play.
Baltimore Orioles: Banged up and worn down offense
For much of this season, the biggest source of consternation in Birdland has been the O’s pitching staff. However, with Zach Eflin back and at his best, Albert Suárez amid his best stretch as an Oriole and reinforcements on the horizon for both the rotation and the pen, pitching is now a secondary concern.
The state of the lineup is much less encouraging, though. Since the beginning of July, the Orioles rank 20th in both batting average and slugging percentage and are ahead of only Cleveland among AL contenders. Just as injuries have defined much of the Orioles’ season, injuries have also decimated the batting order in the second half. All-Star Jordan Westburg hasn’t played since July 31st, Jorge Mateo is done for the season with a dislocated elbow and fellow infielders Ramón Urías and Ryan Mountcastle are also on the IL with ankle and wrist injuries.
However, the injured stars aren’t the only weak spots. Adley Rutschman is currently in the most prolonged slump, hitting .182 with only nine extra-base hits over the last two months. Of the Orioles’ regular starters, only Colton Cowser and Gunnar Henderson are hitting over .250 since the All-Star break and only those two, Anthony Santander, Cedric Mullins and Jackson Holliday are slugging above .400.
