The 2026 Orioles do not appear to be particularly good. You might call them frustrating, or underwhelming, or flat-out bad. But at the moment, they’re far from the worst team in the American League. That dubious distinction falls to the Orioles’ next opponent, the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals, fresh off being swept out of Yankee Stadium, hold a 7-15 record, tied with the Mets for the worst in baseball. Kansas City has lost seven consecutive games. Of course I’m pleased when bad things happen to
the Royals, a team I haven’t forgiven for beating the Orioles in the playoffs in 2014 and 2024, although it’s hard to celebrate another team’s failures too much when the O’s seem to be headed down that precarious path themselves.
The Royals’ main problem is obvious: they simply cannot hit. They’ve scored just 71 runs this season, tied with the Reds and the aforementioned Mets for the fewest in baseball. Their team batting average (.219), OBP (.298), and OPS (.640) are all among the five worst in MLB. By comparison, the Orioles — a team that’s not exactly a model of offensive consistency — have an OPS nearly 60 points higher (.699).
Four of the Royals’ regulars have sub-.600 OPSes, including two guys who were expected to be key hitters, Vinnie “Pasquatch” Pasquantino (.499), and Salvador Perez (.521). Perez, the 15-year Royals veteran and the only player remaining from the 2015 World Series champions, recently got into a tiff with manager Matt Quatraro after being given a day off for a “mental breather.” Even the great Bobby Witt Jr. has looked ordinary to begin 2026. The Royals’ best story has been the Kansas City-born-and-raised rookie Carter Jensen, who has crushed five of the team’s 17 home runs and leads the team with an .812 OPS.
The strength of the Royals has been their starting rotation, which has posted a 3.25 ERA, sixth-best in the majors. They’ll throw their two best starters at the Orioles in this series. The bullpen, on the other hand, is wretched, with a league-worst 6.52 ERA. Closer Carlos Estévez made just one appearance, coughing up six runs in just a third of an inning, before landing on the injured list. His replacement, Lucas Erceg, has five saves but a 6.14 ERA. The Royals’ middle-relief and setup crew hasn’t been much better.
The struggling Orioles bats might continue to have trouble early in games, but if they can ratchet up the pitch counts of the Royals starters and get to the bullpen early, we could see some late-inning fireworks. Coming off a disappointing series in Cleveland, these next three games are a golden opportunity for the Orioles to get themselves back on the right track.
Game 1: Monday, 7:40 PM, MASN, FS1 (out-of-market)
RHP Kyle Bradish (1-2, 5.49) vs. RHP Seth Lugo (1-1, 1.48)
Every time Bradish takes the mound, I expect it to be the day when he’ll look like the Kyle Bradish of old. And it keeps not happening. He’s four outings into the season and has yet to deliver a quality start, though he did manage to work a season-high six innings in his most recent one. Bradish is giving up way too many hits (10.1 H/9) and walks (4.6 BB/9) and just doesn’t have the sharpness to his stuff that we’re used to. If there’s ever a lineup for him to finally dominate, it’s this one.
Seth Lugo, after a bit of a down year last season, has returned to his 2024 All-Star form for the Royals at age 36. He’s given up only four earned runs in his four starts combined, and is averaging less than a baserunner per inning. He hasn’t allowed a home run, either. Lugo threw a quality start against the Orioles last year, but most of the current squad has never faced him. Only four active O’s have any career at-bats against Lugo, and none more than seven PAs.
Game 2: Tuesday, 7:40 PM, MASN
RHP Shane Baz (0-2, 4.91) vs. LHP Kris Bubic (2-1, 3.97)
Much like with Bradish, I keep expecting each Shane Baz start to reveal the ace-like form that the Orioles clearly anticipated from him. Again, I am left disappointed. He’s winless and quality start-less in his first four games as a Bird and frankly seems very hittable so far (10.6 H/9). Still, he’s only just begun working with the Orioles’ pitching development folks, and the team seems to have some ideas as to how to unleash his full potential. It’d be nice if we start seeing that at some point, considering he’s got five more years in an Orioles uniform.
Bubic, a Royals first-round pick in 2018, has had an up-and-down, injury-marred career. The longtime starter, after pitching exclusively in relief in 2024, moved back to the rotation last season with fantastic results, posting a 2.55 ERA in 20 starts and making the AL All-Star team. He’s been solid enough to begin 2026, and since he’s a lefty, you can bet the Orioles will use some galaxy-brain lineup that has Johnathan Rodríguez batting cleanup and Blaze Alexander in center field and other such nonsense. Last year, Bubic was untouchable against the Orioles, pitching 11.2 innings without allowing an earned run in his two starts against them.
Game 3: Wednesday, 2:10 PM, MASN
RHP Chris Bassitt (0-2, 6.19) vs. RHP Michael Wacha (2-0, 1.00)
Every time Chris Bassitt starts, I keep expecting…ah, forget it. I don’t really expect much from the 37-year-old at this point. But “try to be better than Charlie Morton” doesn’t seem like a big ask. So far, Bassitt has failed at that task. He’s averaging just four innings per start, surrendering 23 hits in 16 innings. His strikeout rate, which is a career 8.3, is down to 3.9. His struggles aren’t necessarily permanent, and there’s a lot of season left, but he’s at the age where pitchers can fall off a cliff without warning. With Brandon Young and Cade Povich both pitching well at Triple-A, Bassitt’s rotation job could be in jeopardy if he doesn’t start to figure things out soon.
The Royals are saving the best for last with Wacha, who currently has the third-best ERA in the majors. He’s given up only three earned runs in 27 innings. He’s gone at least six innings in all four starts, including eight shutout frames against the White Sox on April 11. Let’s be honest: the Orioles aren’t the team that’s going to slow Wacha’s roll (especially not Gunnar Henderson, who’s 2-for-17 lifetime against him). The Royals were Wacha’s sixth team in six years when he signed with the club in 2023, but he’s certainly found a home in Kansas City.
How many games do you think the Orioles will win in this series? Let us know in the comments below.
