It has become clear over the last few months that a flawed team will make the playoffs out of the American League. The Orioles, along with several other teams, have found a way to remain in contention for the third and final wild card spot despite sitting on the wrong side of .500.
Reason would suggest that one of these teams will separate themselves at some point, but it hasn’t happened yet. Now, after an impressive series in Tampa Bay, fans are starting to wonder if the Orioles could be that team.
Why not? Nope. Not doing that. But, for real, is there any reason why the Orioles wouldn’t be capable of emerging from the pack? Actually, yes. There’s plenty of them. The bullpen marks a clear vulnerability. The defense could come back to haunt this team at any point, and the lineup is filled with inconsistent performers that could regress at any moment.
That being said, Baltimore has provided several reasons to look at the glass half full. Pete Alonso has been that dude. Jackson Holliday is swinging a hot bat, and Gunnar Henderson appears to have remembered who he is. Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand have provided some pop from the hot corner. The starting rotation looks like a unit that could go out and win a three game series. Samuel Basallo has already started a rehab assignment. Blaze Alexander should return at some point, and the Orioles have a pair of rehabbing closers that could return by the end of the season.
The American League refused to bury the Orioles when they had the chance. As dark as things seemed this season, Baltimore always maintained a legitimate chance to make the playoffs. At the time, it felt like Baltimore would need to luck into that spot. The team would need to fall upward into a position that every other team decided to run away from. Even if the Orioles made the playoffs, they wouldn’t have truly earned it.
That sentiment has changed. Baltimore entered last night’s game with New York tied for the third wild card spot. They also entered the series with the toughest remaining schedule in the American League. The Orioles still have five games remaining against New York, four against Boston, and three with Tampa Bay. That’s life in the AL East, but Baltimore will also play a three-game set against the National League leading Milwaukee Brewers.
If the Orioles hope to make the playoffs, they need to go out and earn it against the league’s best. If they do it—and that’s a big if—they should enter the postseason with a mindset that they can beat any team on any given night.
The tough schedule feels like bad luck, but it’s really a golden opportunity for Baltimore to recapture its mojo heading into the postseason. If the Orioles make the playoffs, they’ll have played above .500 baseball against some of the league’s best. That, or they’ll completely smoke the Mets, Rockies and A’s while treading water against the rest.
There are some easy ones coming, but this is a “go out and earn it” type of week. A homestand against the Yankees and Rays is exactly the type of opportunity this team needs to prove it’s for real. The players may or may not feel a need to prove it to the front office after a deadline sell off, and there’s no way of knowing whether they want to prove it to the fans, but this group should want to prove it to themselves. Recently, they’ve been playing like a unit doing just that.
It feels like we’re putting the cart before the horse here, but I’ve completely lost faith in the other AL teams. The question now becomes whether this team is capable of going out and taking it. One strong week and all bets are off when it comes to the 2026 Orioles. What a world.
