The Baltimore Orioles are now a month and a half into the season, sitting at 20-24.
Given some of the uneven baseball the Birds have played, that record could easily be worse. Coming off a six-game homestand against the Athletics and Yankees, Baltimore continued its trend of hovering around .500 at home.
Baltimore is four games better at home than on the road and finally had a much-needed off day after 17 consecutive days of play.
Before the Orioles head to DC, here is this week’s edition of The Great, The Good & The Ugly.
THE GREAT: KYLE BRADISH
After a slow start to the year, Kyle Bradish has looked much more like the pitcher who finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting in 2023. In his last two starts against the A’s and Yanks, he posted two quality starts across 13 innings, allowing just six hits, three earned runs and four walks while striking out 17.
The crafty right-hander has also produced a 1.18 WHIP in May while holding opponents to a .197 batting average.
For the season, Bradish is now 2-5 with a 4.21 ERA and 1.53 WHIP across nine starts. He has struck out 52 batters in 47 innings and has recorded three quality starts. If this version of Bradish is here to stay, Baltimore’s rotation suddenly looks much steadier.
THE GOOD: DIETRICH ENNS
Dietrich Enns continues to quietly become one of the Orioles’ most reliable bullpen arms.
Across 3.2 innings during the Athletics and Yankees series, Enns allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out two and keeping opponents off the scoreboard. He also picked up a win this homestand.
Enns has not allowed a run in seven appearances this month, spanning 7.1 innings. During that stretch, he has thrown 71.4% of his pitches for strikes while holding hitters to a .208 average.
On the season, Enns owns a 1.54 ERA and 1.29 WHIP across nine appearances, with 11 strikeouts and a .188 opponent batting average.
THE UGLY: THE ORIOLE OFFENSE
The Orioles’ biggest issue remains an offense that has struggled to consistently capitalize on opportunities.
Baltimore ranks fifth in MLB in strikeouts (404), 21st in OBP (.315), 20th in slugging (.378) and 17th with runners in scoring position (.247). While the Orioles remain productive in some areas — ranking fourth in home runs and ninth in RBIs with runners in scoring position — the overall inconsistency has been costly.
The offense is not Baltimore’s only issue, but it remains the most glaring one, especially with the club ranking just 13th in runs scored per game at 4.13.
The Orioles will now open a three-game Beltway Series against the Washington Nationals Friday night.
Can Bradish continue trending back toward ace form? Will Enns maintain his emergence as a dependable late-inning option? And most importantly, can the O’s offense finally begin matching preseason expectations?
Tune in next week as we unveil the next edition of The Great, The Good & The Ugly.
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