Book it now: the Baltimore Orioles will win the 2024 World Series.
There are many reasons to think the birds can end the 2024 season atop Major League Baseball. Aside from being easy to root for (Baltimore fans are still trying to forget that 2017-2021 was a real period of time), the front office has done a tremendous job sitting patient while their young prospects have developed and eventually broke through to the Big Leagues. Along the way, they’ve brought in savvy veterans and have received contributions from unlikely heroes to even out the roster.
The final product finally became clear last season when the team won 101 baseball games, won the American League East division for the first time since 2014 and qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2016. They only continued to add talent this past offseason.
It seems that Baltimore’s window for their first Championship since 1983 is wide open and will be for the foreseeable future. I think that they’ll be quick to cash in by claiming the Commissioner’s Trophy this season. Here’s why:
They let the kids play
The birds’ youth movement started in 2022 when they promoted former No. 1 overall draft pick Adley Rutschman to the Majors. Since then, all he’s done is become one of, if not the best offensive catchers in MLB, providing stability at a position where offense is typically an afterthought.
Aside from Rutschman, former top prospect Gunnar Henderson became an everyday piece of Baltimore’s offense last season and overcame a rough first half to end the season as one of baseball’s hottest hitters. The latter sample size figures to be a more-accurate representation of what can be expected from the third baseman, giving the Orioles a solid one-two punch in the heart of their lineup.
The same logic applies to right-handed starter Grayson Rodriguez, another former top prospect, who wasn’t great to begin his Major League career at the start of last season but also turned in a stretch of solid performances to end the year on a high note. There’s a reason why he was Baltimore’s top pitching prospect for so long before he finally got the call up.
What’s most scary about the Orioles’ youth movement is that it doesn’t stop there, as elite prospect Colton Cowser made the team’s Opening Day roster after a strong spring. Meanwhile, they also have MLB.com’s No. 1 overall prospect and perhaps the best pure hitter in the minors in Jackson Holliday just waiting for the opportunity to finally be called up to the Majors. He should get the promotion at some point this season and when he does, the birds’ lineup will be oozing with young talent, raw and proven alike, to form what may be the most exciting offense in baseball.
Arms, and arms, and arms, oh my!
Baltimore’s front office made a sneaky-good move over the winter months in acquiring star right-handed pitcher Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers. The Orioles were able to win last season with a pitching staff lacking a clear-cut ace, but Burnes certainly brings ace status to his new squad. The 29-year-old owns a 3.26 ERA and 1.05 walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP) for his career and pitched along those lines last season, posting a 3.39 ERA and 1.07 WHIP en route to his third-consecutive All-Star campaign. He gets outs just about every way that a pitcher can, striking out batters at an above-average rate while ranking in the 92nd percentile in average exit velocity against last year.
Aside from Burnes, the Orioles will look to get high-end starters Kyle Bradish and John Means off the injured list and into their starting rotation as soon as they are back to full health. Both have proven capable of carrying a sizable workload in the past, as Bradish broke out for a 12-7 win-loss record, 2.83 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in his second Major League season last year, later being named to the All-MLB Second Team. Means’ return is particularly critical for Baltimore after he’s played in just six games over the past two years. Before that, he was an All-Star in 2019 and in his last full season (2021), he managed a solid 3.62 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. The trio of Burnes-Bradish-Means, when healthy, can rival any other starting pitcher trio in MLB.
The Orioles’ strong arms extend to the bullpen, where names like Felix Bautista, Yennier Cano and Craig Kimbrel headline an impressive unit. Bautista has been utterly unhittable in his two pro seasons, combining for a 1.85 ERA and a whopping 198 strikeouts in 126.2 innings as Baltimore’s closer. Cano’s breakout came last season when he appeared in 72 games for the O’s and held opponents to a 2.11 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. While maybe not the elite closer he once was, Kimbrel has turned in back-to-back solid seasons following a rough stretch in 2019 and 2020. He remains a strikeout machine and provides yet another powerful arm in manager Brandon Hyde’s arsenal.
Baseball’s most balanced roster
When considering the Orioles, their youthful roster, impressive offense and high-powered bullpen all come to mind first. Yet, it’s the “glue” pieces that help shore up the roster and separate Baltimore from other Major League teams. That’s because, when it comes down to it, they simply have so few holes that one can point to and critique.
Outfielder Anthony Santander has been around for the entirety of the Orioles’ rebuild. His numbers were solid even when the team was bad, but they’ve absolutely taken off ever since he’s been surrounded by competent bats in the heart of the bird’s lineup. He may not be an All-Star, but it’s hard to complain about a hitter who’s averaged over 30 home runs and 90 runs batted in (RBI) over his last two seasons.
It’s also easy to forget that the team has an above-average power-speed threat in Cedric Mullins to sprinkle around the lineup. While he saw some regression last year in his stolen base total, he managed a career-best 74 RBI and struck less than he has in any season since becoming an everyday piece in 2021. In addition to Mullins, Austin Hays has been an ultra-consistent producer for the Orioles yet doesn’t seem to receive the flowers he easily deserves. For most teams, a feisty hitter with a .275 batting average that can smack 16 homers and drive in 67 runs is an everyday player. If all things go accordingly in Baltimore and Cowser takes off in his first full season, Hays may be the odd man out in the outfield. Instead, that would make him one of the best bench pieces in the Majors.