NEW YORK — Holding a can of Budweiser in his left hand and a bottle of champagne in his right, Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde looked appropriately elated when he addressed his team last September.
“Nobody gave us a chance at the beginning of the year,” Hyde declared to a clubhouse packed with players wearing bright orange division championship T-shirts. “Nobody. How about 100 wins?”
Those words came after the 2023 Orioles, characterized by their underdog mentality, clinched the American League East title with their 100th win of the season. After losing more than 100 games in three consecutive full seasons in 2018, 2019 and 2021, Baltimore’s rebuilding young players surprised baseball pundits by remaining in playoff contention through the final week of the 2022 season. And yet the Orioles entered 2023 having defied industry-wide expectations. FanGraphs gave the eventual AL top seed a 1.3% chance of winning the East, a prediction that took only a few months to seem absurd.
Those ground-level expectations worked to the Orioles’ advantage last year. Banking on a team loaded with rising stars and veterans powerful enough to beat the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox and Blue Jays, the “Birds” in the clubhouse had higher expectations of themselves than the “Birds” tweeting on social media and chirping on national TV. Baltimore carried that underdog mentality all the way to the American League Division Series, where they faced off against the favored Texas Rangers and ultimately won the championship.
No one gave the Orioles a chance in the early days, so few blamed them for their early exit from the playoffs. They defied the odds, winning 101 games, winning the AL East and revitalizing the Baltimore baseball world. But the 2023 season changed everything. Most importantly, those pesky expectations changed. This year, they began the season with national expectations of reaching the Fall Classic with a chance brought about by Corbin Burnes, and qualifying for the postseason for the second consecutive year.
“It’s impossible not to hear the outside noise, it’s impossible not to know what the media is saying, what the fans are saying,” catcher James McCann said. “You just look around the clubhouse, it’s on MLB Network every day, but for us, it’s the same mentality as last year: Let’s find a way for the next guy to step up and get it done.”
“The guys here are professionals. They’ve done really well without being influenced by outside expectations and without changing who they are.”
How have the Orioles adapted to raising the floor? Inside the clubhouse during this week’s series at Citi Field, Baltimore players were a little more tense, a little less relaxed, going through pregame drills than they were at this time last year. Some wore “Moe, Milkman” T-shirts in support of rookie outfielder Colton Cowser, but the atmosphere was all business and tense.
As pressure from the state increases, attitudes and efforts appear to have become more serious.
“I think our guys are pretty much the same as they were last year and we’re not putting any pressure on them,” Hyde said. “But I think the injuries are hurting them and they’re not like veterans. They’re still pretty young. I think most young guys have their ups and downs. Hopefully we can finish the season strong.”
Rookie Jaxon Holliday, son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday, sees himself bringing a youthful energy to the Orioles. But he also relies on and is a presence among his more experienced teammates. Veteran leadership comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s experts offering advice to rookies. Other times, Orioles veterans encourage rookies to follow the process, take things day by day and not be too critical of themselves. Other times, they lead by example by getting revenge on their old team, as James McCann did on Tuesday night when the Orioles played against the Mets.
Playing in his first game at Citi Field since the Mets traded the catcher to Baltimore in December 2022, McCann signaled his commitment with a two-run homer into the upper left-field stands off starter Jose Quintana. His teammates in the Orioles dugout beamed as the normally reserved McCann took longer than usual to praise the soaring moonshot. It was clear that a little extra force and retribution from McCann helped the two-run homer, which pushed Baltimore’s lead to 6-1, was instrumental.
During his time with the Mets, McCann’s footsteps returning to the dugout were too often drowned out by a barrage of boos raining down from every corner of Citi Field. McCann played two years in Queens, batting .220 with a .610 OPS and an OPS+ of 70 in 182 games. No New York fan had much sympathy for his struggles at the plate, but he earned himself some extra respect from the Orioles clubhouse on Tuesday when he hit a game-winning, two-run homer after the Mets rallied in the eighth inning.
Whether it’s the Orioles trying to overcome injuries to their pitchers or McCann taking on his former team, overcoming adversity is a vital component for any team hoping to make the playoffs.
“Every time I play against a team I used to play for, it’s a little bit special. [motivation]”I thought that home run felt good. It was a beautiful swing. It ended up being a big hit for us,” Hyde said.
Hitting a home run against their former team is a joy that more than half of the Orioles lineup has never experienced. Baltimore’s lineup is filled with first-, second- and third-year major league hitters and players who have only played for the Orioles, highlighting the youth and inexperience of the roster. Baltimore sent five players to the All-Star Game, three of whom started, but struggling closer Craig Kimbrel is the only one to boast a postseason sample size. However, despite their inexperience, the Orioles cannot escape the responsibility of living up to the high expectations they had last year. For the next few years, this organization is built to compete into October and be a championship threat every year, backed by a top-class farm system.
But the Orioles lost some of their early-season dominance after failing to win three straight series this week and dropping to 21-23 since the start of July. McCann acknowledged that it can be easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to last year. The 10th-year catcher added that younger players, especially, can start chasing 2023 numbers or last season’s success. Veterans encourage them to trust the process, but that’s easier said than done without years of experience.
Maybe the Orioles are too aware of the expectations and overvaluing this moment, and finding a way to regain their underdog comfort zone might be the secret to getting back on track.
There’s no question that Baltimore is one of the top teams in the major leagues. They have the best young players in baseball, and that talent has them battling the Yankees for the top spot in the American League East. But there are also concerns. Without their no-pressure approach, Baltimore has struggled to capitalize on their opportunities. While the Yankees were on a downward trend from mid-June until after the All-Star break, the Orioles squandered a chance to pull away in the division by stumbling in the series during the same period. Their relief pitching has been problematic, with a 4.18 ERA ranking 23rd in the majors and only getting worse since the All-Star break. Loan acquisition Serantony Dominguez gave up just one run in his first nine games with the Orioles, but has given up home runs in each of his last three games, including a walk-off homer against the Mets’ Jesse Winker on Wednesday.
Jesse Winker hits a walk-off home run to lead the Mets to a 4-3 win over the Orioles.
Everyone is giving them a chance, and inside the Orioles, the thinking hasn’t changed: They’re still young, hungry and capable of doing something really special in October, plus they’ve got a little more experience, but is it enough to make their first World Series appearance since 1983?
“I don’t think we’ll be satisfied with just winning the division,” Holliday said. “It’s a really big accomplishment and it’s really special, but the goal is to win the World Series. That’s the goal of everybody here.”
The Orioles have already exceeded expectations once, and now they face an even tougher task of living up to them.
Disha Sausar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as an assignment reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Disha grew up on Long Island and currently lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter. Disha Tosar.
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