​Two years ago, the Orioles hosted the Royals in the Wild Card round. Baltimore had just wrapped up the regular season at 91-71, a step down from their 101-61 mark in 2023, yet still good enough for second place in the brutal American League East and for the top Wild Card spot. Although they dropped the series to Kansas City in two games, it felt like Baltimore was poised for a bright future. It wouldn’t have surprised anyone if the Orioles kept advancing in the playoffs and even surged to the ALCS, or beyond.
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Instead, in a reversal that echoed the Royals’ recent trajectory, the Orioles nosedived in 2025 and have shown only marginal improvement in 2026. After back-to-back playoff appearances, Baltimore slumped to last place in the East last season, finishing 75-87, 19 games behind the division winner. Manager Brandon Hyde, who has long been a target of my family’s humor, didn’t survive past the 45-game mark before being dismissed. Yet that upheaval didn’t magically reset the team’s fortunes.
This season, the Orioles have shown modest gains. Their winning percentage has risen, but they still sit at the bottom of the AL East, and the playoff chase feels just as distant now as it did in 2021, when Baltimore endured a brutal 52-110 finish. Royals fans can sympathize with that slide.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals (38-56) visit Baltimore (43-51) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards for a three-game set. The Royals rank 20th in MLB with 4.31 runs per game and 27th with 5.11 runs allowed per game, while the Orioles are 13th in runs scored at 4.55 per game and 23rd in runs allowed at 4.89 per game.
On the roster front, Pete Alonso—acquired from the Mets in the offseason—presents the Orioles with a .249/.345/.467 line, 20 home runs, 67 RBIs, and 56 runs scored, and a 2.0 bWAR. Another offseason addition, Taylor Ward, acquired in a trade with the Angels, has drawn the most walks on the team (71), lifting his on-base percentage to a career-high .383 even as his slugging sits at .352, a dip from his best full-season marks. Catcher Adley Rutschman, often teased as “the Only Player Drafted Ahead of Bobby Witt Jr.,” has rebounded from a disappointing 2025 and shows signs of his earlier promise, though his numbers still don’t approach his first two seasons. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson, drafted in the 2019 class’s second round, has not lived up to the MVP chatter and Rookie of the Year hopes of years past. Overall, six regulars are posting below-average OPS, with Henderson at the forefront of that group, followed by third baseman Coby Mayo, right fielder Tyler O’Neill, and center fielder Leody Taveras.
Tonight, the Orioles are expected to roll out 27-year-old Brandon Young, their second-year right-hander who leads the staff with seven wins and carries a 3.89 FIP over 77 1/3 innings. He isn’t a high strikeout pitcher, but he does limit walks, which has helped him sustain his early-season success. The other two games feature right-handed relievers turned starters, Kyle Brandish and Shane Baz, who will shoulder the starting duties in games two and three, respectively. Brandish leads the team in strikeouts while also allowing 1.1 homers per nine innings, a troubling stat that the Orioles will need to address if they want to climb out of the cellar.
In short, the current Orioles arc mirrors a familiar disappointment: a promising moment followed by a slower rebuild that’s struggled to gain momentum in a fiercely competitive division. Royals fans, who have endured similar frustrations, can recognize the pain as both teams eye a turn toward steadier, more competitive seasons.