:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60666383/usa-today-10809935.0.0.0.jpg)
The Orioles have the worst starting rotation in MLB. They have the worst offense by batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage in the American League. Somehow, they do not have the worst record in MLB, although they are a mere one game better than the Reds, who already fired their manager.
This is a mess of a baseball team. This reality is increasingly unavoidable, with even a normally-sunny and docile beat corps struggling to find ways to escape the obvious conclusion that this team is bad. The broadcasters have seen just about enough, too. Last night, Gary Thorne said, "For Orioles fans, and for the Orioles themselves, just when it seems like it can't get any worse, it does." That really sums it up.
Even a highly unlikely scenario like the Orioles winning two-thirds of their games for the next month and a half would still leave them "just" at .500 in mid-June. And they're not going to win two-thirds of their games for a month and a half! They might not even manage to do this over any one week in that stretch of time.
Tonight, they draw a 15-16 Athletics team that's been better than expected so far. I would enjoy this season a whole lot more if the Orioles were a mere one game under .500. Instead, they haven't won a road game since they left New York. Why are they so much worse on the road? It's probably random. Maybe there's a reason behind it, as they were noticeably worse on the road last year too. It's already too late in the day for any of this to really matter.
The Orioles are bad and they can't merely stop being bad - they have to be unbelievably good for the rest of the season. I just don't think they have it in them. It would be nice if they won this game tonight all the same.