The Orioles’ defense has become impossible to ignore, and the mistakes are piling up fast enough that even the most patient observers are running out of explanations.
Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday and Jeremiah Jackson have all been part of the trouble, whether it’s losing the ball in the glove or rushing the throw after finally securing it. Too often, those plays have ended with errant throws toward first baseman Pete Alonso.
And the numbers back up the eye test: in 2026, Baltimore is sitting 25th in errors per game at 0.65, with only five teams worse. The Orioles are also among the bottom five in unearned runs allowed across baseball.
The bright spots in the field have been limited to Alonso, Adley Rutschman and Blaze Alexander. But with two of those three now injured, the margin for error gets even thinner for a team trying to keep its postseason hopes alive.
Manager Craig Albernaz hasn’t helped calm the concern. After Baltimore’s July 20 loss to Boston, he was asked, “Are you concerned about eight errors in three games?” His answer was simple: “No”.
That response didn’t sit well with Orioles Hall of Famer Mike Bordick, who argued the issue needs to be confronted head-on. “I think you have to acknowledge it the right way and say, ‘Listen, we're having a problem. We cannot play fundamentally sound defense right now and we have to make an adjustment, and this has to be done by each personal player.’”
Bordick also pointed to the defensive lapses from pitchers Shane Baz and Yennier Cano. In Game 1 of the Red Sox series, Baz airmailed a throw to first, allowing the runner to move up to second before eventually scoring. Later in that same game, Cano came on in relief and failed to back up catcher Sam Huff at home plate, opening the door for more confusion on the bases and more runs.
“It has to be addressed and should be addressed in the media. Throw this out there: when pitchers don't back up bases and when pitchers don't know how to throw to first base. He would add on, “This is consistent every night, and we see that there's just a lack of attention to detail and this is the stuff that really needs to be harped on.”
Even after Holliday’s 10th inning throwing error Friday, Bordick said he isn’t sure a different manager alone would solve the problem.
“I don't know that any manager could fix this team's defense because this is something that’s happened over time,” Bordick said.
Still, he believes former interim manager Tony Mansolino would have taken a different tack if he had been given the job full-time.
“I just always will go back to Mansolino last year when he was thinking about being a manager and he said, ‘The first thing I will do is bring back a 1990s spring training.’ It's something that's been overlooked in all of baseball for years.”
Bordick said that kind of approach - built around fundamentals, proper positioning and constant attention to detail - can sharpen focus and strengthen the mental side of the game. Right now, he believes Baltimore has drifted away from that formula.
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