The Orioles’ lineup problems have not been subtle, and they were on display again in St. Louis to open this nine-game road trip. The starting group showed signs of life, helped by Pete Alonso and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, but the bigger issue has hung over the season for months: the gap between what the regulars produce and what the bench brings has been too wide.
That split is exactly what longtime MLB executive Jim Duquette says is dragging the club down. Duquette, a former Orioles decision maker who follows the team closely, sees the way management handles the roster as a major part of the mess. His complaint is less about talent than about usage - hot bats sitting, cold bats staying near the top of the order, and the same mistakes getting repeated.
“There are points in time when we've seen this the team be about development, but you're past that,” Duquette told me on “The Daily Flock” this week. “This is about winning.
If you use Jeremiah Jackson as an example, you know, when he was swinging the bat well, like he needed to play more. And, okay, he starts to fall off a little bit, but like there are guys along those lines that are deserving more playing time that weren't in the lineup, because you're worried more about the projection or worried about maybe guys that you drafted.
“This is about accountability on your major league roster and trying to win at the major league level. We're not developing anymore.
This is a a year of high expectations. And that's the thing that is a little bit bothersome is it would be different if the bench and starters if it was more even, right, then okay, that's whole different story here.
But there are guys that should be playing a little bit more, and we've seen this a lot.”
The numbers back up the concern. Orioles starters entered play Friday with a .716 OPS, good for 20th in baseball, along with a .397 slugging percentage that also ranked 20th and a 98 OPS+. The bench, by contrast, has posted a .752 OPS, a .438 slugging percentage and a 123 OPS+.
That kind of divide doesn’t just look bad on paper. It shapes the whole offense.
The Orioles have kept leaning on Taylor Ward, Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson at the top of the order, even though Ward and Rutschman were both dumped at the trade deadline. Henderson has stayed near the top of the lineup despite batting .202 since July 1 over 67 games, even though he produced when he was moved down to fifth for a couple of games.
The roster choices have also left some productive bats without the runway they earned. Blaze Alexander was top 10 in MLB wRC+ from April 28 through the All-Star break and never hit higher than eighth in the order. Dylan Beavers homered in three straight games and then wound up on the bench.
The Orioles’ 1-through-5 hitters have been a problem all year, ranking 23rd in MLB with a .729 OPS. Alonso has been carrying a heavy load just to keep that group afloat.
“If you hit a home run in a major league game, you automatically deserve a start the next day,” Duquette offered. “It's hard to hit home runs in the major leagues, and then if you do it for a couple days in a row, absolutely you should be in the lineup; the heck with the matchups …
“With the one through five hitters, you know, how bad they've been, it doesn't take a genius to see that Gunner Henderson's been struggling all year. And it goes back to last year, and you can see the frustration on a regular basis when he has an extended period of struggle.
“I still believe in the talent. He's a really talented player, but the value has gone backwards.”
Duquette’s broader point is that this isn’t just on the players. He sees Mike Elias as having played no small role, and he believes the industry is looking at the situation the same way.
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Encarnacion-Strand, acquired from the Reds, has been part of the encouraging shift, showing better offense and helping give Baltimore more production from a spot that once looked unsettled. Mayo has also chipped in, and the two have been especially useful against left-handed pitching, leaving the Orioles with a far different kind of question now: not just who can hold the position, but how much offense they can squeeze out of it. [Read more 🡒]