It was a rough weekend for the Baltimore Orioles as they were embarrassed in a four-game sweep by the New York Yankees. They were outscored 39-10 and never really competed with the Yankees, who are the best team in the American League so far this season at 24-11. It was a poor showing for everyone on the team except for Pete Alonso, who is batting .304 with three home runs over the past week.”We just weren’t competitive; we didn’t really give ourselves a chance to win. Whether it be mistakes, miscues, whatever the case may be, but that’s not us,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “This series, we felt like we couldn’t stop the bleeding in the big inning or shot ourselves in the foot.”The pressure is on first-year manager Albernaz to get his team back on track, and hopefully, the sweep was just a product of running into a hot team at the wrong time. They finish out their road trip with a series in Miami against the Marlins before returning home for a six-game home stand. Luckily for Albernaz, the Orioles are not the only struggling team in the American League. There are only three teams above .500 in the entire league, and the Orioles are only two games out of a Wild Card spot. If they can find a way to put together a couple of series wins, then they could propel themselves back into contention.Here are a couple of issues that need to be addressed if they hope to turn it around.Lineup must improve consistencyThe biggest disappointment from this team has been the offensive output from a lineup that was thought to be one of the more dangerous in baseball. They have had several high-scoring games, but tend to follow them up with poor hitting performances. This team is at the bottom of the league in batting average and strikeouts, but is in the middle of the pack in terms of runs scored. There have been flashes of the lineup’s potential, like the six-home run game against the Boston Red Sox, but in a perfect example of how the season has gone, they lost 17-1 the following game. This has been a common occurrence this season, and the lineup has struggled against left-handed pitching, a theme from last season. First baseman Pete Alonso looks to have snapped out of his slump and could be the catalyst for this offense to unlock their potential. He was signed to be a leader of the clubhouse and now that he is hitting better, maybe he can set an example for the rest of the team going forward. Starting pitching reinforcements?Injuries have taken a toll on this team, but the starting rotation has been hurt the most by the injury bug. They lost Zach Eflin after only three innings to Tommy John surgery, while fellow starters Trevor Rogers and Dean Kremer find themselves on the 15-day Injured List. They also lost closer Ryan Helsley with elbow inflammation, but luckily, his imaging came back clean.The rotation will now turn to a set of younger players to fill in. Pitchers like Brandon Young, Cade Povich, and even the team’s top pitching prospect, Trey Gibson, will be asked to help at the major-league level. Gibson had a solid debut over the weekend against the Yankees and gave the Orioles their best chance to win after limiting them to three runs over six innings. They currently do not have a starter with an earned run average under the league average of 4.16, with three having ERA’s above 5.00. If the young pitchers don’t pan out, the team may have to turn to the trade market to improve the rotation.Injury updateThe Orioles received an unfortunate injury update as infielder Jordan Westburg has been shut down after discomfort in his elbow. He suffered a partially torn UCL tendon and the team attempted platelet-rich plasma injection to avoid surgery. This setback may mean that he will need surgery that will end his 2026 season. Second baseman Jackson Holliday, who also experienced a setback in his recovery, is scheduled for another rehab assignment this week. They will also get Rogers back, as he was placed on the Injured List with the flu. Helsley will be reevaluated this week, but the level of concern is not as high with him.

BALTIMORE —

It was a rough weekend for the Baltimore Orioles as they were embarrassed in a four-game sweep by the New York Yankees.

They were outscored 39-10 and never really competed with the Yankees, who are the best team in the American League so far this season at 24-11. It was a poor showing for everyone on the team except for Pete Alonso, who is batting .304 with three home runs over the past week.

“We just weren’t competitive; we didn’t really give ourselves a chance to win. Whether it be mistakes, miscues, whatever the case may be, but that’s not us,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “This series, we felt like we couldn’t stop the bleeding in the big inning or shot ourselves in the foot.”

The pressure is on first-year manager Albernaz to get his team back on track, and hopefully, the sweep was just a product of running into a hot team at the wrong time. They finish out their road trip with a series in Miami against the Marlins before returning home for a six-game home stand.

Luckily for Albernaz, the Orioles are not the only struggling team in the American League. There are only three teams above .500 in the entire league, and the Orioles are only two games out of a Wild Card spot. If they can find a way to put together a couple of series wins, then they could propel themselves back into contention.

Here are a couple of issues that need to be addressed if they hope to turn it around.

Lineup must improve consistency

The biggest disappointment from this team has been the offensive output from a lineup that was thought to be one of the more dangerous in baseball. They have had several high-scoring games, but tend to follow them up with poor hitting performances. This team is at the bottom of the league in batting average and strikeouts, but is in the middle of the pack in terms of runs scored.

There have been flashes of the lineup’s potential, like the six-home run game against the Boston Red Sox, but in a perfect example of how the season has gone, they lost 17-1 the following game. This has been a common occurrence this season, and the lineup has struggled against left-handed pitching, a theme from last season.

First baseman Pete Alonso looks to have snapped out of his slump and could be the catalyst for this offense to unlock their potential. He was signed to be a leader of the clubhouse and now that he is hitting better, maybe he can set an example for the rest of the team going forward.

Starting pitching reinforcements?

Injuries have taken a toll on this team, but the starting rotation has been hurt the most by the injury bug. They lost Zach Eflin after only three innings to Tommy John surgery, while fellow starters Trevor Rogers and Dean Kremer find themselves on the 15-day Injured List. They also lost closer Ryan Helsley with elbow inflammation, but luckily, his imaging came back clean.

The rotation will now turn to a set of younger players to fill in. Pitchers like Brandon Young, Cade Povich, and even the team’s top pitching prospect, Trey Gibson, will be asked to help at the major-league level. Gibson had a solid debut over the weekend against the Yankees and gave the Orioles their best chance to win after limiting them to three runs over six innings.

They currently do not have a starter with an earned run average under the league average of 4.16, with three having ERA’s above 5.00. If the young pitchers don’t pan out, the team may have to turn to the trade market to improve the rotation.

Injury update

The Orioles received an unfortunate injury update as infielder Jordan Westburg has been shut down after discomfort in his elbow. He suffered a partially torn UCL tendon and the team attempted platelet-rich plasma injection to avoid surgery. This setback may mean that he will need surgery that will end his 2026 season.

Second baseman Jackson Holliday, who also experienced a setback in his recovery, is scheduled for another rehab assignment this week. They will also get Rogers back, as he was placed on the Injured List with the flu. Helsley will be reevaluated this week, but the level of concern is not as high with him.

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