MLB Playoffs: Gunnar Henderson and Wild Card Orioles return to postseason

A year ago, the Orioles surprised everyone when they posted a 101-61 regular season record. By the end of May, the 2024 O's did it again. At 36-19, the team was on its way to 106 wins, raising hopes of returning to the postseason and doing better this time. Since then, a series of problems have plagued the team, and it was only thanks to fortunate struggles across the field of AL Wild Card contenders that the O's made it into the top Wild Card spot.

The hopeful thing for the Orioles and their fans now is the same hope that every flawed postseason participant holds every year: that the team can cover up enough of its problems and have enough moments of good fortune to claw its way to winning a trophy. Coincidentally, the Orioles are starting in a great position as they have one of the best young players in the MLB, Gunnar Henderson, who is having the best season of any Orioles player since Cal Ripken Jr. He ranks in the top 10 in the league in home runs, has stolen over 20 bases and regularly showcases Gold Glove-caliber defense.

It is not a completely foolish hope. Just last year, the World Series was played between a Texas Rangers team that had a huge Achilles' heel of a bullpen and an 84-win Diamondbacks team that had plenty of holes on its roster. All you need is to pretend for a month that your mistakes don't exist and that you're fine. That's not asking much, is it? Well, it is, but that happens to some playoff teams almost every year.

Last year's Rangers were a team with strong stars Corey Seager and Marcus Semien who played at a high level; They finished second and third behind Shohei Ohtani in the AL MVP voting. The stars were surrounded by a solid supporting cast. Deadline deals were made with the goal of strengthening the starting rotation by bringing in Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery. This helped them overcome their bullpen problem not only in the regular season but throughout October as well. This is a formula the Orioles can approximate.

There's no big secret about what cost the team a chance to repeat its AL East Division victory and what needs to be fixed to get anywhere in the postseason. The offense didn't rest too long after the All-Star break. Monthly batting split for the Orioles as a team:

• June: .273/.333/.513 (2nd in MLB by wRC+)
• July: .258/.332/.431 (6th)
• August: .231/.299/.393 (20th)
• September: .246/.316/.398 (7th)

In the final month of the season, the Orioles averaged just three runs scored per game over a two-and-a-half week period. This is probably part of a recipe for another quick and short post-season exit if nothing changes. The team has not won a postseason game since the Tigers were eliminated from the ALDS in 2014.

Orioles fans are hoping this isn't a coincidence, as the July-August loss coincided with Jordan Westburg suffering a broken hand on July 31 after being hit by a pitch. Westburg missed almost two months and did not return until the end of the season. He's a 2024 All-Star and one of the team's top two or three hitters. The lineups without him simply didn't have the same impact.

Two more injuries in late August posed further challenges for the offense. First baseman Ryan Mountcastle landed on the injured list Aug. 22 with wrist soreness, an illness that cost him more than a month of playing time. Infielder Ramón Urías twisted his ankle on August 31 and missed more than three weeks.

None of these guys put up earth-shattering numbers. Still, they're both solid performers and the team's substitutes haven't done their job. Some senior prospects, Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo, struggled in the absence of the injured players. It would have been a lot more fun in Birdland this season if Holliday had put up numbers like fellow 20-year-olds Jackson Chourio and Jackson Merrill did for the Brewers and Padres, respectively. It just didn't work out that way.

Going back to the example of last year's Rangers team, which had just overcome its season-long bullpen challenges, it helps when you have an offense that can make up for the deficiencies. This championship team led the American League in nearly every offensive category, including home runs.

The current pattern in the postseason is that the team that hits more home runs is the team that wins. If we combine Henderson's home run skills with Anthony Santander's, we'll get there. The 29-year-old Santander, an impending free agent, has had an eventful year for ages. He is one of only eight switch hitters to ever have a season with more than 40 home runs, finishing with 44. He trails only Aaron Judge and Ohtani among MLB hitters this year.

Westburg, Mountcastle and Urías all made it back in time for the final week of the regular season. That was too late for the Orioles to capitalize on the chance to retake the division lead from the Yankees. It's not too late to hope that the team looks like it did in April and May. Bringing these guys back helps improve the right-handed balance and it takes the pressure off everyone else to do everything themselves.

Thinking back to last year's Rangers, perhaps two pitchers the Orioles acquired this year will help them get somewhere in October. Corbin Burnes, brought back in February, looked like he was in contention for the second Cy Young win of his career through the first four months of the season. He returned to form in September with a 1.20 ERA in his final five starts. And in July, the O's brought in Zach Eflin, who immediately found a new gear with his new team, finishing the season with a 2.60 ERA in nine starts after the trade. That's a great one-two punch in a postseason series, especially in the chaotic best-of-three wild-card round.

Will all of this be enough for the Orioles to compete for their first World Series title since 1983? Maybe with the return of their injured players and what they've already done in their favor, the Orioles can be this year's team that figures out how to solve their problems in time for October.