Orioles' historic, embarrassing failure can be directly attributed to lost '25 season

Left-handed pitchers have long been the darlings of a pitching staff. Strong lefty options in the starting rotation and bullpen can turn a good team into an elite team. On the flip side, struggling to hit southpaws can bury a club. The 2025 Baltimore Orioles are the epitome of such a team.

So much has gone wrong for the Orioles this season that it's hard to keep track of all their misfortunes. Perhaps the ugliest of all is Baltimore's numbers against lefties.

The O's are reaching historically bad hitting levels when facing a left-handed pitcher. Through June 13, the Orioles are at or near the bottom in virtually every hitting category vs. lefties. Their .557 team on-base plus slugging percentage against southpaws is the worst in the modern era of Major League Baseball (since 1901), per Jacob Calvin Meyer. The 1963 Houston Colt .45s posted a .565 mark en route to a 66-win season.

Baltimore has 90-plus games to avoid the wrong history books, but it doesn't look promising. Beyond the OPS ranking, the Orioles are last in batting average and on-base percentage against left-handers. They're 28th in runs scored and 29th in runs batted in. They've faced a left-handed starter 19 times, and are 4-15 in those games.

Orioles' offense failing to pull its weight during miserable season

Baltimore's pitching staff has been far from brilliant this year, but several arms have made strides throughout the season. Following Friday's shutout win over the Los Angeles Angels, the Orioles' team ERA dipped to 4.93. It's the first time that number's been below 5.00 since April 20, per Andy Kostka.

Meanwhile, Baltimore's offense has failed to replicate its success from the past few seasons. The O's are scoring one fewer run per game than last year, down to 3.85 from 4.85. Their batting average is 12 points lower than 2024, the team's OBP is 11 points lower, and their .695 OPS is lower than the marks posted in 2021 (.705) and 2019 (.725). Baltimore lost 110 and 108 games in those seasons.

It's been slightly better in June than the season's first two months. The Orioles are averaging just shy of four runs per game this month after scoring 3.66 in May. Baltimore's slugging percentage and OPS are higher than last month, helping the O's win seven of their first 11 June games.

However, things remain bleak against left-handers, especially starters. The Orioles are hitting below .200 vs. lefty starters, with a 28.5 percent strikeout rate compared to a 22 percent rate against right-handed starters.

Baltimore's opponents have taken notice of its lefty struggles. The Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox utilized a left-handed reliever as an opener in recent games against the O's. The last five lefties that started a game against Baltimore recorded a 2.28 ERA.

The Orioles' best lineup on paper features five left-handed hitters. Interim manager Tony Mansolino has experimented with the lineup, starting only three left-handed hitters the last two times Baltimore faced a traditional lefty starter. The skipper and his staff might have to dig deeper to unlock better results against southpaws.

More Orioles news from Birds Watcher