Orioles need to hope their new lineup additions help shore up this critical roster flaw

The Baltimore Orioles didn’t have an identity problem in 2025 — they had an on-base problem. When you’re living near the bottom of the league in OBP and walks, you’re basically volunteering to let pitchers attack you.

The numbers back up the eye test. The O’s finished 24th in MLB in on-base percentage (.305) and were basically bottom-third in how often they earned free baserunners via walks (8.0 percent walk rate; 484 total walks). It matters that Mike Elias went shopping for bats this winter. The question is whether these additions actually fix the right thing.

Orioles’ desperate on-base fix could make their 2026 plan either brilliant or brittle

Pete Alonso is the headliner, and for good reason. The obvious sell is the home-run power. But the real value is that Alonso forces opponents to pitch differently. If the guys in front of him are getting on base more, pitchers can’t coast. If they aren’t, Alonso becomes the lone “event” and the lineup stays too easy to map.

Baltimore needs Alonso to be the guy who turns at-bats into battles, because those extra pitches and extra baserunners are what raise everyone else’s ceiling.

Taylor Ward is a bet that came with a cost. The Orioles acquired Ward from the Angels in a one-for-one trade that sent Grayson Rodriguez to L.A. That’s Baltimore admitting the offense needed a jolt badly enough to move a potential premium arm.

Ward’s 2025 OBP was .317, which is an improvement over the Orioles’ team baseline, but it’s not exactly the on-base cheat code people imagine when they hear “fix the OBP.”  The hope here is that Ward’s presence stabilizes the lineup’s nightly quality and gives Baltimore another credible bat that pitchers can’t autopilot through.

The uncomfortable truth is this still hinges on the kids. Even with Alonso and Ward in the room, Baltimore’s offense still depends heavily on internal growth from the young core. Because if the table isn’t set, the new additions are just nicer furniture in the same old house.

The Orioles don’t need to become the 2004 A’s overnight. But if they want to stop hovering around “almost scary,” they have to stop giving pitchers easy nights.