How far away are the Orioles?

It seems hard to believe when you look at the Orioles and a last-place finish in 2017, but as the calendar turned from August to September, the team was a couple of games over .500 and very close to a playoff berth.

On the night of Aug. 30, the Orioles won their seventh straight game. They were 1 1/2 games behind the Twins for the second wild card and 2 1/2 behind the Yankees for the first wild card. But in going 75-87, the Orioles finished 10 games behind the Twins. Only the White Sox and Tigers won fewer games in the American League.

After the Orioles had that winning streak and moved to the doorstep of a playoff berth, they fell back. And it was an epic fall. They lost 19 of their last 23.

The terrible finish to the season left a bad taste with a fan base that invests a lot emotionally - and in many cases, their hard-earned dollars - in the team.

When the 2012 Orioles made the AL playoffs and ended a 14-season losing streak, that team won 24 more games than the 2011 team. Such an improvement next season, which is very unlikely, would produce 99 wins. As it is, the Orioles are probably going to need to find another 15 wins somewhere over the winter.

In the last six seasons, the Orioles rotation ranked ninth or worse in ERA five times in the AL. Yet the club made the playoffs in three of those seasons.

But the concern in looking ahead to 2018 is that the Orioles have a long way to go to improve a rotation with an ERA of 5.70 that easily ranked as the worst in the league.

Since they were fifth in ERA in 2014, producing 96 wins and an AL East title, the O's starters have been near the bottom of the league. The rotation ERA was 14th at 4.53 in 2015 when the club won 81 games. The ERA was 4.72 in 2016, which ranked 13th for an 89-win team. The starters ranked 15th for last season's 75-win club.

The Orioles have shown that they can overcome a rotation that is average or adequate with strong defense, a lot of power and a strong bullpen. But a bottom-feeder rotation sure puts a strain on everything.

Since 2015, the Orioles are just four games over .500 at 245-241 and no doubt producing a better record starts with the starters.

How far away are the Orioles right now and what is the best way for the club to improve its rotation, both in the short and long-term?