Looking at three more ways for the Orioles to improve in 2025

The Orioles haven’t swung at a pitch or thrown one since Oct. 2 in Game 2 of the Wild Card series against the Royals. Gunnar Henderson struck out on a changeup from Lucas Erceg and walked back to the dugout with his head down. The visiting team celebrated in its clubhouse and on the field.

"Feel terrible," said Ryan O'Hearn. "Feel terrible for our fans. Feel like we let them down. Just sucks.”

What can the Orioles do next season to say that they’ve lost that losing feeling?

Here are three more ways:

Adley Rutschman being the best version of himself.

Not to keep dumping too much on Rutschman, but his struggles at the plate in the second half really hurt.

Rutschman posted a .207 average with a .585 OPS after the break after batting .276 with a .780 OPS before it. Sixteen of his 19 home runs were hit in the first half. Rutschman was an All-Star but he finished with a .250/.318/.391 line in 148 games, compared to his .277/.374/.435 line in 154 games in 2023. His walk total fell from 92 to 58.

Maybe it was the foul ball off his hand in June or the lower-back discomfort in August that caused him to be scratched from the lineup. Or he fell into some bad habits at the plate, was pressing more with every out and loss, and couldn’t get back into rhythm.

Maybe it’s all of the above.

The Orioles need a productive Rutschman, which includes improving on his .219 average and .631 OPS from the left side.

Get two good halves from Cedric Mullins.

Mullins hit a game-tying homer off Seth Lugo leading off the fifth inning, the last run scored by the Orioles. He went 0-for-12 in last year’s Division Series but had three hits in the Wild Card.

You could see it coming.

Mullins is eligible for arbitration again and MLBTradeRumors.com projects a raise to $8.7 million. He might have been trending toward non-tender land by hitting .136/.162/.182 in May and .214/.256/.373 in the first half, but he slashed .286/.368/.488 in September and .266/.374/.457 after the break.  Five of his 18 homers were hit in the final month of the regular season.

Most of the offense went cold but Mullins got hot. He began September by collecting 12 hits in 30 at-bats and ended it with seven hits in 14 and 10 hits in 32. He also reached the 30-steal mark for the third time in four seasons.

The final line was similar to 2023, when Mullins appeared in only 116 games after twice going on the injured list with right adductor/groin strains. He played in 147 games this year and batted .234/.305/.405, compared to .233/.305/.416 the previous season.

The club places more value on Mullins’ defense than the metrics show, and the importance of his speed and base-stealing grew with Jorge Mateo’s elbow injury. Assuming that he’s back next year, he needs to turn his better half into a full season.

Jackson Holliday outgrows his growing pains.

Holliday will get the chance to be the everyday second baseman, with Jordan Westburg at third and Ramón Urías probably available to back up at both positions. But he’s got to earn the job in camp.

As you certainly recall, Holliday didn’t make the club out of spring training at age 20, and fans, along with some media, flipped out over it. His major league debut wasn’t on hold for very long, with his first game played April 10 in Boston.

The rest of the story has been recited so many times, it doesn’t need fact checks. He went 2-for-34 with 18 strikeouts and was optioned without making it into May. Only 10 games and he was gone, with the explanation that he needed to face more left-handed pitching and get more repetitions at second base.

Holliday hit a grand slam onto Eutaw Street for his first home run in his first game back on July 31, after Jordan Westburg’s right hand was fractured by a pitch. He batted .189/.255/.311 in 60 games and homered in three straight from Aug. 4-7. The last of his five was hit on Aug. 10.

The finish to Holliday’s season was encouraging. He abandoned the timing-mechanism leg lift and went 5-for-7 in his last four games and 7-for-18 in his last eight. Getting him closer to the player who tore up the minors and ranked as the No. 1 prospect in baseball would be a huge boost to the lineup.

The Orioles will keep working on his defense at second base and the mechanics at the plate that brought better results. He turns 21 in December. There’s a lot of time for Holliday to touch his high ceiling.