Anyone who went into this season expecting to see an Orioles team on the verge of being a contender after a rough stretch of seasons has been considerably disappointed.
A better-than-expected 2020 season (from a team performance standpoint) that followed brutal 2018 and ’19 campaigns may have given the impression that the O’s were taking a step forward, but 2021 has crushed those hopes.
Baltimore is headed in the right direction, yes. But the bridge from where the Orioles were to where they want to be is a long one, and they have a lot of it still ahead of them.