The Baltimore Orioles’ 3 most disappointing players in the Wild Card round

The 2024 season ended for the Baltimore Orioles against the Kansas City Royals in the Wild Card Round, as the Royals defeated the Orioles in two games.

Given Baltimore’s struggles finishing the regular season, this result wasn’t all that shocking. The Orioles struggled with many injuries to their starting lineup and their offense was woefully poor and inconsistent in the second half.

In the Wild Card round, the Orioles had some excellent pitching performances, particularly from Corbin Burnes. Despite allowing just one run in eight innings, Burnes suffered a loss in Game 1.

Baltimore was only able to muster one run in the two games against Kansas City as concerns about their postseason lineup proved justified. Since it was a tough end to the season, here are three players who disappointed the most in the Wild Card round.

This also goes back to the regular season a little bit, but Adleyrutschman was barely at the plate in the second half of the season. The All-Star catcher is said to be one of the best hitters at the position in the league, but that wasn’t the case in the second half of the season or in the Wild Card round.

Against the Orioles,rutschman went 1-for-8 at the plate with two strikeouts. If the talented catcher had a better second half, Baltimore probably would have won a few more games. However, his problems continued into the postseason and it will be a long winter forrutschman.

Another disappointing player for the Orioles was first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. In the 2024 season, Mountcastle performed quite well as he posted a .271 batting average in the regular season. Apart from a poor month of August, Mountcastle have been fairly consistent throughout the season.

Although the talented first baseman missed significant time in September, it was disappointing that one of the Orioles’ most consistent players didn’t get a hit in the Series.

As Baltimore’s best player, a lot would rest on Gunnar Henderson’s shoulders in the postseason. Henderson had an excellent regular season as he posted a .281 batting average, 37 home runs and 92 RBIs.

The All-Star was one of the best players in the entire league in 2024, but like many of his teammates, he failed in the playoffs. Against the Royals, Henderson went 0-for-7 at the plate with two walks and four strikeouts.

In a series where there wasn’t much offense, Henderson could have been the difference for the Orioles if he had played to his abilities. Unfortunately that didn’t happen.