The pain has faded, but it took a while. The postseason silence in a clubhouse can ring in a player\u2019s ears.<\/p>\n
The Orioles won the American League East in 2023 and were swept by the Rangers in the best-of-five Division Series. They earned the top Wild Card in 2024 and were swept by the Royals in the best-of-three series.<\/p>\n
Winning 192 games in the past two seasons doesn\u2019t lessen the disappointment of those abrupt finishes. Making the playoffs three straight years for the first time since 1969-71 won\u2019t mean much if eyes are filled with tears again and hugs are given to console rather than celebrate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my No. 1 goal and it\u2019s been my No. 1 goal since I\u2019ve been up in the big leagues is to make a strong playoff push, and it stinks that we haven\u2019t really done that,\u201d shortstop Gunnar Henderson said at last week\u2019s Birdland Caravan. \u201cThat\u2019s something that I\u2019m really looking forward to going through this year is getting over that hump and making a strong push.\u201d<\/p>\n
That hump has looked 50 feet tall, with the streak of playoff game defeats reaching 10 in a row dating back to the 2014 Championship Series. The Orioles had their roster battered by injuries last year but competed into October before their championship dreams died again.<\/p>\n
One run scored, one hit with runners in scoring position, 16 men left on base, an entire squad left feeling empty.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve got a really good team and a really good core,\u201d said first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. \u201cShould make another good run this year.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Every team in the AL East, led by the Yankees, is capable of tripping them. No one said it\u2019s going to be easy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe division\u2019s really good,\u201d said first baseman Ryan O\u2019Hearn. \u201cYou look at what the Yankees have done this offseason. Obviously, they won the East last year. Boston\u2019s going to be good, Toronto\u2019s made some moves. Every team is good, and every team is competitive, so it\u2019s kind of like a never ending gauntlet when you\u2019re playing teams in our own division. But we\u2019re confident in ourselves, we know what we can do.<\/p>\n \u201cSo focusing internally what we can do to get better every day, and then when it\u2019s time to go to battle, we\u2019ll be ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Going from division champs to a Wild Card puts the Orioles in an underdog role that doesn\u2019t seem to bother them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe obviously enjoy being on top, but yeah, we\u2019ve got to go out and prove it again this year,\u201d Henderson said. \u201cEach year\u2019s different, so we\u2019ve just got to go out there and continue to work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Playing past the regular season is a good way to harden a club, to make it battle tested and better equipped to handle the heat.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t replicate the playoffs,\u201d O\u2019Hearn said. \u201cThe height of the sport, it\u2019s the most pressure, it\u2019s the most eyes on you. It\u2019s something that, until you experience it, you really don\u2019t know how you\u2019re going to react. So I think even though we only played two games, getting those guys out there, myself included \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve only played in a few playoff games, but any kind of experience you can gain from that. We have that bad taste in our mouth, we want to do something special as a group, and we\u2019re going to take our past experiences and use that to benefit us.\u201d<\/p>\n The Orioles don\u2019t want to keep having to prove that they can overcome adversity, but that\u2019s the hand dealt again in 2025. They\u2019ll be asked about it again in spring training, where attendance will overwhelm the 10 players at the Caravan. They\u2019ll be challenged during the season to rise up, make the playoffs again and take the necessary steps to carry them beyond the first round.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s baseball,\u201d Mountcastle said. \u201cWe had a lot of injuries and a lot of stuff that didn\u2019t really go our way. But at the end of the day, you\u2019ve got to get back up, keep working. And all these guys have put in the work this offseason and should show this season.\u201d<\/p>\n * The Twins reached agreement yesterday with former Orioles reliever Danny Coulombe on a one-year contract for a reported $3 million.<\/p>\n The Orioles acquired Coulombe from the Twins on March 27, 2023 for cash considerations, one of the best trades in recent years. They declined the $4 million option on his contract.<\/p>\n * The Orioles have signed infielder Terrin Vavra to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, per a source.<\/p>\n MLBTradeRumors.com first reported it.<\/p>\n Vavra appeared in 67 games with the Orioles in 2022-23. The Mariners selected him on waivers Aug. 23, 2024 and the Orioles signed him on Sept. 7. He became a free agent and is back again.<\/p>\n Vavra broke camp with the Orioles in 2023 after batting .348 with a .957 OPS, two doubles, a triple and two home runs in 16 exhibition games. He was optioned twice and tore the labrum in his right shoulder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The pain has faded, but it took a while. The postseason silence in a clubhouse can ring in a player\u2019s ears. The Orioles won the American League… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":33209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n