There is one Oriole player who needs to bounce back more than anyone else in 2027, and it’s not close. We all know who he is. The shortstop (who could have been at third base years ago).
But he’s going to be mentioned here, for several reasons. First of all, Gunnar Henderson needs to be dealt with two full years of team control and no chance to extend him (don’t sell me on a potential franchise tag coming in the new CBA). That ship has sailed. He’s been in a two-season freefall from his heights and it’s time for a change.
His tears after Adley Rutschman, the only player baseball failure Mike Elis drafted before Henderson, was traded really told you what you need to know, and Elias’s brand of low-IQ, junk baseball has infected every aspect of Henderson’s play and it's time to move on and replace him with a defensive-whiz at short.
So I’m not going to regale you with tales of Henderson producing that MVP season here or that 40/40 campaign we all dreamed on, because Elias is a fool and the fact that between all of those top five picks none of them will spend the bulk of his career in Baltimore or produce anything close to the premier seasons expected of them is the kind of thing that should have had him fired years ago.
Oh well.
We keep it real around here and try to look for realistic candidates when we write about potential trades or comebacks or regression candidates or breakthrough guys. These are the Orioles we will be most excited to see ascend next season and why we think they can do it.
Kyle Bradish
Ideally, he would still be slotted in second or third in this rotation, for starters, with someone else brought in from the outside to start Opening Day and front the rotation. Take the pressure off and just tell him to be himself. I love his mentality and he had the usual difficult time in his first full season back from Tommy John and Elias managed to mess up his timeline from recovery from his initial elbow injury because that’s what he does.
If he can command his slider in 2027 like he did in say, 2024, before the injury, let alone have it be the weapon it was for him in 2023, then Bradish will be able to pitch around the fastball more adroitly and this is someone who could sport a 3.23 ERA rather than something around 4.20. it will cutdown on the homers and damage with men on base if it’s a true outpitch for him. Of all the current arms on this roster, he stands out.
Just getting through last season and throwing that many pitches was a major accomplishment.
Samuel Basallo
I believe in this kid’s bat in a very big way.
I also believe he will come back stronger next season after all the BS he had to deal with this season, with a bunch of clowns letting the catching situation with him and Rutschman sort itself out and having no plan and prioritizing Adley’s health and time off over his (go catch 11 innings in a day game after a night game, kid, while we coddle our 1-1 on his way to Boston.
That can’t happen next year.
His overmatched skipper is somehow back for 2027, but I doubt he comes at Basallo half-cocked like he did last year and I am hopeful The Warehouse will try to provide the 22-year-old with some semblance of a sketch of home many games they want him to catch and how to keep the bat hot around it. He needs more first base to keep him active and engaged. A better No. 2 catcher (glove-first, who is maybe really the No. 1 catcher) is imperative. (As always, we have a plan for them).
I could see the kid hitting 30 homers and driving in 85 runs if batting behind Pete Alonso in a lineup that has people in the 1-3 slot in the lineup who actually get on base and can move and score runs. This kid’s first half was no fluke.
Jordan Westburg
Of that first wave of prospects and Elias’s first three drafts – the ones loaded with the tanking picks that forced MLB to add a draft lottery – this is the last real hope left. Henderson is on barrowed time, the rest of this group mostly stink; Jackson Holliday doesn’t have a position here and badly needs a change of scenery, too.
If the Orioles did the right thing – always a big if – and make hm the everyday second baseman and add him to the DH rotation, and create a medical team that can stay on top of nagging injuries to try to prevent them from becoming season-wreckers, there is hope.
He has missed more time than he’s played essentially since he started to solidify himself as a potential everyday MLB performer. But I also believe he has a cutting edge and winning desire and mindset far beyond the overhyped and overcoddled kids he came up with through the system. He thrives on producing with men on base and naturally understands adjusting his swing and approach to the situation.
He is a run producer. He should not be bouncing around positions and there are enough options at third. He could be a real weapon at second and help them finally get right up the middle and I would love to see him get some real structure in terms of a reasonable blueprint for what his 2027 workload and timeshare should be.
A major part of why all these kids have failed is because Elias is such a fraud, he has no master plan for them, his rosters never make much sense and the pieces don't fit, so players get spread all over the place and there is no individualized development within the overarching team structure that prioritizes their growth. Might want to get around to changing that with Matt Blood finally out the door.
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