Orioles have the look of a team ready to contend for World Series

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) is greeted by catcher Adley Rutschman (35) after the second inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

After leaping from 52 wins in 2021 to 83 in 2022 and 101 last season, the Baltimore Orioles entered the offseason intending to contend for baseball’s biggest prize. On Opening Day on Thursday, they fully looked the part, trouncing the Los Angeles Angels 11-3.

One game is 1/162nd of the regular-season schedule, but it’s fair to start asking: Are the Orioles in position to break out and rise to the top of the American League?

Baltimore had the most regular-season wins in the AL last season, but the eventual-champion Texas Rangers swept them in the ALDS.

Baltimore’s biggest offseason acquisition — ace Corbin Burnes — is the kind of piece that can transform a regular-season juggernaut into a legitimate championship threat. The former Brewer won a Cy Young Award (in 2021) and had three additional top-eight finishes in the voting for that honor, all in the past four years.

Over that stretch, Burnes’ WHIP is below 1.000, and his ERA is a sparkling 2.86. On Opening Day, he allowed a first-inning home run to superstar Mike Trout before settling in for a six-inning, one-hit, 11-strikeout performance.

When last season’s breakout starter Kyle Bradish (12-7, 2.83 ERA in 2023) returns from injury, he and Burnes should form a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. That pairing should be even more valuable if the Orioles reach the postseason when rotations shorten.

The arrival of Burnes isn’t the only reason for Orioles fans to be optimistic.

The team’s core, which includes catcher Adley Rutschman, third baseman Gunnar Henderson and center fielder Cedric Mullins, is essentially the same. And more help will soon be on the way.

20-year-old shortstop Jackson Holliday — the top-rated prospect in the majors, per MLB.com — should debut this season. 24-year-old outfielder Colton Cowser, the 19th-ranked prospect, is already with the big-league club.

With a powerful lineup and solid pitching, Baltimore looks like a contender in the AL East in what could be a down year for the rest of the division.

But do the Orioles have enough to make it to the World Series? New owner David Rubenstein is banking on it.

“I want the high-water mark to be in the fall,” he said Thursday, “when we go to the World Series, and we show that we are a city that supports a great team.”

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