Can the Orioles poor defense be fixed?

We all knew coming into the 2026 season that defense was not going to be these Orioles’ calling card. After all, this was a team that finished Bottom 5 in Baseball Reference’s defensive efficiency rankings last season and was 24th in Defensive Runs Saved on both BR and Fangraphs . Instead of making additions to help their defense in the offseason, they doubled down on offense with the likes of Pete Alonso and Taylor Ward while positioning non-plus defenders Coby Mayo and Samuel Basallo for bigger roles.

The Orioles once won multiple World Series with defensive wizards like Brooks Robinson, Mark Belanger and Paul Blair; the present-day O’s were never going to be confused for those teams defensively. However, the reality so far has been even worse than expected. The O’s are once again a bottom-of-the-barrel defensive team, ranking 24th in Defensive Runs Saved per Fangraphs , 24th in Defensive Efficiency per BR and 26th in Fielding Run Value per Baseball Savant .

What those rankings don’t account for, too, is the back-breaking nature of some of Baltimore’s defensive blunders. Dylan Beavers’ inability to track down a couple of fly balls ended in a walk-off loss in Pittsburgh. Blaze Alexander getting turned around in CF on Sunday turned the potential final out into a three-run rally, which only compounded the unearned run caused by Trevor Rogers’ failure to cover first base.

Weston Wilson’s inability to track down a fly ball in left resulted in a two-run triple for the Diamondbacks in a game the Orioles ultimately lost in extra innings. The poor defense isn’t just losing the Orioles games, but contributing to the rotation’s struggles to begin the season. Per MLB.