Orioles' major flaw despite Adley Rutschman's heroics highlighted by Justin Verlander's brother 

Justin Verlander's brother Ben recently analysed the Baltimore Orioles' poor start to the season despite Adley Rutschman's heroics. The Baltimore front office has failed their young stars by not adding the pitching that is required to help their vibrant offence.

Adley Rutschman was promoted to the major leagues by the Orioles for the first time in May 2022. He has since become one of their core players and inspired other young players of his generation to move up to the majors in Baltimore.

However, as Ben Verlander pointed out on the "Flippin' Bats" podcast, the team has continued to struggle because of a weak pitching staff that has the worst numbers in the AL.

(from 13:28 mark onwards)

"From the time you call up Adley Rutschman to now, the team is all of a sudden good. Turned the entire organization around. Adley comes up, then all these other guys start coming up... Adley started the young core taking over in Baltimore. It just clearly became obvious this team is young, fun, exciting...and then they continued to not add the right pieces," Verlander said.

"The only reason you're remotely good is because you drafted well. Congratulations, that's half the battle. You got to go supplement the team with some pitching... There were pitchers available to go get and you went and cut corners again.

"The Baltimore Orioles have the worst starter ERA in all of the AL... You've taken this team and you've made them potentially not even a playoff team. The AL is weak. If this team doesn't make the playoffs it is shame on the front office," he added.

The Orioles' most recent defeat was a 24-2 humiliation at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds, once again highlighting their poor pitching. They are currently fourth in the AL East with a 9-12 record, and in danger of missing out on the playoffs if they continue this way.

Adley Rutschman provides only silver lining in Orioles' 24-2 loss to Reds

Baltimore catcher Adley Rutschman went 2-for-4 with a home run during Sunday's 24-2 loss to Cincinnati. The 27-year-old blasted his fourth home run of the season into right field in the eighth inning to add a second run for the O's.

All in all, it was a humiliating evening for the Orioles. Fans have good reason to be angry with the front office for not reinforcing their pitching staff despite being shorthanded ahead of the season. Injuries to Grayson Rodriguez and Zach Eflin have helped their cause, but they need to do something to remedy the situation.

The Baltimore Orioles will look to return to winning ways in their next three-game series against the Washington Nationals, with Game 1 set to begin on Tuesday.