Like every team in Major League Baseball, the Baltimore Orioles entered the 2025 season with several key questions that would determine their success not only this season, but in future seasons as well.

And like every team in Major League Baseball, the Orioles are nowhere close to answering these burning hot questions.

This is mostly a product of the season being so young.

The Orioles kicked off a three-game set against the Diamondbacks in the desert with a win on Monday night, but they’ve still yet to find their footing. They have struggled to a 5-6 record, driven primarily by subpar starting pitching, a freak injury to one of their best players, and a grand total of ZERO save chances for Felix Bautista.

To say the least, while the games have started, the Orioles’ best baseball hopefully remains ahead of them. And answers to these burning questions are even further away.

1. Will the Orioles extend their young talent?

We sure hope so. While the last few weeks have featured several extensions of young talent around the league, the Orioles have missed the memo.

The Red Sox locked up both their ace Garrett Crochet (6 years, $170 million) and their second baseman Kristian Campbell (8 years, $60 million) on long-term extensions.

The Padres extended arguably their second best player, Jackson Merrill, on a 9-year, $135 million contract (which seems extremely reasonably given his talent.) And after much uncertainty over the last two-plus years, the Blue Jays extended Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a 14-year, $500 million deal.

Yet the Orioles, with an abundance of young talent nearly unmatched throughout the league, have sat on their hands.

While there are whispers of the Orioles “hoping” to keep Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg, and Jackson Holliday in Baltimore for the long term, actions speak louder than whispers.

And right now, the Orioles appear headed to familiar territory that caused them to lose star Manny Machado in a trade in his final year before free agency.

Henderson and company will only get more expensive as they continue to produce and get closer to the free agent market.

2. Has Felix Bautista successfully returned from Tommy John surgery?

Orioles’ fans have waited over a year in anticipation of Felix “The Mountain” Bautista coming in for a save opportunity.

So, as luck would have it, the 5-6 Orioles have not had any save chances for Bautista.

Accordingly, Bautista has not had a chance to shake off any rust or butterflies he may have after returning to the mound for the first time since August 2023. In three games, Bautista has allowed two runs with three hits and three walks over three innings. Regardless of save opportunities, this question will not be answered until at least halfway through the season.

The key questions for Bautista will turn on his velocity, command, and his ability to stay healthy.

In the small 2025 sample size, Bautista has thrown his sinker (97.4 miles per hour), splitter and slider, with the splitter responsible for all three strikeouts. Before the injury, Bautista effortlessly hit the triple-digits with his sinker (which averaged 99.5 miles per hour in 2023).

A slight dip in velocity is expected, and we do not have enough real data to evaluate Bautista’s return yet. Hopefully, by the end of May, Bautista is back in form, firing pitches over 100 miles per hour with consistency and recording save after save for the O’s.

3. Can Colton Cowser avoid a sophomore slump?

This question receives the largest “TBD” written in sharpie ink and underlined. We just do not know, and with Cowser fracturing his thumb in Toronto, the Orioles will have to wait a lot longer before we know if Cowser can meet (or exceed) his stellar 2024 season.

Prior to the injury, Cowser was 1-16, with the one hit being a booming home run to center off of Max Scherzer. So while it wasn’t a perfect start for the 25 year old, we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see how it plays out.

4. Was the Orioles’ tepid offseason a success?

The Orioles received well-deserved criticism after a much-anticipated offseason saw them walk away with only Tyler O’Neill, Gary Sanchez, Charlie Morton, Andrew Kittredge and Ramon Laureano, among other similarly unheralded players.

Ace Corbin Burnes bolted Baltimore for Arizona. Anthony Santander left the Orioles for division rival Toronto.

And the Orioles struck out on their stated desire to land an ace such as Nathan Eovaldi or Max Fried.

So far, aside from Tyler O’Neill, the returns have not been great. Morton is 0-2 with a 9.72 ERA, Sanchez is just 1-13, Ramon Laureano is 1-9, and Andrew Kittredge has yet to throw a pitch. Because we are only eleven games in, the answer to this question remains far from clear.

5. How will injuries impact the 2025 Orioles?

So far, not so good. The Orioles lost Grayson Rodriguez and Andrew Kittredge in spring training, and Gunnar Henderson missed the first seven games of the season with an intercostal strain.

Colton Cowser is out until at least June with a fractured thumb following a regrettable slide into first base.

But things can turn around for the Orioles on the injury front. Rodriguez, as well as starters Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells, should be back with plenty of baseball left to play.

Kittredge is expected back for the majority of the season, and Cowser’s injury, while unfortunate, is not something that will linger long term.

As with all of the burning questions affecting the Orioles and teams around the league, there simply has not been enough time to provide answers.

The Orioles hope that 2-3 months from now, the answers to these burning questions will be clearer.