Peter Schmuck: Orioles finally show their fans what could have been

In the middle of Monday night’s lopsided victory over the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays, a friend texted me and asked a sarcastic question born out of four months of Oriole-related frustration.

“If you can find out who that is playing at Camden Yards tonight, can you let me know?”

You know the answer: It’s the team the 2025 Orioles were supposed to be.

The O’s are almost whole again, and just when it’s time for executive VP/general manager Mike Elias to tear part of the team down and refocus on making sure next year’s version can hit the ground as the legitimate contender that this year’s team should have been.

Maybe the triumphant return of Adley Rutschman on Monday after all these weeks was a spark, but the Orioles did score 18 runs on Saturday against the Colorado Rockies, who have proven to be an elixir for a lot of teams during their quest to win more than 40 games this year.

The Blue Jays, however, are the real deal and the Orioles extended their trade-deadline winning streak to five games with 19 more runs in Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep. I mean, really, when was the last time a team clinched a four-game series on a Tuesday?

That was a rhetorical question. Don’t bother trying to look it up. The O’s already have delved into the archives enough with their unprecedented 18-0 shutout and the odd confluence of a modern-era record-tying five sacrifice flies to go with four home runs in the first game of Tuesday’s twinbill.

This is the “if only” series, featuring a lot of the things the Orioles were expecting at the start of the season.

If only $49.5 million outfielder Tyler O’Neill had picked up where he left off during his 31-homer season in Boston last year instead of spending much of the first half on the injured list. That guy finally showed up over the weekend and has homered in four consecutive games.

If only Colton Cowser had not taken that ill-advised headfirst dive into first base during the first week of the season and kept a productive power bat in the middle of the lineup for 80 of the first 100 games instead of 42.

If only fellow everyday players Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle and Jordan Westburg also had been able to play every day instead of headlining another devastatingly long list of guys to spend time on the IL.

There are more examples, but you don’t need the whole list if you’ve been here all along. What you – and I – are looking for right now is reassurance that the team that remains after Thursday’s trade deadline is still solid enough to form the foundation for a big comeback season next year.

Obviously, the offensive numbers from the past few days (51 runs in five games) are exaggerated, but the offensive chemistry and the overall enthusiasm in the dugout should provide some piece of mind going forward.

Rutschman came back with a bang on Monday night and Westburg added seven hits in the first two games of the Jays series to boost his July batting average to .337. Starting pitcher Trevor Rogers has come back healthy and looks like the guy who was an All-Star as a rookie four years ago. Brandon Young just held the potent Jays lineup to just two runs over six innings last night and just might be the real deal.

And ace-in-waiting Kyle Bradish hit 97 on the radar gun during his latest rehab appearance.

Pretty sure all of those guys will be back next spring. Can’t say the same about Cedric Mullins, Zach Eflin or Ryan O’Hearn, and top setup relievers Gregory Soto and Seranthony Domínguez are already gone, but there will still be plenty of talent here regardless of the trade deadline shakeup.