O's remaining stars recognize need to put 'big-boy shoes' on

CHICAGO -- In anticipation of Thursday’s Trade Deadline, Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino recently stated he expected the core players on his team -- Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and others -- to be in a spot this week in which they would need to assume larger leadership roles. Veterans were the top trade chips and expected to be on the move.

Then, it happened. Cedric Mullins (the longest-tenured Oriole) was sent to the Mets. Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano (two of the strongest voices in the clubhouse) went to the Padres. Pitchers with tons of MLB experience were traded as Charlie Morton (an 18-year veteran) was dealt to the Tigers and Andrew Kittredge (nine) moved to the Cubs.

After a hectic and newsy off-day, the O’s reconvened at Wrigley Field in Chicago ahead of Friday’s series-opening 1-0 loss to the Cubs without as many familiar faces. And Mansolino again gave a call to action for the team’s top stars to step up and lead.

“They need to. And that’s their responsibility,” Mansolino said. “They’ve been delivered that message, too, a couple times in a lot of different ways. Gunnar, [Jordan] Westburg, Jackson [Holliday], Adley, [Kyle] Bradish, [Colton] Cowser -- this is their team.

“There’s other veteran players here, but these are the guys. They need to run this thing and they need to figure this thing out, and they need to make sure, in their way, that we don’t put ourselves in this position in years to come.”

Message received loud and clear.

“It’s that time,” Westburg said. “I think we’ve got to put on our big-boy shoes, big-boy pants and lead this clubhouse for the last two months of the season.”

It goes beyond that, but the Orioles aren’t looking to 2026 quite yet, even if everybody on the outside is. They still have two months of baseball to play, and while the type of comeback required for them to reach the postseason would be nearly unprecedented, they can at least keep up some recent momentum -- both as a team and for individual players.

For the core, it’s about finding their voices and a leadership structure that will help get Baltimore back to where it expects to be for a long time. That can happen during games.

“We still have a lot of great players in this locker room,” Henderson said. “Just go out there and continue to play with my hair on fire. I feel like that’s all I can do. I feel like all the guys are in the same kind of mindset, is just go out there and play as hard as you can.”

“I don’t really know how my leadership or role kind of fits in. Obviously, you’ve got guys like Gunnar and Rutsch and Westy,” added Holliday, still only 21. “I’m just going to go out there and play as hard as I can to win. I don’t know how that really falls into place, but I’d like to think that I can just bring a presence out on the field

Meanwhile, the bottom of the Orioles’ roster now features less experienced players trying to make positive impressions. Following Thursday’s handful of trades, the O’s called up right-hander Yaramil Hiraldo, infielders Jeremiah Jackson, Luis Vázquez and Terrin Vavra and outfielder Jordyn Adams to plug their newly created holes.

Some could stick. Others could be short-term replacements -- especially with top prospects Samuel Basallo (Baltimore’s No. 1 and MLB Pipeline’s No. 9) and Dylan Beavers (O’s No. 3) raking at Triple-A Norfolk and knocking very loudly on the big league door.

August and September could feature exciting debuts, potentially even too far into the future for both Basallo and Beavers.

“They’re both having terrific seasons. They’ve both been bright spots in this organization in a tough year,” general manager Mike Elias said. “To see them performing in Triple-A like that, it’s really good. They’ve come a long way and they're almost there. There's some things we're still looking for and hoping they'll do, but I do think getting them a taste in 2025 here would be a good thing for all parties."

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It was a tough week, and it can be difficult for fans to feel much other than disappointment after a fire sale that was certainly not expected to take place when this season began. But the combination of fresh, exciting faces and star players using this time to further develop should make the next two months interesting for the Orioles.

“Who knows what could happen these two months,” Westburg said. “We could surprise a lot of people, or, if we focus on the negative, we could be a really disappointing ballclub. But I think a majority of these guys here are professional enough to focus on positives and accept their new roles and go forward.”