Outside of any potential joy from misfortune coming to the Yankees, it’s hard to look at this World Series through the prism of anything but its stars.

There are the stars that are living up to their billings; Freddie Freeman is a bad, bad man, and Juan Soto is every bit the generational star he’s been made out to be. There are the stars that aren’t living up to their hype — Aaron Judge, to be specific — and stars like Shohei Ohtani whose injury is limiting his impact but is making the series heftier just by its presence.

Every World Series takes its own shape. Past years have featured feel-good stories of underdogs playing deep into October, of rebuilds-gone-right and homegrown success stories. The lapsed pro wrestling fan in me would just consider this Dodgers-Yankees matchup as a hoss vs. hoss, a couple of heavyweights trading their best shot. We know the Dodgers’ best shot is, to this point, the better one. And I chuckled seeing a tweet last night asking everyone to remind the Yankee fans in their lives that teams have come back from 3-0 deficits before, so no throwing dirt on them yet.

No matter the outcome — and I really hate coming back to this — it has me thinking about the Orioles’ stars. Buck Showalter used to talk about pile jumpers: Who can you envision jumping onto the celebratory dogpile at the end of the World Series?

I think the Orioles have all kinds of players that fit that mold. As high as expectations have been, and for as long as some of their homegrown players have been in the majors, they’re still going to get better. So potential AL Rookie of the Year Colton Cowser and All-Star Jordan Westburg are firmly in the “yes” camp. I bet Heston Kjerstad will grow into pile-jumper status as well.

At the very least, Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson are in that camp. They feel like the only two established players who can be more, though, and I’m personally not dissuaded from that. Henderson left something to be desired in the biggest moments down the stretch, but his age-23 season was worth eight wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs, which is the fourth highest for a player 23 years old or younger in the last decade. Mike Trout and Bryce Harper are the only ones to top it.

I told myself I was done writing about Rutschman’s second half after this breakdown, but it’s worth repeating just how out of character it was. That’s part of what gives me the conviction to say he’ll be back to himself.

Do they have that extra gear required to be at the highest echelon of the game? That’s the question, and what’s clear is that to win, you need at least one of those and hopefully more. Even the specter of star power helps; the Yankees walked Mookie Betts, who hasn’t had the best series, to get to Freeman in that fateful 10th inning of Game 1.

That’s the challenge for Rutschman and Henderson, and I suppose everyone else on the Orioles’ roster — to get to that level. I guess it’s not fair to put a cap on Westburg and Cowser, nor is it fair to put anyone who hasn’t meaningfully contributed to the majors — like Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo or Samuel Basallo — on that star-level trajectory, even if the talent to do so is there. (I’m also getting very interested in Vance Honeycutt’s potential to get to that level based on some offseason calls I’ve made.)

Depth is important, and that depth being the quality kind is even better. The Orioles are going to have no shortage of good players across their roster in the coming years, and probably are going to be able to supplement the lineup with veteran talent through free agency in a way they haven’t in nearly a decade.

But stardom is another thing. This World Series is full of players who fit that bill. And that’s a unique prism to look at these Orioles through.

📫 Have a question? Write to me here.

🚀 Talent pipeline

There aren’t a lot of true relievers in the Orioles’ farm system; their tandem starter system doesn’t leave a lot of innings to spare. But Zane Barnhart is one, and he hasn’t allowed a run in four outings in the Arizona Fall League. Barnhart, who was born in Towson, was a 17th-round pick in 2023 after impressing in the Draft League. I saw him reach 95 mph with his fastball to go along with a good slider this year in Aberdeen. He had a 1.22 WHIP with 56 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings in the low minors this year.

📰 Further reading

🤔 Replacing an ace: The Orioles are deep in the planning and hiring phase of the offseason, and that also includes potential roster construction. Andy has a good breakdown of what to do if the Orioles don’t bring back Corbin Burnes. (The Baltimore Banner)

🧢 Holliday’s swing might change: Jacob Calvin Meyer had a great breakdown of what might look different about Holliday’s swing next year. Holliday isn’t going to let what happened this season happen again, and I’m fascinated to see him show up next spring with the results of all these lessons learned. (The Baltimore Sun)