Orioles baseball is almost here.

Baltimore opens the season Thursday in Toronto with the first game in a four-game series before heading home for a three-game set against Boston.

Let’s start with the good: The Orioles are coming off their second straight season winning 90 or more games, and should have Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Jordan Westburg driving what could be one of the top offenses in baseball. They might see even better production from players such as Colton Cowser, the runner-up for American League Rookie of the Year, and Jackson Holliday, who struggled last year as a rookie but came to camp looking stronger.

Now the not-so-good: For all its talent, Baltimore has yet to win a postseason game in the last two seasons, let alone a series. The Orioles lost two stars this offseason in ace pitcher Corbin Burnes and right fielder Anthony Santander and didn’t make any big splashes to replace them, bringing in outfielder Tyler O’Neill and veteran right-handed starters Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Kyle Gibson.

As we get ready for the 162-game schedule to commence, our experts examine the biggest questions facing the team.

Did the Orioles have a productive offseason?

Danielle Allentuck, Orioles beat reporter: Depends on what you classify as productive. They filled the holes they needed to — an outfielder, starting pitching depth and bullpen help — but didn’t bring in that star power to replace Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander, who signed with the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays, respectively. Even if these signings turn out better than expected, it’ll still be challenging to replace the output that Burnes and Santander were able to provide.

Andy Kostka, Orioles beat reporter: The Orioles signed one relief pitcher, Andrew Kittredge, and he will be out for months due to knee surgery before he throws a meaningful pitch. If the Orioles wanted to cement their bullpen, additional help would’ve been welcome to do so rather than relying on the same group as last season, plus a freshly returning Félix Bautista. Otherwise, Baltimore opted to replace Burnes in the aggregate and can likely see similar results in the outfield from a combination of Heston Kjerstad and Tyler O’Neill. So, to answer bluntly, there was more that could’ve been done.

Paul Mancano, Banner Baseball Show co-host: Perfect, no. Productive, yes. Gary Sánchez should be an improvement over James McCann. Tomoyuki Sugano, Charlie Morton and Kyle Gibson should keep the bottom from falling out of the rotation. And a tandem of Kjerstad and O’Neill should replace roughly 80% of Santander’s output. There’s still that gaping hole at the top of the rotation and the bullpen concerns me, but not every big roster move needs to come during the winter. If Grayson Rodriguez fails to develop into the ace the Orioles expect him to be, they’ll need to add one before the July 31 trade deadline.

Jon Meoli, Orioles columnist: Yes, though I kind of reject the premise. They signed eight major league free agents and ended up with multiple solutions at every spot of need they had. Could they have added the same $73 million to their 2025 payroll on three players and had a different impact? Sure. That would be a productive offseason, too. They’d just be a lot thinner when it comes to major league depth, and if one or two of those big signings went down with an injury, it would do far more harm to the team’s playoff chances than having signed a half-dozen good players will.

What do they need to do to get over the hump and win a playoff game for the first time since 2014?

Allentuck: Hit when it matters. The Orioles’ downfall at the end of last season came not because of their pitching — despite all the injuries — but because of their inability to hit with runners in scoring position.

Kostka: The Orioles hit 52 more home runs in 2024 than 2023. They scored 21 fewer runs in 2024 than 2023. The lack of situational hitting (.251 average with runners in scoring position, which ranked 17th) proved costly. There was a noticeable focus on bunting and stealing during spring training, and both are ways to manufacture runs rather than relying on a big swing. In the postseason, an ability to play small ball when needed could have the biggest impact.

Mancano: Get their stars to shine the brightest when it matters the most. Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg combined for two hits in the O’s brief two-game stay in the postseason last year. But they’re all young, and the light will come on for them at some point soon.

Meoli: Literally get one big hit. It’s contagious, especially in the postseason, and if a team with the talent and general vibes of the Orioles get confident in October, it will be a significant tailwind for them to ride.

What’s your biggest concern?

Allentuck: The rotation. Zach Eflin, the Orioles’ opening day starter, is poised to have another great season after pitching to a 2.60 ERA in his nine starts after being traded from the Rays in July. But there’s a question mark hanging over the rest of the group. Will Grayson Rodriguez, dealing with elbow inflammation and starting his season ramp-up over, be healthy enough to develop into the top-of-the-line starter the team thinks he can be? How will Tomoyuki Sugano, a long-time star in Japan, adapt to his first year in Major League Baseball at age 35? Can Dean Kremer become more than just a backend starter? How will Cade Povich, 24, perform after an up-and-down rookie season? And can Charlie Morton, 41, hold up despite his age?

Kostka: The bullpen finished last season with a 4.22 reliever ERA, good for 23rd in the majors. Bautista is returning, and while I was bullish this offseason on the advanced metrics for Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Keegan Akin, the bullpen could be a major weak point yet again. Bautista won’t be pitching multiple innings or on back-to-back days, which puts the onus on Yennier Cano, Soto or Cionel Pérez to close games. Can this group step up?

Mancano: I’m with Andy here. It’s easy to pin much of the O’s 2024 bullpen issues on the Craig Kimbrel debacle, but Soto and Domínguez both had their fair share of hiccups. Jacob Webb and Danny Coulombe, two of the more underrated arms, are both gone. And what if Bautista isn’t quite himself to start the season? This group is more unsettled than it might appear.

Meoli: In a weird way, it’s the far-off returns of Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, and Rodriguez for me. I am cautiously optimistic that a rotation full of mid-to-backend starters in their absence can hang in and give a really good offense a chance to win every night, and then this team can really get rolling once those arms are healthy. If not? Well, I guess the concern is that they have too much ground to make up before they’re at their best.

Who will win the American League East and why?

Allentuck: Look, I think the Orioles have a chance to win the division if everything goes perfectly. But my hunch says the Yankees will take it for the second year in a row. Losing Gerrit Cole for the season does create an opening for the other teams, but New York has the depth to get by without him, and there’s no doubt in my mind they will try to make another blockbuster deal at the trade deadline.

Kostka: In a prediction post the other day, I wrote the Orioles could miss the playoffs by a game or two. I’ll stick with that premise and go elsewhere for an AL East champion. How about the Boston Red Sox as a contender? They have top prospects waiting to break through, they supplemented their pitching staff by trading for Garrett Crochet and they signed Alex Bregman. Perhaps the stars align at Fenway Park.

Mancano: I predicted the Red Sox would beat the Orioles in the ALCS, so I’ll pencil them in as the division winners as well. But the O’s have enough talent to claim their second AL East title in three years.

Meoli: Three-team race between the Orioles, Yankees, and Red Sox here. I think the Orioles squeak it out at Yankee Stadium on the final weekend of the season.