Only three weeks remain in what has been a grueling 2025 campaign for the Orioles. With six series left on the schedule, some matchups carry little weight (like this week’s set against the Pirates and next week’s against the White Sox), while others could heavily impact playoff races — including a three-game series in Toronto and two separate showdowns with the Yankees. After shaking up the NL West by taking series from both the Padres and Dodgers last week, the O’s now have a chance to stir things up in the AL East as well.
Regardless of the stakes in these games, Baltimore is using this final stretch to evaluate players battling for spots on the 2026 roster. And plenty of auditions have already taken place this season, some lasting longer than others. This year’s roster churn has been so extreme you could almost play “Remember Some Guys” using only 2025 Orioles: Vidal Bruján, Cooper Hummel, Cody Poteet — all wore the uniform this season, though many fans might have missed it.
The Orioles have already set a franchise record by deploying 67 different players this year (it would be 68 if Houston Roth, who was on the roster for a week, had actually appeared in a game). That raises the possibility of chasing the all-time MLB mark, set just last year by the Marlins at 70.
To top that, Baltimore would need to use four more players in the final three weeks. It’s a long shot, but not out of the question. Pitchers Jose Espada, Carson Ragsdale, and Josh Walker are all on the 40-man roster but have yet to debut, Roth could return and finally see action, and Triple-A starter Cameron Weston might get called up if Dean Kremer or Tomoyuki Sugano can’t make it back from injury. A last-minute waiver claim is also always on the table for this front office.
Is it odd to want the Orioles to break the record? Maybe. Cycling through 71 players in one season usually signals dysfunction, not success. But if this season is already a lost cause, at least setting a quirky MLB record would give fans something memorable to take away from it.