Elias: 'Hard to push back on criticism' with Orioles underperforming

Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias believes any criticism his team has received is warranted - including the narrative that Baltimore's front office didn't do enough to improve the club during the offseason.

"It's hard to push back on criticism that we didn't do enough when we're in this spot right now," Elias said on "The Show" podcast with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman.

"I think we've had a lot of bad breaks, but again, I didn't expect anywhere near this degree of injuries and then just some of the underperformance that we've gotten that I hope is temporary for a lot of guys. This is toward the extreme of outcomes."

The Orioles are last in the American League East with a 13-21 record. Their starting rotation, which lost last season's ace Corbin Burnes to free agency, ranks last in FIP and is the only one in baseball with a negative fWAR, according to FanGraphs.

In addition to a rocky rotation, the Orioles lineup and bullpen haven't performed up to expectations and the team has been plagued by injuries - 13 players are on the injured list.

"It's an unpleasant way to start the season," Elias said.

"A team as talented as ours to be in this position right now, there are a lot of reasons that go into that but we've had a lot of injuries and that's a big part of it, but it's certainly not everything."

Elias isn't dwelling on the rough start, however. The executive thinks things will turn around for Baltimore, which he believes is one of the best teams in the league when healthy.

"The good news is there's a lot of season left and we do have a lot of talent," he said.

"I think we're getting healthier, I think we're going to pitch better, I think the hitters are going to get in more of a groove. We've got a lot of time and there's not a ton of separation in the AL right now despite our bad start, but this has been disappointing and a painful thing to go through for the entire team."