From DFA to The ASG? Ryan O’Hearn’s Journey With the Orioles

Over the past two weeks, the Baltimore Orioles have been playing some fantastic baseball. The starters are going deeper into games, the offense is producing timely hits and the bullpen has been lights out. 

Despite winning seven of their last nine games, the Orioles still find themselves 12 games under .500 and 8.5 games back from the last Wild Card spot. They would have to win 23 of their next 31 to be above .500 before the All-Star break.

The Orioles have found themselves in such a big hole in part due to key players in their lineup not playing to the levels fans expect them to play at. Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman have not had great starts to the year, while Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg have missed extensive time due to injury.

With the offense in need of a rock, an unlikely hero has stepped up to the plate: Ryan O’Hearn.

The 31-year-old veteran is having a career year, helping keep this Orioles lineup afloat while key players make their returns from the IL. O’Hearn’s production is making a great case for him to represent the Orioles in Atlanta for the All-Star game. 

So, who is Ryan O’Hearn, and why exactly is he tearing the cover of the baseball this year?

From DFA to The ASG?

O’Hearn began his career in Kansas City, where for five seasons from 2018-22, the lefty failed to make any impact offensively. On Dec. 28, 2022, the Royals designated O’Hearn for assignment.

A week later, the Orioles acquired O’Hearn from the Royals for cash considerations.

Out of the gate in 2023, O’Hearn was making the most of his new scenery. As the O’s finished as the one seed in the AL, O’Hearn posted a .289/.322/.480 slash line. His 122 OPS+ was the fourth highest on the team. 

Two seasons later, O’Hearn is continuing to show how all he needed was a change in scenery. All three of his triple slash stats (.316/.397/.500) and his OPS of .897 rank within the top 10 in the American League. 

As you could probably guess, O’Hearn also leads the Orioles in most offensive categories. Without O’Hearn, who knows where this team would be right now. 

His production has cemented him as a great candidate to make the All-Star team just three years after being DFA’d.

While O’Hearn has been a solid piece for the Orioles since his arrival in 2023, he has taken it to another level this season. So far this year, his batting average is 40 points higher than it was at this time last year.

A lot of this can be attributed to his increased success against fastballs.

In 2024, O’Hearn had a .272 batting average with a .431 slugging percentage against fastballs. In 2025, he is hitting an astounding .358 against fastballs with a .566 slugging percentage. 

Baseball Savant suggests that those numbers could be even higher, giving him an xBA of .386 and an xSLG of .633 against fastballs. 

O’Hearn is also doing a better job at covering the whole plate. In his first two seasons with the Orioles, his sweet spot was center cut:

In 2025, O’Hearn has extended his approach to cover the outer third of the plate: 

O’Hearn is crushing anything over the outer third. You can see the fruits of his labor in his spray chart. Compared to 2024, he is using more left field grass to get his hits:

While it may be a long shot for O’Hearn to win the starting job for the AL All-Stars over the more established Rafael Devers, O’Hearn has made a strong case for why he should take the field with the starters in Atlanta.

Building Block or Trade Piece?

Now, while O’Hearn’s production has been great, the Orioles have a tough decision to make regarding his future with the team.

O’Hearn is a free agent at the end of the season, along with players like Cedric Mullins, Zach Eflin, Tomoyuki Sugano, and Seranthony Domínguez. If the Orioles are not in a higher spot in the standings by the trade deadline, general manager Mike Elias will have to choose between adding to make a run or selling to build for 2026.

While owner David Rubenstein has supposedly given Elias a substantial spending allowance, Orioles fans have seen little evidence that supports that. After the Orioles reportedly low-balled free agents like Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander, there is little faith within the fanbase that this pattern will change for the upcoming group of free agents.

If the front office decides to sell at the deadline, O’Hearn could demand a pretty penny. After all, if he can continue his production over the next month, one of the best left-handed hitters in the league could be available for hire.

Some potential teams that could be suitors for O’Hearn include the San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers. All of these teams are in need of hitters who can hit righties, and O’Hearn does just that.

What’s Next for O’Hearn and the O’s?

For Orioles fans, an O’Hearn departure would sting. While the past couple of seasons have seen several young stars make their debuts and grow, O’Hearn has had his own revival in that time.

He has also been a prominent team leader for this young group of guys. During their benches-clearing kerfuffle with the White Sox, you can see (around the 53-second mark in the clip below) that O’Hearn was one of the first guys out on the field to support one of his teammates:

Ultimately, the Orioles are in complete control of how they will act at the deadline. If the team continues to build on recent success and start playing like the team we know they can be, maybe they won’t trade O’Hearn.

But, if the team continues to underperform, it would be irresponsible for the front office not to recognize the value on their roster, particularly if they do not plan on re-signing O’Hearn in the offseason.