BALTIMORE -- When a team underperforms, it can sometimes lead to finger-pointing and blaming -- from players, managers, coaches, front-office executives or others.

That isn’t happening in Baltimore, where the Orioles entered May with a 12-18 record that was tied for the third-worst mark in MLB entering Friday. In fact, general manager Mike Elias met with the media ahead of his club’s series opener vs. the Royals at Camden Yards to express positivity.

For one, Elias believes the O’s players will soon get the season moving in the right direction.

“I’m really optimistic -- and we’re optimistic -- that we’re going to work out of that and things are going to get better,” Elias said. “We have a lot of faith in this very talented group.”

Elias also gave a vote of confidence in manager Brandon Hyde as the leader the Orioles need to help guide them through their early struggles.

“Very confident in Brandon Hyde,” Elias said. “When we’re experiencing failure, it’s really important in that job -- and in my job, too -- to be consistent with your approach, and he’s doing that. ... Since this team started kind of coming together in 2022, it’s been a very consistent place, and it still is that way to me and the people that are down there all the time. He’s right in the middle of all that. ...

“He knows baseball really well. He’s a good evaluator. He uses information at his disposal in a way that is intelligent, but also in a way that cares for his players. He’s a tough guy. This is wearing on both of us, but he’s handling it well.”

This isn’t the first time the duo of Elias and Hyde has experienced a tough stretch since arriving in Baltimore prior to the 2019 season. The O’s went 131-253 (.341) over the regime’s first three years, as the front office tore down the roster and endured a significant rebuilding phase.

The frustration about the 2025 start stems from the much greater expectations placed upon the Orioles than during those dark days. The organization started to turn a corner in 2022, then went 101-61 while winning the American League East title in ‘23. The O’s made the postseason again in ‘24 , going 91-71 to secure the first AL Wild Card spot.

Although Baltimore went 0-5 in the postseason over the past two years, the club’s window to win a World Series championship (or multiple) seemed to still be wide open heading into this season.

“Nobody’s happy with how we’ve performed so far. We have higher expectations for ourselves,” Hyde said. “We’re not satisfied in the least bit. We know our team can play better than we have.”

The Orioles want to leave their forgettable April in the past. They can do that with a better May.

Baltimore hasn’t hit (.223 average, .678 OPS entering Friday), and it hasn’t played the cleanest brand of baseball. But the story of the O’s season thus far has been the struggles of a starting rotation that lost ace Corbin Burnes over the winter when he signed with the D-backs .

Heading into Friday, the Orioles had a 6.04 rotation ERA that ranked 28th in MLB.

But there’s also been underperformance. Cade Povich (5.16 ERA) and Dean Kremer (7.04) are trying to get going, while Charlie Morton (who signed a one-year, $15 million deal this past offseason) has temporarily been moved to the bullpen after posting a 10.89 ERA in five starts.

“It is difficult to contend with that level of injuries. But even that aside, they’ve had a poor start. And that’s my responsibility. I’m in charge of baseball operations, and when we have a bad record to start the year, that’s my responsibility,” Elias said. “Piece by piece, step by step, we’re going to get guys healthier, we’re going to get guys performing more to their norms. If there’s something we can fix with a player, we’re working on that.”

Elias doesn’t believe it’s time for drastic roster changes or a massive overhaul, at least not at the moment.

“Obviously, there’s a point for any of those things. Sitting here -- what is it, May 1, May 2? -- the answer’s no,” Elias said. “But if making changes to the roster -- whatever those might be -- when we’re confident it’s going to improve the team, we’ll consider those things.”

The best path forward for the Orioles is one on which the team simply begins to play better.

“I’m very optimistic and confident that we have a lot better baseball ahead,” Elias said, “and we’re going to play like the way that we should be this season.”