Due to a series of injuries, we didn't see how good the Orioles could have been.

It's hard to remember, but once upon a time – in the halcyon days of February and March – the Baltimore Orioles pitching staff was on the verge of becoming a superpower.

The lineup almost seemed unfair to me. Kyle Bradish had had a successful season. Grayson Rodriguez was finally hitting his stride in the major leagues. A young group of combative pitchers, including Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells, and a healthier John Means.

Add Corbin Burnes to the team? The Orioles would have one of the best rotations in the major leagues. And for a short time, it worked.

Now it feels like the Orioles are trying to climb a mountain to even reach the end of the season – without goggles, gloves and hiking boots as they crawl up inch by painful inch.

The recent announcement that Zach Eflin – one of the team's key additions at the deadline who has been anything but reliable in Orange – is heading to the injured list with shoulder inflammation feels like the baseball gods are crushing Baltimore beneath their heels.

There's no quicker way to reevaluate the Orioles' past few months of inconsistent and often dissatisfied baseball than to consider how much the pitching staff has changed from what they projected. While it's difficult to quantify exactly what could have been, the seven pitchers currently on the IL have had a combined ERA of 3.32 this year (the Orioles have a 4.71 ERA since the All-Star break).

One could make a compelling argument that the guys they're missing – Bradish, Rodriguez, Means, Wells, Eflin, Jacob Webb and Danny Coulombe – would make a better roster than the pitchers who are still healthy.

As good as this front office has been at adding depth, there's no plan that protects you from having seven pitchers on the injured list at once. While I noted concerns about the health of Baltimore's pitching staff back in April, the flood of information at this point is almost comical. I've always advocated for the front office to make aggressive moves to improve the team, but the wave of injuries is almost negating all efforts (and that's all without mentioning that the Orioles were without All-Star Jordan Westburg due to a broken hand).

Given these dire circumstances, it's almost shocking that the Orioles are in such a good position. They're still battling with the Yankees for first place in the division and have (as of Wednesday morning) one of the top five records in baseball. They're almost assured of a postseason berth, with Baseball Reference putting their chances at 96.7%. It's reassuring that their lineup, which has struggled for consistency over the past two months or so, is showing signs of returning to its early-season form, with Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson returning to strength of late.

But if the Orioles don't improve on their playoff performance from last year (0-3), what could have been will remain a bitter, heady dream. If Bradish or Means were in that rotation, if Félix Bautista had been able to close games all year, would the Orioles win the AL again?

By June 12, they were 45-22 — at that pace, they were on pace to surpass their 101 wins from last season. Three days later, Bradish was on the injured list and on his way to Tommy John surgery; frankly, the entire season hasn't been the same since.

I don't want to disparage the early-season performances of Albert Suarez or Cole Irvin, but the year shouldn't depend on their arms.

Rodriguez, Eflin, Coulombe and Webb could all be back in time for the postseason — frankly, the Orioles couldn't get very far otherwise. But given the losing streaks they've had so far, it's hard to imagine them all being back by October. Meanwhile, the O's have to worry about healthy pitchers tiring: Burnes is coming off one of the worst starts of his career, and the closer's situation is troubling, to say the least.

It's difficult to describe the dire situation the Orioles are in without sounding fatalistic. The season isn't over yet, and we've seen this team have more potential than it's showing now. Given that no one is dominating this MLB season — no team is on pace to win 100 games, something that hasn't happened since 2014 — a World Series is still possible for this struggling ballclub.

But considering what happened to the Orioles, you can't help but think back and imagine the impressive pitchers they assembled in the offseason, laden with all the hope this baseball town can muster. Bad luck has made it a struggle to even reach the finish line.