This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The 2023 Orioles were a regular-season powerhouse. They finished an American League-best 101-61, won the franchise’s first AL East title since ‘14 and secured its first postseason berth since ‘16, entering October as the No. 1 seed and a favorite to make some noise.

That version of the O’s was also healthy. The only key piece they were missing heading into the postseason was All-Star closer Félix Bautista, who was announced to be undergoing Tommy John surgery on the penultimate day of the regular season.

Baltimore was cruising -- until it all came to a screeching halt.

Three postseason games, three losses. An immediate exit in the AL Division Series at the hands of the eventual World Series champion Rangers. A special season for the Orioles was over in the blink of an eye.

“It seemed like last year, everything was -- aside from Félix -- pretty peachy,” first baseman/designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn said. “And then, we were just kind of hit by a truck in the postseason.”

Members of the O’s young core learned some valuable lessons, though, ones that they will keep in mind as they return to the postseason this year and look to craft a much different ending.

After going 91-71 and finishing as the top AL Wild Card, the fourth-seeded Orioles will host the No. 5 Royals in a best-of-three AL Wild Card Series at Camden Yards. Game 1 is set for Tuesday at 4:08 p.m. ET (ESPN2). Game 2 will follow on Wednesday (4:38 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Game 3 (if necessary) will be held Thursday (4:08 p.m. ET on ESPN, though time may change).

• Royals-Orioles AL Wild Card Series Game 1 FAQ (Tues., 4 ET, ESPN2)

Baltimore ended 20 games above .500 -- exactly where it stood at the All-Star break when it was 58-38. The 33-33 second half was bumpy and plagued by injuries, as infielders Jordan Westburg, Ryan Mountcastle and Ramón Urías and left-hander Danny Coulombe all spent significant time on the injured list.

All four of those key players returned in September. So despite the Orioles’ IL featuring nearly a full starting rotation (Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, John Means and Tyler Wells) plus Bautista and infielder Jorge Mateo, the sense is that Baltimore feels healthy enough to make a deep run.

“We’ve been through a lot this year. It’s been ups and downs and all that,” Coulombe said. “It’s really just get hot at the right time and really just control what you can control. Go out and have good at-bats, and for pitchers, go out there and compete and see what happens.”

• Royals-Orioles position-by-position breakdown

It should help that many of the young O’s now better know what to expect from playoff baseball.

Last year, only six players on Baltimore’s 26-man ALDS roster had prior postseason experience. Of the 28 players on the Orioles’ roster for Sunday’s final game of the regular season, there were 20 who have played October baseball before -- and quite a few who remember how the season ended on Oct. 10 in Texas.

“I’ve said it for a long time in my career: You don’t learn a lot from success, you learn from failure,” said catcher James McCann, an 11-year big league veteran. “This team has had its share of failure, individuals have had their share of failure and I think these guys have learned from it and have learned how to handle that adversity.

“And when you get to the postseason, there’s a lot of adversity. You’ve got to fight through things. I’m excited to see what this team has in store in October.”