Opening Day for the Baltimore Orioles has always been a bit of a religious experience in Charm City. Downtown is packed with fans that have taken the day off and pulled their kids out of school for the event. The bars and restaurants are open early, and local radio morning shows start broadcasting from them at 6 a.m. The special ceremonies and orange carpet introductions add to the magic feeling.

But as exciting as Opening Day has been historically, the 2013 version is undoubtedly the most hyped we’ve seen in years. The 2012 Orioles had a winning season for the first time since 1997 and made it to the divisional round of the playoffs thanks to a fantastic manager, the timely contributions of young players, and a squad of veterans who finally remembered how to win after spending way too much time accepting a losing culture.

As well as the team performed last year, a lot of the so-called experts predict a big drop off for the birds of Baltimore. There are still a handful of local and national media members predicting a return to the playoffs, but the majority expect the O’s to be mediocre. According to Vegas, the Orioles are in line for a 20 win drop-off.

To be fair, there are some reasons to think the O’s overachieved last year. They won a ridiculous amount of one run games, and their constant dominance in extra innings was almost surreal. A lot of pieces fell into place for the birds in 2012, and it’s not unreasonable to ask if they can catch lightening in a bottle again. The fact that the O’s didn’t make any huge moves in free agency has also led to legitimate questions about their ability to keep up in a division that has added a lot of talent.

With that being said, this is still a team that won three of their six playoff games last fall, and they are pretty much intact. The only starter they lost was Mark Reynolds, who flashed some impressive leather at first base late in the season but also struck out more than Mighty Casey on OxyContin. They’ll also be getting back some key contributors from injury, including Nick Markakis, Brian Roberts, and Nolan Reimold. It’s never easy in the AL East, but Buck Showalter has shown that he can get his team up to the challenge.

So how does the Orioles Opening Day roster look? Let’s break it down by position:

Infielders/Catchers

Matt Wieters – C

Chris Davis – 1B

Brian Roberts – 2B

J.J. Hardy – SS

Manny Machado – 3B

Alexi Casilla – Bench

Ryan Flaherty – Bench

Steve Pearce – Bench

Taylor Teagarden – Bench

This is a group that should be among the best in the league defensively. It has two 2012 Gold Glovers (Wieters and Hardy), an experienced big play second baseman (Roberts), and a young stud who has already shown a penchant for making highlight reel plays (Machado). The only possible concern defensively is Davis, but he has been getting good reviews at first base coming out of spring training, so there’s hope he’ll at least be serviceable. Offensively, Davis was a beast last year, hitting 33 homers and driving in 85 runs. Wieters and Machado both continue to grow at the plate, and Hardy is hoping to return to his 2011 form (30 HRs, 80 RBIs). The wild card in this group is Roberts, who is a former All Star but who hasn’t been able to stay healthy the past few seasons. If he can stay on the field, this group will be even better. But if he can’t, Ryan Flaherty has shown that he’s ready to step into a full time role.

Outfielders

Nate McLouth – LF

Adam Jones – CF

Nick Markakis – RF

Nolan Reimold – LF/DH

Every member of this group except Reimold is a Gold Glove winner, and Jones and McLouth are both former All Stars. Nick is looking to be the leadoff hitter for the team this year, a role he excelled in before getting hurt last year. McLouth and Reimold will likely alternate in left based on if the opposing starter is a lefty or righty. The intriguing piece of this puzzle is Reimold. When healthy, he just crushes the ball. When healthy last year, he was hitting .313 and averaged just less than one homer per three games. The problem is he was only healthy for 16 games. Like Brian Roberts, Reimold has the chance to be a big contributor if he can stay healthy. If not, the O’s do have some promising young outfielders in the minors, including Xavier Avery and L.J. Hoes.

Starting Pitchers

Jason Hammel – RHP

Wei-Yin Chen – LHP

Miguel Gonzalez – RHP

Jake Arrieta – RHP

Chris Tillman – RHP (15-day DL)

On the surface, none of these names carry the kind of weight attached to guys like Verlander, Sabathia, or Price. But this is a group that performed very well under the radar in 2012. Hammel is the ace, so to speak. He was in the running for the fan-voted All Star spot last year. He did have a knee problem that sidelined him during the season, but when he was healthy, he was great. He finished the season with a career-low 3.43 ERA. Chen has had another year to adjust to life in American baseball, which should allow him to build off of his impressive rookie campaign. He wore down a bit towards the end of the season, but he still ended with an ERA just above 4 and led the team with 12 wins. Gonzalez was the surprise of the season last year. He wasn’t even at camp for the O’s last spring, and he ended up with a 9-4 record over 18 starts with a fantastic 3.25 ERA. The focus for Arrieta and Tillman this year will be consistency, as the former top prospects have shown flashes of brilliance hindered by bouts of mediocrity. Arrieta has had a great spring, and Tillman was lights out at the end of 2012. If they can continue to grow, they both have the potential for double-digit wins in 2013.

Bullpen

Luis Ayala – RHP

Tommy Hunter – RHP

Jim Johnson – RHP

Brian Matusz – LHP

T.J. McFarland – LHP

Darren O’Day – RHP

Troy Patton – LHP

Pedro Strop – RHP

This group is almost completely unchanged from the bullpen that fought through all of those one-run games in 2012. Jim Johnson is back, and while he may not rack up another 50 saves in 2013, he’s still one of the best closers in the game. Pedro Strop had a fantastic run for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, and O’Day and Matusz are coming off of dominating runs in last year’s playoffs. The main change is the addition of T.J. McFarland, a Rule 5 draft pick who the O’s see as an eventual starter.

The 2013 Baltimore Orioles face a difficult challenge. They’re about to kick off yet another season in the most competitive division in all of professional sports. But this Orioles squad is hungry. They’ve tasted victory for the first time in a generation, and they’ve seen the love Charm City’s residents have for their champions. Orioles Magic was revived in Baltimore in 2012, and 2013 is the year the birds prove it’s here to stay.