The only thing consistent about the Orioles is their inconsistency. They’re not sure why.

In one of the first all-staff meetings Craig Albernaz held as manager of the Orioles, he introduced a mantra he hopes each coach brings to the field each day. Three words: prepare, review, develop.

As the first full month of Baltimore’s season closes, those words remain at center of mind. The Orioles, if nothing else, are consistently inconsistent. Their record proves it, and the wide gap in statistics during wins compared to losses reinforces the volatility April brought.

Prepare: Game planning tactics, pregame strategy sessions, batting practice and fielding work.

Review: At the end of the night, and before the Orioles go do it all again the next day, Albernaz and his coaches study the good and bad and how they can tweak an approach or improve in any way.

Develop: Even as they’re trying to win nightly, Baltimore knows there is work to be done. As Albernaz described it, “we’re developing our players and developing our processes each and every day. That’s our North Star. That’s something we’re always going to keep on evolving, so when we look up at the end of the year, we’re in a good spot.”

They aren’t yet in a good spot. With Tuesday’s series-opening win against the Houston Astros, the Orioles are 14-15. They know they’ve been defined by uneven performances, and yet, there really isn’t an answer as why that is the case, or how they can prevent it from continuing.

As outfielder Dylan Beavers said, he wishes he knew the answer. If he did, Baltimore would probably be performing at a much higher level. But as the first month comes to a close, the Orioles are still searching for consistency — that buzzword for which every team strives and few achieve.

“We show flashes of what and how we could play and our potential, and you also see the 180 of that version,” Albernaz said. “Is it a byproduct of our guys caring so much and they want to do so much and now they’re putting undue pressure on themselves? Is it a lack of them getting the proper work in? All those little things, and those’re the conversations we have daily with the coaching staff, trying to problem-solve the inconsistencies and what that looks like, and where we can get better.”

The players are having the same conversations, first baseman Pete Alonso said. If they weren’t, there would be a larger problem. “When you can’t or don’t bring it up, that’s when things kind of slip,” Alonso said.

As is only right, the outward messaging from the players has been one of optimism. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson has reiterated his belief that the Orioles are on the verge of a breakout, and there have been enough one-game samples to believe that. But there are just as many backsteps, which leads to this narrative of inconsistency.

“I think we’re in the process of making it go. I think any night we can turn it around and then just run it,” outfielder Taylor Ward said. “It’s unfortunate, with the first game of the Red Sox series, the way we played the next day was tough.”

That first game, on Friday, Baltimore bombed six homers. Then Boston leaped to a 17-1 victory Saturday, and the Red Sox won the series Sunday despite having their manager and multiple members of the coaching staff sacked.

“I, personally, thought we took a big step forward that first game, and it sucks to see how we performed the next day, but we did run into a good pitcher,” Ward said. “I’ll give [Garrett] Crochet credit. But still, finding a way to grind out more runs and limit what we’re doing on defense. It’s part of it, but hopefully continue to get more traction and get rolling.”

At times, the Orioles look like one of the best teams in baseball. Their wins often feature a belting offense. Entering Tuesday, Orioles hitters combined for an .851 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in wins but managed a .602 OPS in losses. It’s no surprise that a team would perform worse in their losses. They lost for a reason. But this shows that in more than half of Baltimore’s games, its offense is lacking much, if any, punch.

A clear tactic teams are using against Baltimore’s lineup is avoiding fastballs. Entering Tuesday, the Orioles saw fastballs 51.4% of the time, which is the second-lowest rate in the majors. When they see fastballs, they’re hitting .275 against them.

But against breaking balls, which they see 31.4% of the time (ninth-most), the Orioles are hitting .182. That is the fourth-worst mark in baseball.

It seems as though opposing pitchers are turning that into an advantage. On Sunday, against Red Sox left-hander Connelly Early, Beavers said they thought he would throw more early-count fastballs. He did that in his previous start against the Yankees.

“We do all our homework and read scouting reports and stuff, but sometimes they just won’t pitch to the report,” Beavers said. “I believe we’re just as prepared as any other team going into a game. We do everything we need to do. … Sometimes things just don’t go right. And you can see, when everything’s clicking, it’s just a matter of making it a nightly basis.”

Of course, it’s not realistic to think a team will get it right every night. Nobody goes 162-0. But the best teams find a way to consistently produce in ways that enable them to win series. And by winning a series, in the long run, those teams will be near the top of the standings.

At this point, the Orioles haven’t played well-rounded baseball consistently enough. When Jeremiah Jackson was picked off first base Tuesday, Baltimore entered a four-way tie for the most runners picked off bases (seven). The Orioles also entered Tuesday tied for the worst caught stealing rate.

And Baltimore’s defense hasn’t done its pitchers favors.

“Obviously, we’re always trying to fine-tune our defense,” Albernaz said. “The last thing you ever want to do is give a team more than 27 outs.”

There is a world in which this could help the Orioles, Alonso said. Going through difficult moments now can help steel a team for the challenging moments to come, such as in the postseason.

The Orioles have a long way to go before they can be considered a team destined for the postseason, although they are aided by a weak start from other American League clubs. April is much too early to look at the wild-card race, but it is currently a mess. Entering Tuesday, the Orioles were only a half game out of the wild card despite sitting two games below .500.

“Having handled challenges and adversity is actually a good thing. It’s not about the actual result. OK, what can we do? How can we work? How can we respond?” Alonso said. “It’s still early, but I think sky-high is our expectations and the potential for this team.”

They haven’t left the troposphere yet. The Orioles are bullish that liftoff — for lack of a better term — will come. They’re still too inconsistent to really fly.

“We just got to figure it out in the game,” Beavers said. “I believe we do everything right outside of the game. Like, we’re as prepared as we can be.”