How ’bout dem O’s, hon! I don’t know about you, but man, this team is fun to watch!
It wasn’t long ago that some Orioles fans were climbing to the ledge, ready to jump off. Since that six-game losing streak that left the Orioles with a record of 23-21, the Orioles have gone 19-10, including 8-3 in their last 11 games, against teams that are leading their respective divisions.
Yes, everyone still talks about the supposed lack of quality pitching for the Orioles, but let’s take a minute to actually look at it. Jim Johnson has converted 11 straight save opportunities and leads all of baseball with 26 total saves. Chris Tillman has won six straight road starts and is 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA in June. Miguel Gonzalez has eight Quality Starts out of 12. Darren O’Day and Tommy Hunter are pitching very well out of the bullpen. Even Pedro Strop may have turned things around after throwing two consecutive scoreless innings, with four strikeouts and no walks.
And when you continue to hit like the Orioles are hitting, then you can make up for your pitchers only getting through five innings. The Orioles are first in baseball in Hits, Doubles, Home Runs, Total Bases, and Slugging. And, they are second in the majors in Runs, RBI, and OPS.
All of that adds up to winning. That’s the most important thing and the Orioles are doing it well. They have won a major league-leading 16 series (16-6-2 this year). They are 11 games over .500. Even more, they are winning against teams they could see in they playoffs. They are 5-2 vs first place Boston, 4-2 vs. first place Detroit, and 3-1 vs first place Oakland. That’s 12-5 against the three division leaders! Think about that. If it were the playoffs, the Orioles would have beat Oakland 3-games to 1 in a Best-of-5, beat Detroit 4-games to 2 in a Best-of-7, and then beat Boston 5-games to 2, in a Best-of-7. That right – there is something to get excited about!
As @EutawStReport said yesterday, “2 of 3 from Detroit for the 2nd time this month, 3 of 4 from Boston. Teams need to start being afraid of us, not the other way around.” And it seems that the rest of baseball may be finally starting to pay attention to the Orioles. If the All-Star Game voting ended today, the Orioles would have four starters! Not to mention a number of other position players and pitchers that could make the team as reserves.
It’s an exciting time to be a Baltimore sports fan. The Ravens and the Blast are Champions, and the Orioles are poised to go to back-to-back playoffs, with a real shot at the World Series!
And as @JoePappa said, “All 25 guys on this team hurt opponents in some way or another every single day. Best defense, offense, and stadium in baseball.”
2 Responses
All the critics forecasting a last place finish this year based on extra inning wins, run differential, 1 run wins etc from last year ignore the fact that the make up and chemistry of this team changed during last summer when the roster was tweaked and Machado was promoted. I found it pretty funny the Jays were being ranked so high and the O’s were being overlooked again.
OK Joe, I’ll take all of those positives except for Strop – 2 good appearances in Garbage Time is nothing to really point to.