Looking for an uplifting article to give you hope for the remainder of 2018? SPOILER ALERT, turn away now this piece is not for you. The futility that this team displays on a nightly basis can partially be explained by the failure of some of our key position players, of which the Orioles have three who rank in the bottom 10 of bWAR in the American League. No other team has more than one player in the bottom 10. Yowza.
Adam Jones
.236/.253/.375, with a bWAR of -0.6. These numbers are well complemented by his 20 strikeouts in 75 PA, and the only player in the AL with a lower bWAR is Neil Walker (-0.7). Jones was very vocal during the offseason about his desire to play for a team next year that could get him a ring. Interesting sentiment for a guy with this level of production.
Caleb Joseph
.088/.114/.147, with a bWAR of -0.6. Tied with Jones in terms of WAR, I can’t even bring myself to comment on Joseph’s slash line. I know he brings a veteran leadership and is regarded as a defensive upgrade over Chance Cisco, but he has an OBP of .114. He literally never gets on base. Woof.
Chris Davis
.125/.234/.196, with a bWAR of -0.5. The (K)King of Westeros, Davis continues to earn his $161 million. If not for his contract, I’d have to believe he would have been DFA’d by now. To go along with these abysmal numbers, he has ONE home run. With declining defensive metrics and the lack of offensive production, there’s no longer an upside to his strikeouts.
Looking forward to when Trumbo joins the troops!
Tim Beckham (Honorable Mention)
.167/.211/.258, with a bWAR of -0.4. Beckham just misses the bottom 10 of American League bWAR rankings, coming in at number 14. The hot start from a year ago is a distant memory, and he actually bests Davis and Jones with 24 strikeouts on his resume.
So what does this all equate to? Losses, and lots of them. Looking back at the last 39 games (stretching back to last year) the Orioles have won nine times, which comes in at a cool .230 winning percentage. Not Great! When we talk about a team being unwatchable, this is it.
Perhaps these struggles will usher in the much needed sell-off, and allow the O’s to recoup some value for Manny Machado, Zach Britton & Co., and put them in a position to be competitive next year. I fear however, that they will simply trade Brad Brach and call it a “rebuild.”
Hello Darkness My Old Friend.
(WAR numbers via baseball-reference.com, prior to Wednesday’s games)
