O’s 2013: The Good, The Bad, The Birds

What a year for the Orioles. The 2013 season was one full of ups and downs. They finished the season winning four of their last five games to finish with a record of 85-77. Yes they missed the playoffs, but it was still a great year. Lets look at some good moments, as well as some bad moments this team had.

The Good

Chris Davis was scorching hot at the beginning of the year, and never really cooled down, sending souvenirs deep into the stands all season. Davis hit an Oriole record and MLB-high 53 home runs and lead the league in RBI with 138. He also took home the MVO, Most Valuable Oriole. He will be in the A.L. MVP conversation with the Angels’ Mike Trout, and Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera. Watching Crush hit these home runs was awesome. Every time he connected, you knew it had a chance to get out. Davis brought excitement to the yard every night and has quickly become a fan favorite.

Third baseman Manny Machado in his short time in the majors has turned into one of the most exciting players to watch. He makes hard plays look routine, and turns infield singles into outs. The kid can play. His play at Yankee Stadium will be shown in highlight reels for years to come. Unfortunately, Machado sustained a horrific knee injury that looked a lot worse than it was. Many fans and twitter doctors were assuming the injury dealt with the three scariest letters in sports, A.C.L. Lucky for Manny, it was just a tear of the medial patellofemoral ligament. If all goes well, you should see #13 accepting his Gold Glove trophy opening day next year.

GIFs c/o our own Gordon Dixon

Adam Jones did what Adam Jones does – hit home runs, blew bubbles, talked about his eating habits on Twitter, and made plays in center field.

Jones also took a lot of criticism for his play this year. He caught some slack this year when he was seen blowing bubbles while dropping what seemed to be routine fly balls, which angered some fans, but whatever. Its just gum. He also had a hard time at the plate. He went over a month without a walk, and for a while Jones had more stolen bases than walks. His discipline at the plate seemed to enrage everyone. If there was a 0-2 pitch in the dirt, Adam was swinging. I knew it, you knew it, and everyone knew it. But like every year, Jones was a leader on and off the field. Adam finished this season hitting .285 with a career-high 33 home runs and 108 RBI. There’s a good chance Jones will be adding another Gold Glove trophy to his mantle.

Chris Tillman really improved and showed us what an ace looks like. Tillman had several dominating starts and has shown this ball club that he is ready to lead them.

The 6’5 righty was 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA and could have had anywhere from 20-22 wins if not for the struggles of the bullpen. Tillman had seven no-decisions where he gave up two ER or less. He did strike out a career-high 179 batters, but he also gave up 33 home runs. Only A.J. Griffin and R.A. Dickey gave up more. Tillman was a late addition to the All Star game where he joined teammates Machado, Davis, Jones, and J.J. Hardy.

The defense played by the Orioles this year may have been the best since, well, ever. The 54 errors were five fewer than the next closest teams and 11 less than the mark left by the 2003 Seattle Mariners, who had 65. A .991 fielding percentage was the best in history as well. The fielding was much improved this year thanks to Machado making some unbelievable plays at the hot corner, Davis showing everyone he can play the field as well as he hits, and it doesn’t hurt that your entire starting outfield has won a gold glove at some point. It also helps that Mark Reynolds took his defensive “talents” elsewhere. The defense was very fun to watch, whether it was the beautiful double plays turned by Hardy and Brian Roberts, or Jones throwing lasers all over the field. Unfortunately a record-breaking defense doesn’t guarantee a playoff spot, as both the 2003 Mariners and this year’s Orioles missed out on the postseason.

While the bullpen had an up-and-down year (see below), some of the guys actually performed very well. Darren O’Day and Troy Patton both had their moments but for the most part were very consistent coming out for the late innings. The acquisition of Francisco Rodriguez started off a bit shaky, as KRod gave up several home runs in his first few appearances, but seemed to settle down and get comfortable pitching for the Birds and looked like his old self later in the season.

Lefty specialist Brian Matusz pitched very well throughout the year and has become a fan favorite for his ability to get David “Big Sloppy” Ortiz out in clutch situations. Rookie sensation Kevin Gausman pitched very well out of the bullpen and showed signs that he can be an effective pitcher against major league hitting. Whether he was firing a 99 MPH fastball or dropping an 86 MPH changeup over the plate, he seemed to baffle hitters and did not look like a rookie. Although he will most likely be a starter next year, it was nice to see the young kid come in and get the job done.

Tommy Hunter was dominant at times (thanks to a great fastball and cutter) and finished the year with a 2.81 ERA and 0.985 WHIP, both career-bests. Despite some well-documented struggles, Jim Johnson became just the second player ever to record consecutive 50-save seasons.

The Bad

One-run wins were a staple for the Orioles last year, going 29-9 in games decided by the slimmest of margins. That mark gave them the best win percentage in one run games in MLB history. This year was a much different story. They couldn’t replicate the Orioles magic they found last year and stumbled their way to a 20-31 record in games decided by one run. You knew they couldn’t keep up the pace they were on last year, but we didn’t think they would falter the way they did in close games. But wouldn’t you know it, the Orioles finished the season winning two straight one-run games. Go figure.

Johnson, as mentioned above, struggled at times and ended the season with nine blown saves. His ERA rose from 2.49 last season to 2.94 this season and he ended the season with a record of 3-8. Hunter still had trouble keeping the ball in the park, giving up 11 home runs. The Orioles tried many pieces in the bullpen including Pedro Strop, T.J. MacFarland, Jair Jurrjens, Luis Ayala, and Zach Britton, but they just couldn’t recreate last year’s relief dominance.

While many fans had dreams of a second straight postseason, those dreams fell short. The club did have back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 1996 and 1997 seasons. That may not be a big accomplishment to some teams but for the way the Orioles have played the last decade and a half, that’s a step in the right direction.

Here’s to an exciting 2013 season and hoping that 2014 brings more excitement by bringing a World Series trophy to Baltimore. Go Orioles!