Reality: The Baltimore Orioles have won six in a row.
Perception: The O’s started the season with seven wins in a row and everyone said that was a fluke and it would never continue. The Birds went on to go 9-12 in their next 21 games. I think that’s the sort of winning percentage more fans thought the Orioles might be this year. But then the O’s ripped off another six in a row.
The Orioles are 22-12, and are a season-high 10 games over .500. Two win streaks of at least six games in 34 games is not a fluke. It doesn’t matter what the “experts” said before the season, the O’s are a really good team and will fight for the playoffs all season.
Reality: Over the last seven games, five Orioles players are hitting over .300, and three of them are over .400.
Perception: Part of the reason why the Orioles have done so well over the last week is because their hitters are making contact often. Nolan Reimold, Chris Davis and Caleb Joseph are hitting over .400. Manny Machado has been lighting it up. Joey Rickard is hitting well again after cooling off. Adam Jones is finally hitting like the Adam Jones we know. Jonathan Schoop had the game winner Thursday night.
Seven Oriole hitters are over .280 in the last week. That is important and needs to continue. While the Orioles pitching has improved recently, the Birds aren’t going anywhere if their hitters fall into the slump that they were in a few weeks ago.
Reality: Six members of the Orioles bullpen have a 0.00 ERA over the last week.
Perception: The bullpen is doing exactly what they need to do. They were key factors in any success the Birds had over the last two seasons, and they are crucial to the success of this year’s team. Brian Matusz even tossed a scoreless inning against Minnesota, though he allowed two runs to Oakland last Saturday.
When you look over the whole season, the Orioles bullpen ranks #1 in baseball with a 2.24 ERA.
Reality: Orioles starters have 15 Quality Starts this season, putting them 8th out of 15 American League teams.
O's starters have gone 7 IP or more in 5 of last 10 games. Rotation with 12 quality starts last 16 games to a 3.35 ERA.
— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) May 14, 2016
Perception: Before Thursday night, the Orioles had four straight quality starts this week, and they have had 12 in their past 16 games.
Ubaldo Jimenez ended that streak by only making it 5.0 innings on Thursday and giving up four earned runs. But Chris Tillman continues to show that he has returned to his 2014 form by throwing a five-hitter, obviously a quality start.
A Quality Start is defined as a pitcher completing six innings and gives up no more than three earned runs.
A Quality Start may not be a stat many like, but it’s an effective stat for the Orioles. Why? Because with the way the Orioles offense scores runs, if O’s starters can make it six innings and not give up more than three runs, then the Orioles should win.
Some people say that a Quality Start is a dumb stat. I think the dumbest pitching stat is a Win. The fact that Vance Worley got the win Thursday night shows that stat means nothing. What Worley did, by not giving up any runs in the middle of the game is more effectively called a Hold.
A Hold is awarded to a relief pitcher when he is not the starting pitcher, when he is not the winning pitcher, but he enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and maintains that lead for at least one inning, or he pitches for at least three effective innings.
O’s starters need to continue to get a QS. If their middle relievers get a Hold, then the Orioles should win most every game with the way Darren O’Day and Zach Britton finish up games.
Reality: The Orioles have the 3rd best record in all of baseball.
Perception: The Birds are 22-12, which is a .647 winning percentage. The O’s are battling with the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, and Seattle Mariners for the best record in the American League.
So far, this season feels a lot different than 2014, but when you look at the numbers, it’s very similar. It’s going to be another fun summer on Eutaw Street.
