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Word on the Street: We Salute You, Zach Britton

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Baltimore Orioles closer Zach Britton has been dominant as a closer since moving into the role in 2014, but has taken it up another notch in 2016. Press play or read below for more.

A few years ago, Zach Britton looked like he might be just another forgotten name in a long list of failed Orioles starting pitching prospects. Until Ubaldo Jimenez matched him this past Sunday, he was the last O’s starter to go just 1/3 of an inning in a start, doing so on July 30, 2011. However, since becoming the closer a few weeks into the 2014 season, Britton has been one of the most dominant players at his position in all of baseball, and O’s fans are about as confident as we’ve ever been when the team takes a lead into the ninth inning.

Britton has 92 saves, good for fifth on the Orioles’ all-time list behind Gregg Olson, Jim Johnson, Tippy Martinez, and Stu Miller.

Zach has converted each of his first 19 chances here in 2016, setting a team record, which was previously held by Chris Ray, who was 18-for-18 to start 2006. He is tied for the AL lead in saves, and is the only player in the league with at least four saves to not have blown at least one yet.

The sinkerballer has blown just eight saves of his 100 chances, good for a 92% success rate, bettered by only Mark Melancon and Francisco Rodriguez over the same time period. Per Baseball-Reference.com, Britton leads all AL pitchers in WPA – that’s Win Probability Added – here in 2016. Opponents are hitting just .125 off him, and getting on base at a meager .172 clip – second and first in MLB, respectively.

The guys who start games on the bump for the Birds have been tough to watch at times. The guy who finishes them, though, is absolutely lights out.

For those about to rock: we salute you.

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