Baltimore Orioles Summer Check Up


Baltimore Orioles

23-53 (5th in AL East)



Eye Popping Number

$0

As in, a bar in Maryland was giving away shots for free if first baseman, Chris Davis, got a hit. The Baltimore Orioles are having a pretty terrible season, and few of their players are playing worse than Davis. When the promotion started about a week ago, Davis was hitting .150, which since he’s raised to .151. I haven’t read anything about the bar’s attendance since the promotion started to run, but they’ve only had two days where Davis came through for their patrons.

Biggest Surprise

After finishing 16th in baseball last year with 743 runs and 5th in home runs, the Orioles had a competent, if not very competitive offense. This year they’ve plummeted to the bottom even though their line up looks almost exactly the same. Only the Kansas City Royals have scored less runs, while they’re tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the lowest batting average in baseball. Davis is having a historically bad season, while other guys that played well last year, like Jonathan Schoop and Trey Mancini, have also been terrible. At least Mark Trumbo has given the line up a bit of a spark since returning from the disabled list to give the line up three reasonable Major League hitters to go with Manny Machado and Adam Jones.

Player to Watch

If he wasn’t playing on the worst team in baseball, Manny Machado would be getting MVP votes at the end of the season. After getting off to a blistering start, he’s cooled off a bit, but is still hitting .301/.371/.558 on the year. His 19 home runs lead the team, as do his 36 runs, 55 RBIs, and 34 walks. He’s also getting the first action of his career as the full time shortstop for the team. A free agent at the end of the season, it will be fun to watch where he ends up at the trade deadline.

What to Watch for at the Deadline

Peter Angelos, the owner of the Orioles, is infamous for not wanting to rebuild his team through the farm system. Last year there were multiple offers for closer, Zach Britton, and he wouldn’t take one even though his General Manager, Dan Duquette, did. Surely he will have to abandon his lifelong strategy this year, as the team has three of the most valuable rental pieces available in Machado, Jones, and Britton. Between the three of them, the team could receive a pretty nice haul of prospects to help rebuild for the future. Other, cheaper bullpen options, Brad Brach, Mychal Givens, Miguel Castro, and Darren O’Day could be on the move as well. Danny Valencia could go to a team looking for a platoon corner infielder to face left handed pitching. The Orioles hold the biggest cards in the market, but for once the team will need to play them rather than folding.

*All stats as of 6/25 via fangraphs.com and baseball-reference.com 

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