Baltimore Orioles: Big Guys and their Big Bombs
The Baltimore Orioles took apart the Minnesota Twins 9-2 by hitting four home runs from their three biggest bats.
The O’s are paying a bunch of the boys to hit home runs, and the team got plenty of bang for the buck on Wednesday afternoon. In a place not known for homers, Mark Trumbo hit a pair of them with Chris Davis and Adam Jones adding one each. Davis just barely missed another, getting an RBI double instead.
We say these are the three biggest bats, and they probably are the first three players expected to hit homers. If you take a 162-game average for each, Davis hits 37, Trumbo 31 and Jones 25. But there are others who are growing into similar power hitters, having had shorter careers and total games played. Manny Machado is now at 26 per 162 games (and growing), with Pedro Alvarez at 28. Beyond this also is Jonathan Schoop with 23 … a number that will expand as well.
The Baltimore Orioles team on display in Minnesota on Wednesday is the one envisioned and hoped for in 2016. There is the obvious power with the four home runs. As expected also is the bullpen that comes on with a lead and eliminates any additional scoring by the opponent. And hoped for was sufficient rotation pitching, particularly from newer and younger starters. Tyler Wilson provided the final element with seven innings of two-run ball, lowering his ERA to 2.94.
The O’s starters have had a rather solid streak of games. It is not record-setting, but it is very solid. Seven of the last eight games have been quality starts, with only Mike Wright’s last game not qualifying. But even that was a game with few hard-hit balls. At this point, the starters beyond Wilson have these ERA statistics: Gausman – 2.16 / Tillman 3.05 / Jimenez – 4.54 / Wright – 5.83. The trend is a good one.
The Orioles did more than just hit home runs on Wednesday afternoon in Minnesota when beating the Twins and the threatening weather. They pounded out 16 total hits, the best number of the season. Half of these were by Jones and Davis, each going 4-for-5. In doing so, Jones saw his average raise from .210 to .238, and Davis went from .217 to .242. Knowing the way both players are able to carry a team, if they get hot, it could be very interesting to see what kind of scoring the Orioles can post.
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The Tigers come to town now for four games. They are 15-18, having lost eight of their last nine games. Detroit is also 0-6 versus the Indians. Though they rank fourth in hitting (speaking of batting average), they are 12th in overall pitching. Their starters rank 13th in ERA, while the bullpen is 11th. By comparison, the O’s starters are seventh, with the bullpen being the second-best.
It is an opportunity for the Orioles to kick them while they’re down.
As we have been providing often this season, here is the current home run and strikeout pace that the Orioles are on if extended out to a 162-game season …
| MLB All-Time HRs | O’s All-Time HRs | O’s 2016 Pace |
| 264 (Seattle- ‘97) | 257 (‘96) | 248 |
| MLB All-Time K’s | O’s All-time K’s | O’s 2016 Pace |
| 1553 (Hous.- ‘13) | 1331 (‘15) | 1316 |
The 2016 season is now 20% complete with 32 games in the books and a won-loss record of 20-12. This projects to a final season record of 101-61. I think we would all take that!