Baltimore Orioles: An All-Former Orioles Pitching Staff

Quite a number of former Baltimore Orioles pitchers are performing well around Major League Baseball and could be put together to make an excellent pitching staff.

In a post yesterday, we put together a roster and batting order of former Orioles position players, noting that though a bit short on power numbers relative to the average MLB lineup, the cumulative batting average was actually much better. That lineup only featured 12 players, so we can fill out a 25-man roster today with a short bench and 13 pitchers.

As mentioned in the previous article, this is not done to discredit the Orioles for not retaining any particular player or players. It is merely out of interest in following what has become of former O’s who now compete elsewhere for one of a dozen or more reasons … from trades, free agents, to those who have resuscitated dying careers.

This caveat is especially necessary in light of the first name today, a pitcher traded away who never came close to his massive potential in Baltimore, but who is now arguably the very best in the business.

Starting Pitchers

Jake Arrieta – (Chicago Cubs) – The numbers are amazing for the 2015 Cy Young Award winner. In eight starts he is 7-0 with a 1.29 ERA and WHIP of 0.839. He only gives up 4.7 hits per nine innings. Last year he was 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA, doing this with Wrigley Field as his home stadium.
Jason Hammel – (Chicago Cubs) – He was 15-14 for the Orioles in 2012-13. Right now Hammel is 5-0 with a 1.77 ERA.
Rich Hill (Oakland A’s) – He was 3-3 as an Oriole in 2008 with an ERA of 7.80. Having seen him revive his career last season, I would have so much rather seen the Orioles sign him over Gallardo. Right now, Hill is 5-3 with a 2.68 ERA for the A’s.
Wei-Yin Chen – (Miami Marlins) – Chen will post up every fifth day, even if not always totally effective. Actually, he has not gotten off to a great start this year, currently being 3-2 with a 4.22 ERA.
Miguel Gonzalez – (Chicago While Sox) – I would rather have put former O’s farmhand Eduardo Rodriguez of the Red Sox in this position, after a 10-6 rookie season in 21 starts with a 3.85 ERA. But he has been out with a knee injury for all of this year so far. Gonzo is still looking to re-create his career and has made three starts, now with a 5.17 ERA.

That is a very good staff, especially if Rodriguez could be put there. Let’s chart it for a total ERA …

Name	Record	IP	ER	ERA	WHIP
Arrieta	7-0	56.0	8	1.29	0.865
Hammel	5-0	40.2	8	1.77	1.205
Hill	5-3	43.2	13	2.68	1.191
Chen	3-2	49.2	23	4.22	1.250
Gonzalez	0-0	15.2	9	5.17	1.851
Total	20-5	205.2	61	2.67	—–

Seeing the first two starters above, it is not surprising that the Cubs have the best rotation ERA in all of baseball at 2.24. But this former O’s group ERA of 2.67 combined is better than any other team. The next best ERA for a rotation is the 3.01 of the Nationals.

Relief Pitchers

Again, we are going with a total of eight. This group is not as strong as the starters, but it is not bad at all.

Andrew Miller – (NY Yankees) – Miller is again showing why he is one of the elite relievers in the game. Currently he has a 0.57 ERA, having struck out 28 batters and walking only one!
Matt Albers – (Chicago White Sox) – Never much with the Orioles, I think this end of 2015 and start of 2016 is lightning in a bottle. But Albers now has a 2.60 ERA.
Pedro Strop – (Chicago Cubs) – I loved having Strop with the O’s, as he was a big, big part of the revival that happened in 2012. But he lost the touch for a while. Now the man with the crooked hat has a 3.68 ERA, though his WHIP numbers are good at 1.023.
David Hernandez – (Philadelphia Phillies) – Many O’s fans have likely forgotten Hernandez who was 12-18 with a 4.93 ERA in 2009-10. He has made a comeback with his career and is currently posting a 2.95 ERA for the surprising Phils.
Koji Uehara – (Boston Red Sox) – Always one of my favorites, at age 41 he might finally be showing some wear and tear. But he still has a 0.848 WHIP and can get people out.
Steve Johnson – (Seattle Mariners) – The Orioles would have liked to keep Johnson, but simply could not do it. He looks to be coming back now as a reliever, and in a small sample size has the look we remember seeing briefly a few years ago.
Francisco Rodriguez – (Detroit Tigers) – I’ve never been a fan of K-Rod, especially with his short stint with the O’s. He’s still not that great, but he’s better than anyone else the Tigers have and is good enough for this bullpen.
Andrew Triggs – (Oakland A’s) – As I’ve written multiple times this year, the Orioles were crazy to DFA Triggs rather than one of multiple others on the 40-man roster.

Let’s chart these eight relievers and get a group ERA to compare with the rest of MLB …

Name	G	IP	ER	ERA	WHIP
Miller	16	15.2	1	1.57	0.702
Albers	17	17.1	5	2.60	1.096
Strop	18	14.2	6	3.68	1.023
Hernandez	17	18.1	6	2.95	1.091
Uehara	16	15.1	5	2.93	0.848
Johnson	4	5.0	1	1.80	1.200
K-Rod	15	13.2	6	3.95	1.317
Triggs	5	7.0	3	3.86	0.857
Total	109	107.0	33	2.78	—–