Baltimore Orioles: Corner Outfield and DH Production

Jul 30, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Pedro Alvarez (24) shakes hands with third base coach Bobby Dickerson (11) after hitting a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the second inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

The Baltimore Orioles wanted and needed to improve the production from their corner outfield and designated hitter positions as compared to 2015. How have they done?

This is the second time this season that we have looked at this question, with the first occasion being about one-third of the way through the season. The two-thirds completed point of the season will be achieved after Friday’s game.

As a quick summary of the analysis below, the Orioles have definitely improved a bit in right field, significantly improved in left field, and considerably improved the power production from designated hitter.

Here are comparative stats from 2015 / 2016 for these three positions, noting batting average, on-base percentage, and home runs from one year to the next. The rank for each stat speaks of where the number places the Orioles among American League teams…

	Avg>	<Rank	OBP>	<Rank	HR>	<Rank
15 RF	.275	4^th	.318	9^th	24	9^th
16 RF	.282	5^th	.345	8^th	21	4^th
15 LF	.210	14^th	.287	13^th	18	8^th
16 LF	.273	4^th	.337	4^th	7	13^th
15 DH	.253	7^th	.308	11^th	14	11^th
16 DH	.249	6^th	.308	9^th	28	1^st

Right Field 2015 – The 2015 stats in RF are always a bit surprising, as memory does not seem to recall the numbers as having a fourth-best ranking in batting average, for example. Twelve different players spent some time out there, with Gerrado Parra having the most games … just 43. Delmon Young had 40 and Chris Davis 30, hitting nine homers in those 30 games. So the position was not a total loss in spite of the revolving door of others who brought down the total numbers. But the RF situation was very unsettled for the entire season.

Right Field 2016 – Though the overall average and OBP from right fielders this year is similar to 2015, Mark Trumbo has given it power that was lacking. From this position he has hit 16 while batting .292. (Breaking news, add one more!) Joey Rickard has gone .281 in 43 games, with Reimold .279 in 21 games.

Left Field 2015 – These are ugly, ugly numbers. It was a year-long struggle with David Lough at .218 and Steve Pearce at .214.

Left Field 2016 – It is Hyun Soo Kim who has most especially helped these numbers to look much better than a year ago. He has hit .337 in LF. Nolan Reimold’s .212 as the left fielder has not helped. In between is Joey Rickard at .254. None are much of a power threat. Is there anything to be learned or noted from both Rickard and Reimold hitting much better as right fielders?

Designated Hitter 2015 – The only thing keeping these numbers from being rather horrid was Jimmy Paredes catching fire for half a season with a .279 average in 81 games. Beyond that, there is little we would want to remember about designated hitters in 2015.

Designated Hitter 2016 – Pedro Alvarez has come on to be the most-used DH for the Orioles, now in 56 games. He has hit .260 and clubbed 15 home runs (Breaking news, add one more). In 42 games at DH has been Mark Trumbo, belting 12 homers and batting .241. Chris Davis has the only other homer from DH, hitting it in one of two games in this role.

But what if? – After the 2014 season, much of the Orioles fanbase was angry that the team did not spend aggressively to maintain Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis. What would that look like now? We said at the time that this was a theme we were not going to forget and that we would re-visit from time to time. That each did well in 2015 was not shocking news. The concerns (such as they were) that kept the O’s from a more aggressive effort had more to do with the back end of the potential deals rather than the front end.