Baltimore Orioles: Starting Pitching Carries Toward Playoff Spot
By Nate Wardle
One could argue that the Baltimore Orioles were the best pitching staff in baseball in the month of September.
The Baltimore Orioles played 27 games in the month of September, going 16-11. And, while many think of the Orioles as an offensive team, in September it was the pitching that carried the team.
How good was the pitching?
In the month, the team ERA was 2.90. That was the BEST in baseball. The starters had an ERA of 3.83, sixth-best in the American League. The relievers had an ERA under 1.50, best in the American League.
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The BAA was .223, the second-best in the American League, and fourth-best in baseball.
Another important stat is that the Baltimore Orioles had the lowest slugging percentage in all of Major League Baseball for the month. For a team that struggled with home runs allowed through the middle months, this was huge for the Baltimore Orioles.
While we are digging into pitching stats, another interesting stat is that Orioles’ pitchers threw the most pitches per plate appearance in baseball.
The team, as mentioned earlier, won 16 games in the month. Starting pitchers won 12 of those, led by Ubaldo Jimenez and Dylan Bundy each winning three starts. Kevin Gausman and Yovani Gallardo both picked up two wins, with Wade Miley and Chris Tillman each winning once.
Of the games won by relievers, one was an extra inning game with Oliver Drake getting the win, Brad Brach won two games (giving him ten wins on the year), and Brian Duensing picked up the huge win on Wednesday night against Toronto.
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Even though Miley and Tillman each only had one win, over the past week both had tremendous starts. Miley went 8 2/3 innings in a commanding performance against the Diamondbacks.
Tillman was the starter in the game that Duensing ended up winning.
Everyone knows of Ubaldo’s contribution at this point, and Bundy did well despite not having the deepest of starts.
Since being swept by the Red Sox, the opposition has scored 2, 1, 1, 5, 2, 0, and 1 runs. That is an average of less than a run per game. That’s not bad.
While we are talking about keeping the opposition off the board, know that the Baltimore Orioles have the fourth-best fielding percentage in the game, and the fourth-fewest errors. The fielding percentage is just .001 worse than the three top teams, Detroit, Houston, and Boston.
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So, while many people want to count the Orioles and their all-or-nothing offense out come playoff time if current form holds, the team is pitching very well also.
That just might help the Orioles surprise many in the American League.