Baltimore Orioles: A New Year’s resolution for Buck Showalter

The Baltimore Orioles were a playoff team in 2016, but that doesn’t mean that Manager Buck Showalter should not have a New Year’s Resolution to improve in 2017.

Happy New Year, fellow Baltimore Orioles fans.

With the new year brings excitement as baseball season is less than two months away, and meaningful games won’t take long as the World Baseball Classic will occur in 2017. (Note – I am a fan of the WBC, so yes I consider it meaningful, and it sure beats no baseball.)

In 2017, I think it is important for both Manager Buck Showalter and General Manager Dan Duquette to have resolutions in 2017.

There could be several different things worth mentioning as resolutions for Buck. Some may feel it is to rely more on the strength of the bullpen. However, I believe the bullpen is so effective because of the way that he uses guys like Mychal Givens, Darren O’Day, Brad Brach and Zach Britton (Britton’s lack of use in the Wild Card game not included).

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Others may feel that Buck and the Baltimore Orioles should use the running game more often, attempting to steal bases when available, as the Baltimore Orioles were one of the worst in MLB history in 2016.

Another possible resolution would be for Buck and the Baltimore Orioles to work more to bunt against the shift and take advantage of teams turning against them. While I agree with this, I think each situation is different, and you can’t just force laying down a bunt against the shift.

However, I think Buck Showalter’s New Year’s Resolution should be to use his bench more.

No, the Orioles bench is nothing fantastic. But, if you find a bench in the major leagues that is very successful, well let me know. Because these guys are on the bench for a reason.

In 2016, the bench was typically made up of Pedro Alvarez, Ryan Flaherty, the backup catcher, and Nolan Reimold/Hyun Soo Kim or Joey Rickard, depending on the time of the year.

Alvarez was having a successful season but had nowhere to play defensively, which is why the team is looking for defensive upgrades this offseason.

Reimold mostly struggled once he was on the bench consistently as Kim became the starter and Rickard were injured.

However, every year the Orioles seem to have numerous players near the top in games played, and every year the Orioles appear to wear down in the second half of the season.

Let’s look at the usage.

C – Matt Wieters played in 124 games, 13th in baseball at C (remember, he was given numerous off days to start the season as he finished recovering from his elbow injury)

1B – Chris Davis played in 157 games, tied for 8th in baseball at 1B

2B – Jonathan Schoop played in 162 games, most at 2B, tied for most in baseball

3B – Manny Machado played in 157 games, 6th most at 3B (remember, he played numerous games at SS, and the only five games he missed were due to suspension after the brawl with Yordano Ventura.)

SS – J.J. Hardy played in 115 games, 26th most at SS

LF – Nolan Reimold played in 104 games, Hyun Soo Kim in 95 (28th and 34th respectively)

CF – Adam Jones played in 152 games, 6th most in CF (and numerous games while injured)

RF – Mark Trumbo played in 159 games between RF and DH, 2nd most at DH

Five of the nine positions, the Orioles had someone in the top 10 in games played. Sure, these guys are great players, but they also need some rest and some days off.

As a team, the Orioles hit .272/.333/.467 in the first half. In the second half, they hit .236/.298/.415. The BABIP (batting average on balls in play) was .318 in the first half and .260 in the second half.

As for some individual players, Matt Wieters hit .258/.310/.418 in the first half and .227/.294/.399 in the second half. That is a batting average of 30 points less, similar to the team’s number.

Chris Davis hit .237/.348/.497 in the first half and a sluggish .200/.313/.412 in the second half. Not suitable for your most expensive player.

Jonathan Schoop may have tailed off the most. He hit ..304/.338/.509 in the first half, a torrid start. He hit .225/.252/.391 in the second half, with that extremely low on-base percentage notable.

J.J. Hardy had numerous days off in the first half as he was on the disabled list, and he hit better in the second half. Hardy hit .263/.295/.404 in the first half, and .273/.317/.410 in the second half.

Manny Machado hit .318/.375/.569 in the first half, and .266/.306/.492 in the second half, another drastic drop in production.

Hyun Soo Kim had a lot more opportunities in the second half, and his numbers were much worse. He hit .329/.410/.454 in the first half, .275/.353/.386.

Adam Jones was healthier the second half of the year, but the numbers are still worse. He hit .268/.316/.460 in the first half, and .261/.303/.407 in the second half.

Mark Trumbo also fell off dramatically in the second half, hitting .288/.341/.582 in the first half, and .214/.284/.470 in the second. Again, not good.

So, as apparent, the Orioles were not good in the second half, and this is a repeated issue for the team. There is no other rhyme or reason to explain it. Sure, every team probably sees numbers drop off in the second half as players wear down, but I think that these numbers are dramatic.

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So, Buck Showalter should make a New Year’s Resolution to give his starters more rest, and hope that it pays off in the second half.