Baltimore Orioles: 10 Free Agent Left-Handed Hitters Team Could Pursue
By Ben Palmer
The Baltimore Orioles current projected lineup for next season includes just two left-handed hitters. Here are ten free agents the team could pursue this offseason.
The Baltimore Orioles’ top priority in free agency this offseason is going to be starting pitching. We all know that, and that’s the biggest weakness that the team has right now. But there’s another hole that needs to be addressed.
As it stands, the current projected lineup for the Baltimore Orioles next season includes just two left-handed hitters: Chris Davis and Chance Sisco (assuming Sisco gets the starting gig and assuming Welington Castillo opts out of his contract, which appears likely).
That lack of left-handed hitting was a major weakness for the Baltimore Orioles last season, especially in September, when the team hit just .222 against right-handed pitchers.
Coming into the season, the team had Seth Smith and Hyun Soo Kim as left-handed platoon bats, and neither produced well at all. Add in the fact that Davis struggled against every pitcher everywhere last year and the fact that Sisco was only up in September, and you see the problem.
To address this issue, let’s take a look at 10 free agent left-handed hitters that the Orioles could pursue in free agency. We’re going to ignore the big name first basemen, guys like Eric Hosmer, Lucas Duda, and Yonder Alonso, they’re not going to supplant Davis. So let’s take a look at some of the other guys the team could pursue.