AL East 2017 Positional Rankings: A Terrible Year For AL East DHs
By Nate Wardle
4. Baltimore Orioles – Mark Trumbo, Trey Mancini
Mark Trumbo’s second year in Baltimore was nowhere near as good as his first. Trumbo hit .234/.289/.397 with 23 home runs, 22 doubles, 65 runs batted in and 79 runs scored. He also struck out 149 times.
It was not a good season for Trumbo. The Orioles had to know it was unlikely they would get a season like they did in 2016, where he had a career high in home runs and hit .256.
However, numbers somewhere near his career average would have been acceptable. That would have left Trumbo around /.249/.301/.461 with 33 home runs and 27 doubles (based on 162 games played).
Instead, the Orioles had a designated hitter who they couldn’t really put in the field due to his lack of speed in the outfield, and Chris Davis blocking him at first base. To show how bad it was, Trumbo’s offensive WAR was 0. Not good from a designated hitter.
The Orioles aren’t last, however, because of the fact that Mancini had a very good year, and was the other player to see over 10 games at the DH spot. Many people, myself included, would love to see Trumbo get traded and offer the team more flexibility at the DH position, but if that doesn’t happen, Trumbo will be back as DH in 2018.
If it does happen, the Orioles will be able to use a number of players at DH including Trey Mancini, Anthony Santander (until his Rule 5 status is fulfilled and he is sent down), newly acquired Jaycob Brugman and potentially a few other options depending on free agency.