AL East 2017 Positional Rankings: Home to the Power Bullpens
By Nate Wardle
3. Baltimore Orioles – Mychal Givens, Brad Brach, Darren O’Day, Richard Bleier, Donnie Hart, Miguel Castro, Zach Britton, Alec Asher, Jimmy Yacabonis, Mike Wright, Vidal Nuno
When you look at this list and see Zach Britton threw less than a number of players, you probably figured the Orioles’ bullpen was not very good.
But, that wouldn’t be accurate. The Orioles’ pen had the fifth-best ERA in the American League, and 12th overall at 3.93. Their bullpen also only lost 18 games, second to only the Red Sox in the AL, and tied for second in all of baseball with several NL teams.
They also won 30 games, which is more than any other team with fewer losses. All this while throwing 595 innings, second-most in the American League.
Britton was not perfect and struggled with injuries. But, Brach filled in admirably. O’Day and Givens both did a very good job as setup men, and other pitchers, such as Richard Bleier and his sub 2.00 ERA, were pleasant surprises.