Baltimore Orioles: 2016 Season Recap and Look Ahead
Halfway through the 2016 MLB season, the Baltimore Orioles sat in the American League East driver seat with a 51-36 record, driven by a powerful lineup and a strong bullpen. The fast start propelled them to a Wild Card playoff appearance, where they came up just short in an extra-innings affair with the Toronto Blue Jays when Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer in the 11th. The loss was a hard pill to swallow for fans and Sports Betting Experts alike. Afterward, Orioles Manager Buck Showalter came under heavy criticism for not using Zach Britton, major league baseball’s top closer.
Instead of dwelling on one wrong decision out of thousands of good ones, let’s take a look back on what made the Orioles one of the league’s 10 playoff teams.
Home Run Kings
The 2016 Orioles’ ability to hit home runs was a key to their playoff push – the lineup had some of the league’s biggest sluggers. Leadoff man Adam Jones highlighted the team’s long ball philosophy. His stats resemble a slugger’s: 29 home runs, .265 average (low average for the leadoff hitter) and 83 RBI. First baseman Mark Trumbo led the team and the majors with 47 home runs on the year. First baseman Chris Davis was not too far behind him with 38 homers, but an unhealthy .222 average and walk to strikeout ratio made him nothing more than a low-average slugger. Rounding out the top home run hitters is third baseman Manny Machacho who knocked in 37 long balls for a robust .294 average, and 96 RBI.
Improved On Base Percentage
Their home run-hitting prowess was taken for granted coming into the 2016 season, but the lineup’s OBP was a major concern for a team that ended 2015 ranked 24th in the MLB with a .307 average. Driven by the sterling OBP’s of Hyun Soo Kim, Manny Machacho, Adam Jones, and Jonathan Schoop, the team rebounded in 2016 to finish 7th in the National League in OBP, good for 12th in the majors.
Competent Starting Pitching and Stellar Bullpen
As a pitching staff, the Orioles finished 19th in the majors and 10th in the American League with a collective 4.22 ERA – far from stellar, but adequate. Led by MLB saves leader Zach Britton (47 saves, .54 ERA), the Orioles bullpen was among the best in the majors.
One of their glaring weaknesses entering the season – starting pitching – was given a midseason boost by rookie Dylan Bundy, who was asked to work in several roles including relief pitching, closing, and starting. He was moved into the starting rotation on July 17 and finished with 109.2IP, 104K, and a solid 4.02 ERA. His throwing velocity tailed off in games down the stretch, perhaps due to a past Tommy John procedure, but he gave the rotation some badly needed stability. Kevin Gausman was a steady starter all season, recording 179.2 IP and a 3.62 ERA. Ubaldo Jimenez, a starter in the first half of the season, was demoted mid-season after recording a 5-9 record with a 7.38 ERA. An injury to starter Chris Tillman, 12-2 heading into the All-Star break, had the potential to be a deathblow to the team’s postseason hopes. Showalter was forced to recall Jimenez and insert him back in the rotation on August 25th. From that point, he threw like a different pitcher, posting a 2.82 ERA in seven starts. As the lineup’s bats cooled off in August and September, the competence of this starting pitching was crucial to the team’s ultimate Wild Card qualification.
Brilliant Management
Second guesses of a manager’s decisions abound, especially after a playoff defeat. But, looking back at the whole season, Showalter and the Orioles had to defy expectations to even reach that decision point. The blueprint entering 2016 for this team was to trot out an overpowering lineup and call on stellar relief pitching, which in tandem, would compensate for weak starting pitching. The plan worked to a great extent, shocking many baseball betting pundits and Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette have every reason to reboot it for the 2017 season.
Managing the team to three playoff appearances including one ALCS appearance in the past six years, Buck Showalter has gotten maximum effort and performance out of his players. The team has not had a losing season during his watch, which will most likely continue for the foreseeable future. He leads the field operation of an organization that maximizes its resources by mixing and matching minor league players with its stars.
Looking Ahead to 2017
This offseason, several of the team’s core players are due to earn arbitration bonuses, which are essentially performance-based raises. That is great because it means they played well, but it also eats into the team’s salary cap, severely restricting its ability to pursue marquee free agents. The free agent pool is set to be well below average, and as Mark Brown of SB Nation points out, they will not be missing out. Their aforementioned team-building blueprint has proven to be highly successful under Showalter for six seasons – fans and players alike have realistic hopes that next season will bring more of the same.