The 30 Team/30 Day Report Cards: Day 4- Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles

Record: 66-96 (Last place in AL East, 30 games behind Tampa Bay)

Batting Leaders
Batting Average: Nick Markakis (.297)
Home Runs: Luke Scott (27)
RBIs: Ty Wigginton (76)
On-base Percentage: Nick Markakis (.370)

Pitching Leaders
Wins: Jeremy Guthrie (11)
Strikeouts: Brian Matusz (143)
Innings Pitched: Jeremy Guthrie (209.1)
ERA: Jeremy Guthrie (3.83). Bullpen- Koji Uehara (2.86)
WHIP: Jeremy Guthrie (1.16)
Saves: Alfredo Simon (17)

Highlight of the Year: After starting the season with a combined 32-73 record under Dave Trembley and Juan Samuel, they named Buck Showalter as their new manager. The team responded with gusto, as they won 34 of their next 57 games to close out the season.

Lowlight of the Year: A 5-18 April that ended their season as soon as it began. Also worthy of consideration was a horrendous 3-15 record against the Toronto Blue Jays, in which they were outscored by 42 runs.

The Lowdown:
The author T.S. Eliot once wrote that “April is the cruelest month,” and it couldn’t have been crueler to any team than the Baltimore Orioles. The team and their fans saw their season go down the toilet before All-Star ballots could even be issued, as the team went 5-18 and got outscored by a whopping 43 runs during that month. Considering that the team was expected to show some improvement entering 2010, April had to be a deflating month for the O’s and their fans, who haven’t seen a winning season since 1997. Unfortunately, the year would only get worse, as the team went 10-18 in May, 9-17 in June and 8-19 in July, all while facing some of the toughest competition in the majors in the AL East.

However, on August 3, a new sheriff rolled into town by the name of Buck Showalter. He had experience with turning moribund teams around in the past like the Arizona Diamondbacks and even the New York Yankees in the early-to-mid 1990s. His no-nonsense approach to managing seemed to be the best fit for a young Oriole ballclub trying to find their way, and the team responded to him emphatically. They finished the season under Showalter’s watch 34-23, and even more importantly, the Birds looked like they were having fun playing baseball again.

Offense:
While the Orioles were decent enough at the plate batting average-wise (their .259 team average was 13th in the majors), they weren’t that great at driving runners in, as their total amount of runs scored came in at 27th in the majors at 613. They also weren’t that great at drawing walks either, as their team on-base percentage checked in at .314, 24th in the majors. What the O’s have is an amalgamation of mediocre veterans combined with younger players with tons of potential that are still coming into their own. Some of that young talent can be seen in the team’s two future stars, Adam Jones and Matt Wieters. The 25-year-old Jones put together solid numbers in his third full season, hitting .284, with 19 home runs and 69 RBIs in 149 games, but he could benefit from greater pitch selection, as his on-base and walk totals indicate. He only drew 23 walks in 581 at-bats, which resulted in his on-base percentage being a very disappointing .325. However, the sky is the limit for Jones, who has nowhere to go but up as his career continues.

Wieters however, was still honing his chops in his sophomore season, and while his numbers on the surface seem disappointing, he still has tremendous potential much like his aforementioned teammate. Wieters received a great amount of playing time this season, playing in 130 games, but he hit just 11 home runs and drove in 55 while hitting just .249. Much like the rest of his teammates, he wasn’t drawing many walks either, as he had just 47 in 443 at-bats.

While no regular player hit over .300 in this lineup, right fielder Nick Markakis certainly came close, finishing at .297. Even though he doesn’t seem like he will become a major power hitter (he hit only 12 this year), he showed that he can become a doubles machine, as his 45 two-baggers tied for fourth in the American League this year.

Despite the promise this lineup holds with some of its players, their inability to hit homers or drive in runs really crippled the team this year. Should the O’s go after a power-hitting free agent this offseason? Their owner Peter Angelos hasn’t been shy in the past about handing out big bucks to star free agents, and their lineup could really benefit from gaining some extra pop.
Final Grade: D

Pitching:
Much like their lineup, Baltimore’s starting rotation has some solid young talent ready to produce. The top two starters the O’s are hoping will lead them to glory in the future are 23-year-old Brian Matusz and 25-year-old Brad Bergesen. The two first-round draft picks received a great deal of playing time in 2010, as each pitcher tossed over 170 innings in their first full seasons. However, this season was a “baptism by fire” of sorts for the two, as each pitcher recorded ERAs over four (Matusz at 4.30, Bergesen at 4.98). While I’m sure Oriole fans expect growing pains from the two, 13 consecutive losing seasons would surely test even the most optimistic fan’s patience, and they probably wanted to see the two producing this year.

As a whole, Baltimore’s pitching staff wasn’t good at all in 2010, as their team ERA ranked 27th in the majors at 4.59, while opponents hit off their pitchers at a clip of .270 (also 27th in MLB). Kevin Millwood, who they signed to be a veteran presence among the young staff, did not help out much on the field as his 5.10 ERA in 190.2 innings indicates. However, the intangibles he brought to this staff will likely help these pitchers in the future, especially as they mature.

The bullpen wasn’t all that great either, as opponents hit off of them at a .274 clip, the third-worst in the majors. Koji Uehara is probably the only reliever on this club worth mentioning, since he finished with a WHIP of 0.95 and a 2.43 ERA in 43 appearances.

While there is promise with this pitching staff, they still haven’t achieved it just yet.
Final Grade: D-

Wild Card: Buck Showalter
The aforementioned results speak for themselves. Buck took the team to unprecedented heights (relatively speaking) once he took over at the beginning of August, guiding them to 34 wins in just 57 games. That would be two more wins in a shorter time frame than the team won in their first 105 games. Kudos to Buck, and hopefully for the team’s sake, the good play can continue next year.
Final Grade: A+

Overall:
This team came from hell and back in 2010, and if it wasn’t for their good play to close out the season, they would have easily lost over 100 games, something they haven’t done since 1988. There are still some things they can improve on though, including hitting for power and pitching.
Final Grade: D

Check back tomorrow for the report card on the Kansas City Royals!