Orioles Update for June

I have not written much about the Orioles this season. There, frankly, is not much to write. The team is rebuilding and has settled comfortably at the bottom of the standings for the league. It seems that they can win one game of most series, but fall miserably short of being respectable. 

Sporting a record of 21-45, the Orioles are 20 games out of first in the division and 15 games out of Wild Card contention. The team is tied for last place in MLB with the Kansas City Royals, or put another way, they are tied for 29th place in the standings. 

Last evening, to begin their homestead, they defeated the Toronto Bluejays 4-2. The line score shows the tale of the game.

From MLB.com

It was a win, but even-so  the team is now 9-23 at home! 

Chris Davis has taken sole possession of the formerly called "Mendoza-line" which has always been considered a batting average below .200. The line has been redefined as something below that point as Chris Davis is currently batting .164 and still on the team. He finished the 2018 season with a .168 batting average. Unofficially, the Mendoza-line is "often thought of as the offensive threshold below which a player's presence on a Major League Baseball team cannot be justified, regardless of his defensive abilities. The term is used in other contexts when one is so incompetent in one key skill that other skills cannot compensate for that deficiency." (from Wikipedia) Because he is getting $23M per year, he is still suiting up every night when players with lesser salaries would have been long gone. 

I have attended one game so far this season in person and I do not regularly watch the games on television, opting for some movie that I have already seen on Netflix. Usually, I know how both the game and the movie will end.

There are bright sport on the team. John Means, the pitcher last night, has a 6-4 record and as solid 2.60 ERA; but it took him 103 pitches to get out of the 5th inning to qualify for the win last night. 

Jonathan Villar, the shortstop, is exciting and sporting a solid .262 batting average, but he was caught stealing and suffered a put-out (meaning he was on base two times and both opportunities were lost). He has 12 stolen bases for the season may be on track to exceed the 21 he had during 2018. 

The star or the team is, arguably, Trey Mancini, who has 13 home runs and a solid .298 batting average. 

And so, nearing the mid-way point of the season, the team is on track for a 52-110 season, which is marginally better Thant the 47-115 they sported last year. Before the season started I predicted a 105 loss season and since they have almost completed the season meetings with the Yankees (2-10 with 7 games remaining) and completed play against the Twins (0-6 with no games remaining), my prediction may still be in play. That means they are 19-29 .395 against the rest of the league!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD