The Baltimore Orioles had a mediocre year at best last year, going 85-77, while finishing 6 games behind in the Wildcard race. Now with a very good looking offense they look to get back to playing post-season ball, just like they did in 2012. Vegas Odds have the Orioles at +700 to win the AL East, +1200 to win the AL Pennant and +2500 to win the World Series.
Last year the Orioles finished 5 th in runs scored (745), 1 st in homeruns (212) and 10 th in batting average (.260) this was a stacked offense last year and this year they have the ability to be just as good. Chris Davis is back after leading the league in homers with 53, while also driving in 138 runs. Will be hard for him to duplicate those numbers, but at least 35 HR’s and 100 RBIs can be expected from him. Behind him is Adam Jones, who hit 33 HRs and drove in 108 runs a year ago, and behind him is newly acquired Nelson Cruz, who hit 26.5 homers per year in his last 6 years with Texas. After Cruz is Chris Weiters (65 HRs last 3 years and JJ Hardy (77 HRs last 3 years). Not sure there is a more feared 3-7 lineup in the league. This offense will be fun to watch and they will need to put up runs as their rotation looks pretty weak.
Last year Baltimore ranked 23 rd in the league in ERA (4.20) and I don’t expect it to be much better this year. The Orioles did sign Ubaldo Jiminez and he is slated as their number 1 starter, but he has also been inconsistent in his career so you never know what to expect from him. Chris Tillman was solid last year with a 16-7 mark and a 3.71 ERA, but beyond the big two I expect the rest of the staff to struggle. Wei-Yin Chen hasn’t really shown his potential, while Bud Norris has had a rough career with a 38-49 mark and a 4.36 ERA. The O’s are still looking for a 5th starter. The pen took a blow as Jim Johnson (50 saves) left for Oakland. That leaves the closers role to Tommy Hunter, who had just 4 saves last year. Newly acquired Ryan Webb, along with, Darren O’Day and Brian Matusz, form a solid late inning group. Overall the pen is average at best.
Outlook: This team will put plenty of runs on the board with what is one of the best lineups top to bottom. 56 of them have very good homerun power and they all can drive in runs. They will have to because the pitch will not really be up to snuff and losing Johnson really hurts the pen. The top 3 in the division are just too good to think that Baltimore can climb up the standings, but at least they are not the worst in the division, as that distinction will go to Toronto.
Info gathered from FoxSports.com and CBSSports.com
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