Remember when those sabermetric and advanced stat followers said during the 2012 MLB campaign how the Baltimore Orioles were simply a fluke?
They said that the O’s couldn’t continue to win games at a high enough rate to even contend for a playoff spot.
They claimed that there was no way Baltimore could keep up with such a high winning percentage in extra inning and one run games.
They proclaimed that Adam Jones and others simply had high BABIPs (batting average of balls in play) and could never sustain positive offensive numbers with such low walk rates.
Here’s a stat for you guys, then: Chris Davis and Manny Machado are atop the American League leaderboard in WAR (wins above replacement) at 3.3 and 3.1 respectively. The only player higher than either of them is Carlos Gomez of the Milwaukee Brewers at 3.4.
Also in the top 30 in the AL in the WAR category are Nate McLouth and Adam Jones. McLouth and Jones are both tied for 23rd at 1.2. Matt Wieters isn’t far behind at 1.1 as well as J.J. Hardy at 1.0.
Winning is so much more than numbers. It can be argued that chemistry comes from winning and not the other way around, but look at your own work situation. If you get along with your cubicle mates, it’s more enjoyable to come to work and you’re likely more productive.
This team is hungry and plays the right way and seems to get along.
Let’s go O’s!
Statistics are for losers,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,if the O’s win the world series I don’t care about the numbers,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,steroids have bastardized the numbers in baseball anyway so today they mean very little,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
this is a team built the Oriole Way; good drafting, good player development, good trades and all around sound management…. and a little luck doesn’t hurt either! Branch Rickey said “luck is the residue of design”, and so far, this is a beautiful design….
Mike, nice to see you on the site. Hope to see you around more.
I agree, the team has returned to the Oriole Way. Re-building the farm system, signing and keeping their own, and blending in a veteran or two.
Some think it needs to be like 1996 and 1997 when they masked their poor farm system and player development with high priced free agents, but that is not the Oriole Way. Thanks to Andy McPhail (who doesn’t get enough credit) and Buck and DD for making things right again.
I agree they are trying to make improvements in player development and moving in the right direction but they aren’t there yet. There was long gap between BRob and Manny coming up as a position player through the system. I’m not so sure Manny isn’t just pure talent rather than being developed by anyone. Who was the last pitcher that came up throught the system? Mike Mussina, back in 19 what was it?
Pole, you can’t make up for 35 years of deiciency in a couple of years. What I’m saying is, it’s getting there.
I don’t think it is drafting at all. We have lucked into some players and Showalter. Writers. Machado and Mar, Johnson, Markakass are the draft choices. Who of cosequence am I missing?