24,177.
That’s how many miles the Orioles will travel in 2014 according to BaseballSavant.com. That’s like a ton of Southwest Rapid Rewards points.
Surprisingly though, the Orioles will travel the fifth fewest miles of any of the 30 MLB franchises. Those 24,117 miles are the fewest traveled since this data started being collected in 2009.
| Team | Miles | Team | Miles | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mariners | 51,540 | — | 16. | Phillies | 30,253 |
| 2. | Athletics | 47,259 | — | 17. | Rockies | 30,068 |
| 3. | Angels | 45,868 | — | 18. | Royals | 28,530 |
| 4. | Diamondbacks | 45,053 | — | 19. | Twins | 29,523 |
| 5. | Dodgers | 44,675 | — | 20. | Indians | 28,507 |
| 6. | Padres | 41,774 | — | 21. | Yankees | 28,001 |
| 7. | Giants | 40,828 | — | 22. | Blue Jays | 27,739 |
| 8. | Astros | 39,848 | — | 23. | White Sox | 27,214 |
| 9. | Rangers | 36,463 | — | 24. | Tigers | 26,691 |
| 10 | Marlins | 36,134 | — | 25. | Brewers | 25,184 |
| 11. | Mets | 35,781 | — | 26. | Orioles | 24,177 |
| 12. | Rays | 33,856 | — | 27. | Pirates | 23,623 |
| 13. | Red Sox | 32,919 | — | 28. | Cardinals | 23,474 |
| 14. | Braves | 31,815 | — | 29. | Reds | 23,089 |
| 15. | Nationals | 31,382 | — | 30. | Cubs | 22,969 |
Over their 81 road games, the Orioles will visit 18 cities this season on 12 road trips between April and September. Eight of those 12 trips are seven days or more, including a 10-day, three city west coast road trip between July 18-27 in Oakland, LA against the Angels and Seattle immediately after the All-Star Break.
The O’s have another ten day trip between August 15-24 where the face the Indians in Cleveland, the White Sox in Chicago, have an off day and then face the Cubs in Chicago. They conclude the 2014 season with a seven day trip split between New York and Toronto.
| Date | Days, Cities (Opponents) |
|---|---|
| April 4-9 | 6 days, 2 cities (DET, NYY) |
| April 18-24 | 7 days, 2 cities (BOS, TOR) |
| May 2-8 | 7 days, 2 cities (MIN, OFF DAY, TB) |
| May 15-21 | 7 days, 2 cities (KC, OFF DAY, PIT) |
| May 26-June 5 | 10 days, 3 cities (MIL, HOU, OFF DAY, TEX) |
| June-22 | 7 days, 2 cities (TB, OFF DAY, NYY) |
| July 4-8 | 5 days, 2 cities (BOS, WSH) |
| July 18-27 | 10 days, 3 cities (OAK, LAA, SEA) After ASB |
| August 5-7 | 3 days, 1 city (TOR) |
| August 15-24 | 10 days, 3 cities (CLE, CWS, OFF DAY, CHC) |
| September 5-10 | 6 days, 2 cities (TB, BOS) |
| September 22-28 | 7 days, 2 cities (NYY, TOR) |
ESPN’s Buster Olney ranks the Orioles schedule the fifth most difficult in the American league. 27 of the Orioles first 39 games are against teams with a record of .500 or better last season. Four of their first six series are against AL East opponents (two series against Boston, one against the Tampa Bay and one against New York).
According to average projected opponent WAR, FanGraphs.com projects that the Orioles have the most difficult schedule of any team in baseball facing teams with an average WAR of 35.6. Of course this is just based on projections and doesn’t take into account injuries, guys having breakout of down seasons or teams that will eventually sign remaining free agents Ervin Santana, Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales.
