Baltimore Orioles: Zach Britton sets AL record with 55th consecutive save

Now in his fourth season as the Baltimore Orioles’ closer, Zach Britton continues to impress and make history.

So far in 2017, the Baltimore Orioles have gone only 47-51 and currently find themselves in fourth place in the AL East. The O’s have been met with much speculation that they could be sellers at the trade deadline.

Though there hasn’t necessarily been too much that has gone the Orioles’ way this season, at least one thing is for certain: Zach Britton is still one of the game’s most dominant relievers when healthy. Although Britton missed a considerable amount of time on the DL with a forearm injury this year, he has now returned to action.

On Sunday, Britton recorded his sixth save of the season and his 55th consecutive save. He closed out a 9-7 victory against the Houston Astros, the team with the best record in the American League. It was also his first save opportunity since coming off the DL earlier this month.

Britton’s 55th consecutive save also set a new American League record. His mark of 55 straight saves now trails only Eric Gagne, who converted 84 saves in a row for the Los Angeles Dodgers between 2002-04 to set the MLB record. The O’s also took to Twitter to remind fans of the fact that Britton now stands alone as the new AL record holder and is second in MLB history.

Former starter turned reliever

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Britton’s streak of consecutive saves stretches back to the end of the 2015 season. However, his history of dominance in the ninth inning can be traced all the way back to the beginning of the 2014 campaign. The left-hander came up as a starter but had little success in that role between 2011-13. Going into 2014, he was out of minor league options and made the team as a reliever, later replacing Tommy Hunter as the team’s closer.

Over his first two seasons as the Orioles’ closer, Britton went 7-3 with a microscopic 1.77 ERA (227 ERA+) and an 0.94 WHIP while racking up 73 saves. He then had a season for the history books last year. In 2016, Britton went 2-1 with an 0.54 ERA (795 ERA+) and an 0.84 WHIP while going a perfect 47-for-47 in save opportunities. He finished fourth in the AL Cy Young voting.

Since moving to the bullpen, Britton’s signature pitch has been his hard sinker. The pitch has helped him achieve an unworldly 77 percent groundball rate over the past four seasons, ranking first among all qualified relievers in the game.

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With the Orioles continuing to fall further behind in the playoff race, Britton’s name has also come up in recent trade speculation, so it will be interesting to see if he could indeed be moved. Britton is also signed through next season, so he would not be a mere rental for the remainder of 2017.

Britton will also turn just 31 years old during the winter in which he reaches the free agent market, plenty young enough to earn what should be an impressive and well-deserved payday.