Baltimore Orioles Season Review: A New Hope in Baltimore
By Dylan Smith
The Beginning
As I mentioned, the Baltimore Orioles thought they were going to be able to compete in 2018. Their offseason moves illustrated this attitude.
In a stagnant free agent market, the Orioles were one of the few teams that made moves. The club brought in starting pitching depth by inking Alex Cobb to a 4 year/ $57 million deal, and Andrew Cashner to a 2 year/ $16 million deal. The team also brought in veterans, Danny Valencia, Colby Rasmus and Pedro Alvarez on minor league contracts.
This attitude of wanting to contend can also be seen by the moves that the club did not make. Dan Duquette and Co. decided to hold onto stars, Manny Machado and Zach Britton, at the Trade Deadline in 2017 and again during the last offseason. This move received much criticism as the club had a clear lack of organizational depth. The writing was on the wall for an eventual rebuild but management decided to ride the current wave as long as they could. The Orioles arguably did not cash in on their star’s peak values.
Either way, the end result is an extensive rebuild.
The club struggled from the outset of the season. The Orioles finished April with a record of 8-20. Mark Trumbo, Jonathan Schoop, and Zach Britton all missed time at the beginning of the season and Chris Davis and Alex Cobb are a few of the club’s notable players who got off to very slow starts. Cobb got his season on track in the second half, but Davis never came around. Chris Davis finished the year with 16 home runs, 49 RBIs and a slash line of .168/.243/.296. Davis’ batting average of .168 is the lowest by a qualifier in Major League history (ESPN). These numbers resulted in a minuscule OPS+ of 50.
The Orioles finished July with a record of 32-75, right in time for a Trade Deadline firesale. The club’s roster ended up being vastly different than it was at the beginning of the season.
The Baltimore Orioles began their season at home against the Minnesota Twins. Their starting lineup was…
Baltimore Orioles
1. Chris Davis, 1B
2. Manny Machado, SS
3. Jonathan Schoop, 2B
4. Adam Jones, CF
5. Trey Mancini, LF
6. Tim Beckham, 3B
7. Pedro Alvarez, DH
8. Craig Gentry, RF
9. Caleb Joseph, C
SP: Dylan Bundy, RHP
The club ended their season at home against the Houston Astros. Their starting lineup was…
1. Cedric Mullins, LF
2. Jonathan Villar, SS
3. Adam Jones, CF
4. Trey Mancini, 1B
5. Tim Beckham, DH
6. Renato Nunez, 3B
7. DJ Stewart, RF
8. Steve Wilkerson, 2B
9. Caleb Joseph, C
SP: Jimmy Yacabonis, RHP
The Orioles’ notable subtractions include Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, Zach Britton, Brad Brach, Darren O’Day, Kevin Gausman, Dan Duquette, and Buck Showalter. Longtime Orioles’ outfielder, Adam Jones, likely played his last game for the team as well.
Notable additions include Jonathan Villar, Dillon Tate, Yusniel Diaz and a future highly ranked number one overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.