Call to the pen
Fansided

Why the Baltimore Orioles are not beyond hope

By Bill Felber

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 21: Bench coach John Russell #77 and Manager Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles react at the top of the dugout steps with their team losing in an MLB baseball game against the New York Yankees on September 21, 2018 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. Yankees won 10-8. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 21: Bench coach John Russell #77 and Manager Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles react at the top of the dugout steps with their team losing in an MLB baseball game against the New York Yankees on September 21, 2018 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. Yankees won 10-8. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images) /
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Baltimore Orioles
PHOENIX – APRIL 6: Manager Bob Brenly #15 (L) of the Arizona Diamondbacks and stands next to teammate bench coach Robin Yount #19 during the Opening Day game against the Colorado Rockies at Bank One Ballpark on April 6, 2004 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Rockies defeated the Diamondbacks 6-2. (Photo by Barry Gossage/Getty Images) /

2004 Arizona Diamondbacks

In 2004 the D-Backs were just three seasons removed from a World Series championship. Yet their situation had deteriorated so badly in the short term that they finished last in the NL West with a 51-111 record, being out-scored 615-899. That translated to a -2.43 standard deviation for run differential.

But if the D-Backs could fall quickly, they could also rise quickly. Just three seasons later they won 90 games and took the NL West, sweeping Chicago in the National League division series before losing to the even more surprising Colorado Rockies in four games in the NLCS.

2005 and 2006 Kansas City Royals

Among the past couple of decades’ very bad teams, only the Royals failed to recover in short order. In 2005 the Royals went 56-106 and were out-scored 701-935. In 2006 the numbers were 62-100 and 757-971. Those translate to -2.18 and -21.14 standard deviations detaching them from the MLB norm. It took the Royals nearly a decade to find their way into the playoffs, although when they finally did get there, they did well. They lost a seven-game 2014 World Series to San Francisco and then beat the Mets in five games in 2015.

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