Two months ago I wrote a preview of the Orioles season. The season was, statistically speaking, better than expected. Fangraphs predicted the Orioles would go 22-38. I predicted 17-43. Heading into today’s last game of the season the team is 24-35. They were not eliminated from playoff contention until the last week of the season. That is a marked improvement over every expectation.
I suggested some things to look at for this season. Let’s take a look at those:
Can Hanser Alberto put together another season hitting over .300? Can he make a run at .400?
Hanser Alberto is hitting a very respectable .288. But not .300,
Can Chris Davis make a run at hitting .200?
Davis hit .115 on the season in 16 games, spending most of the season on the Injured List or the bench.
Can John Means (once he gets on the mound) build upon the success of his 2019 rookie season?
Means is 2-4 with a 4.53 ERA. He was inconsistent through most of the season.
Can Alex Cobb avoid the Injured List?
No, though he did make 10 starts and led the team in innings.
With the shortened season and a tighter playoff race, will Mike Elias be able to extract more value for potential trade chips like Alberto, Mychal Givens, Pedro Severino, or Wade LeBlanc at the August 31st deadline?
Alberto and Severino are still here. Givens was flipped to Colorado for prospects. He wasn’t the only one: Richard Blier was flipped to Miami early in the season, Miguel Castro was sent to the Mets and Tommy Milone (who most people thought would never get a start) pitched well enough to get moved to the Braves for prospects. LeBlanc made six awful starts before having a season-ending injury.
How much playing time will Ryan Mountcastle get this season, if at all? If he does see the field, will he see more time and DH, 1st base, or left field? And if he does play left field, how much of an adventure will he be out there?
Mountcastle has been a revelation since getting recalled. He enters the last day of the season hitting .331/.385/.496 with 5 HR and 23 RBI, playing 23 games in left, nine at 1st, and 2 as the DH.
While the season did not end with the playoff berth that it looked like they would for most of the season, you can’t help but think this season was a positive and that the Orioles have a lot of things going for them into the future.
Beyond Mountcastle, rookie starters Dean Kremer and Garrett Akin have been great at times and looked poised to occupy two spots in the starting rotation going into 2021. Dillon Tate has pitched well in relief, as has Thomas Eshelman. Veteran-free agent Jose Iglesias would have won the batting title if he had enough at-bats to qualify. Anthony Santander was having a very good season before he got hurt, and outfielders Austin Hays and D.J. Stewart finally got it going later in the season after being demoted.
It’s disappointing that Orioles didn’t make the playoffs and ended the season on a down note (though nothing like the down note that was the 4-32 debacle to end 2003). To an extend, I’m just happy we were able to make it through the regular season at all given the environment. But things are certainly looking up for the Orioles into the future. Spring Training can’t get here soon enough.