On Sunday, the Baltimore Orioles completed a 60-game season that’s unlikely to be forgotten. The season included “road” games against the Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays at Camden Yards, as well as multiple 7-inning doubleheaders and extra innings games that started with a runner on second. The Orioles swept the defending champions Washington Nationals and the AL #1 seed Rays along their way to a 25-35 finish, which wasn’t even the worst in their own division.
Prior to the season, we conducted a survey to see how fans were feeling about the season and get some predictions for the team and individual players. Let’s revisit it.
(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)
1. How many wins do you expect the Orioles will have from the 60-game schedule?
Just about a third of the fanbase was expecting the Orioles to clear 20 wins this year, reflecting how the Orioles definitely exceed expectations this year. I personally was unsure the Orioles would be able to clear 20 wins just due to the strength of their schedule, but underwhelming seasons from teams like Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox helped Baltimore reach 25 wins.
2. What constitutes a successful season? (Pick all that apply)
For every answer besides getting the #1 pick, this season was definitely a success for the Orioles. While they had to rearrange some of their schedule due to Miami’s coronavirus outbreak, they never encountered any problems that teams like the Marlins and Cardinals had. Based on the over/under from oddsmakers, projections from sites like Fangraphs and our survey, the 25 wins this year was absolutely more than was expected by the majority of fans and analysts alike. Playing time and experience for players who have the chance to help the roster going forward was perhaps the biggest success of this year. Dean Kremer and Keegan Akin got to make their debuts in the rotation and provided signs of promise, while Cedric Mullins got another chance at major league playing time after spending 2019 going from Opening Day starter to playing in Bowie. Ryan Mountcastle was also excellent, but we’ll get to him later. Meanwhile, Anthony Santander and Tanner Scott both had breakout seasons. 40 percent of the respondents who wanted #1 pick will be disappointed, with the Orioles finishing 2020 tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the fifth-worst record in baseball, which will give them the #5 pick. MLB has floated using 2019 records for the draft order, so there’s a chance the Orioles could improve their pick. Regardless, if you entered 2020 focused on seeing Kumar Rocker at Camden Yards, this wasn’t an ideal outcome for you.
3. Will the Orioles have the worst record in baseball?
The fanbase was roughly split in two if the Orioles would be the worst team in baseball, but they avoided that fate by six games. The Pirates suffered through the most losses in baseball, thanks in part to a division that saw every other team make the postseason. If I had to guess, I think less than 44 percent of the fanbase will expect a last place finish in 2021, regardless of how many games we end up playing.
4. The Orioles have 10 games against the Yankees. How many wins will they have?
After a dreadful 2019 against the Bronx Bombers, it’s easy to see why just over half of the answers expected just 1-2 wins from this season’s slate. The O’s ended 2020 3-7 against the New York Yankees, with all three of the wins coming consecutively in the same series at Camden Yards. The O’s suffered several close losses to New York, including an extra innings loss on September 12. This year’s meetings with the Yankees also featured significantly less success from Gleyber Torres, as he hit three doubles and zero homers in six games.
5. Hanser Alberto finished 2019 with a .948 OPS against left-handed pitching. What will his OPS be against left-handed pitching in 2020?
Less than 20 percent of the respondents thought Alberto would have another season with that much success against left-handed pitching, but sure enough, he ends 2020 with a .917 OPS. Due to the shortened season, Alberto got 53 chances against southpaws compared to 227 plate appearances last year, but he still made them count just the same. Much like last year, the problem for Alberto was he was much worse against right-handed pitchers, providing a .635 OPS in 2020.
6. If he’s healthy, will Chris Davis start at least 50 games?
Chris Davis didn’t end up being healthy the whole year, so we’ll never know the answer to this. Davis ended the year only playing 16 games and wound up ranking 15th on the team for plate appearances, with his last game coming on September 11th in the Bronx. We’ll just have to see if Davis remains an Oriole by Opening Day in 2021.
7. Who will have more saves this year?
Surprise! They tied at zero! Cole Sulser and Cesar Valdez served as the main closers for the Orioles this year, with Sulser recording five saves and Valdez tallying three of them. Givens was eventually traded to the Colorado Rockies but before that, he was used in the seventh and eighth inning without even getting the chance to close out a game. Harvey was only able to appear in nine games due to injuries and never was given the chance to pitch in the ninth inning with a small lead. Harvey could get the chance to close in 2021, but Cesar Valdez and his changeup-heavy approach to pitching was incredibly effective this season.
8. Who will lead the Orioles in HRs?
If he stays healthy, this honor would’ve almost certainly belonged to Anthony Santander, who delivered 11 homers in 37 games. However, with an extra 15 games compared to Santander, Renato Nunez was this season’s leader for home runs. Nunez was very streaky when it came to his power, hitting six of them over seven games from August 1 to August 7. Nunez had another burst of homers from August 25 to September 4, hitting five of them in nine games. If Trey Mancini is able to play by the start of the 2021 season, Nunez could be the odd man out and this will likely be his only time leading the O’s in homers.
9. How many games will Ryan Mountcastle play in?
Exactly one-fifth of the respondents were correct in predicting Mountcastle would have in between 31 and 45 games played. Out of all the bright spots in this season, it’s pretty easy to argue Mountcastle was the most impressive. He walked at a higher rate than he did in AAA Norfolk last year and had ten extra base hits in his 36 games, good for a slugging percentage of .492. He was also an upgrade from Dwight Smith Jr. in left field, never making any glaring mistakes in the field. If he’s healthy and the 2021 season returns to 162 games, it seems like a lock Mountcastle will appear in at least 100 games.
10. Will Yusniel Diaz appear in a game this year?
The Orioles had enough success in the outfield where starting the service time clock on Diaz wasn’t a good idea. Between the success of Santander, Mountcastle and Mullins, there wasn’t much of a need to provide reinforcements in the outfield. It seems unlikely Diaz will be on the Opening Day roster for 2021, with Austin Hays and DJ Stewart joining the aforementioned trio. Getting a meaningful impact from Diaz in the future would be important for the Orioles, as Diaz was the star of the Manny Machado trade.
11. Do you have any interest in watching LeBlanc, Milone, Wojciechowski start?
Of the trio listed, Tommy Milone was easily the most enjoyable pitcher to watch. After a nightmare on Opening Day, Milone delivered five solid starts, giving him a 3.99 ERA that earned him a trade to the Atlanta Braves. LeBlanc had an 8.06 ERA in a season that ended early with an injury, while Wojciechowski struggled as a starter, got moved to the bullpen and then also struggled there. Given his struggles entering 2020, the fact Milone was good enough to get traded to a contender was one of the many pleasant surprises from 2020.
12. Should the O’s be using these 60 games to give experience to guys like Akin, Kremer, Baumann, Lowther, Zimmermann, and Wells?
Of the six pitchers mentioned by name in this question, three of them pitched major league innings this year. Akin and Kremer both had successful starts, while Zimmermann had a rough debut before heading to the bullpen. A rough start at Fenway was a sour end to the year for Kremer and Akin’s start in Buffalo on Sunday didn’t last very long, but the experience for Akin and Kremer provided plenty of optimism heading into 2021.
13. Artificial crowd noise has been used in the broadcast for other sports without fans in the stadium. Would you prefer the crowd noise or just the natural sounds of an empty stadium?
The fake crowd noise definitely grew on me and I’d imagine I wasn’t alone there, as you eventually get used to it. The main thing that stood out to me was making the crowd too loud for pretty mundane situations. It felt like every game had a situation in the third inning where an Orioles pitcher would have two strikes and two outs and the simulated crowd would start roaring like it was the ninth inning of a playoff game. Also, even with the simulated noise, we were still able to hear more of the players talking, which included plenty of cursing and other frustrations normally muffled by the crowd.
14. How do you feel about putting a runner on 2B to start extra innings?
The very first at-bat the Orioles experienced with the new extra innings rule created something that was previously impossible: a leadoff double play.
Ultimately, the Orioles finished the year 4-4 in extra innings games, making it a mixed bag for them. While there were fun moments like the Pat Valaika walk off, they also lost a game in the Bronx after a wild pitch and a sac fly, which felt awfully unsatisfying. I side with the 38.7 percent that thought it was fine for the weirdness of this season, but shouldn’t return for 2021.
BSL Analyst
Rose Katz is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland’s journalism school, where she worked for The Diamondback as the online managing editor and a sports blogger. As a student, she spent almost all of her time on campus in The Diamondback’s newsroom or at Xfinity Center, Ludwig Field and Maryland Stadium. Rose gained intern experience with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).