Corbin Burnes gets 100% real on dominant Orioles debut

The Baltimore Orioles are done playing games. Last season, the team made a run to the playoffs as the top seed in the AL East. However, their inexperience showed heavily in the playoffs, leading to an early exit. There were major flaws in the team… and the front office wasted no time in investing in fixing these issues. Their biggest acquisition in the offseason is former Milwaukee Brewers ace Corbin Burnes.

There were early concerns about Burnes’ ability to perform. Despite his past pedigree, his performance has dipped in the last few years. However, any concerns were washed away after Burnes’ incredible performance on opening day. The ace struck out 11 batters in an incredible show of power. After the game, Burnes talked about his performance and how he felt during the game, per MLB.com.

“It’s one of those days where everything lines up, that you’ve got everything working, and it becomes a really fun day because you can just go about it in sequence and do some things that you don’t normally do when you don’t have everything working,” Orioles’ Burnes said. “After about the second or third inning there, we kind of went into cruise-control mode with just getting ahead and trying to get quick outs.”

The Orioles’ biggest weakness last season was their lack of a solid rotation. They didn’t really have that firepower to start games. Their bullpen, while excellent, couldn’t keep putting out fires in the postseason. Now, Baltimore has one of the best aces in the league to help them in their quest.

Orioles’ intense start

Facing off against the new-look Los Angeles Angels, Burnes and the Orioles made pretty quick work of the Halos. The team rattled off 11 runs to the Angels’ 3, matching Burnes’ strikeout count. Anthony Santander paced the team with four RBIs, but it was a total team effort for the offense.

Burnes on the mound was magnificent. He was electric, striking out 11 batters and getting 18 out of the 19 batters he faced out. The only hit he conceded was a two-out blast from none other than Mike Trout. That’s a pretty productive trip, and it was awesome to see Burnes in his element once again.

Bright future

The Orioles are going to be an interesting team to watch this season. As mentioned, their biggest weakness last season was their pitching staff. A much improved rotation, as well as the return of their bullpen stars, should hopefully do the trick. Baltimore’s offense has always been deadly: a lineup of Santander, Adley Rutschmann, Ryan Mountcastle, and Gunnar Henderson can be terrifying.

Burnes will also benefit heavily from the Orioles’ strong hitting crew. The knock on the Brewers over the last few years has been their lack of consistent hitting. With some strong run support in Baltimore, a huge load will be lifted off of Burnes. That was apparent in this game: the Os gave their starter a two-run cushion to start the game.

“They won 101 games and the offense was so potent last year,” Burnes said. “When you return as many guys as you did with the experience they gained from last year, it becomes a very scary team. And I think they showed that pretty quickly.”