Baltimore Orioles Injury Woes, Missed Opportunities Define Midseason Grades

Everybody in Major League Baseball knows of the struggles that the Baltimore Orioles have faced since opening day with injuries. They have had 22 players who have landed on the injury list at some point.

However the game must go on and mid-term grades are in.

Offense: D

The Orioles have gotten progressively better this season, but not offensively. The last 30 days may have been their best stretch so far, but their side-by-side hitting comparisons show that offense has little to do with that.

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Baltimore sits in the bottom third of the league in many major hitting categories including RBI (24th), walks (tied for 26th), hits (23rd), batting average (23rd), OPS (23rd), and on-base percentage (tied for 23rd).

They only sit in the top 20 in a few categories. Their top two showings is in strikeouts where they are ninth and home runs where they sit at 12th. Baltimore is slugging just inside the Top 20 at 18th.

Starting Rotation: B-

It's no secret that the Orioles were having trouble with their rotation due to injuries. There are 11 players currently on the IL and more than half are pitchers. If this grade was primarily looking at the most recent games the rotation would earn an A.

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In the past 30 days Baltimore has shown improvement in every single major category that pitchers can look at in comparison to their overall year.

But, so far this season the Orioles have the 27th worst ERA with 4.88. In the past 30 days Baltimore has the sixth lowest at 3.56. Every statistic shows improvement, including strikeouts, earned runs, and walks.

Bullpen: B+

The bullpen has some solid relievers that they can tag into if need be. There are five pitchers who have seen more than 30 games, have an average ERA of 3.43 and are holding opponents to a .229 batting average.

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Bryan Baker, Keegan Akin, and Seranthony Dominguez are the only three who have thrown more than 30 innings. The highest opponent batting average any of the three have allowed is .233. Dominguez has the highest ERA with 3.41, but he has the fewest home runs allowed and has struck out 42.

Injuries: D

The Orioles have had players hit the injured list all season and, at times, have not been able to overcome it. Baltimore simply hasn't had the depth to stay afloat without a pitcher like Zach Eflin, who was out for a month with an injury.

Overall: C+

The record reflects a team that hasn't handled the difficult circumstances it was given to start the year. Baltimore has fallen well short of expectations and the grade is salvaged by the bullpen and the rotation's recent hot streak.

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