Baltimore Orioles in 2023 Thus Far
Baltimore is 9-7 in the young season. The Orioles are one win above .500 at home and on the road and have plated the 2nd most runs in baseball. Baltimore is making things happen offensively–they are 1st in OBP, 2nd in stolen bases, and 5th in slugging through the first three weeks of the season.
Gassed up 💪 pic.twitter.com/MZm5tcygwn
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 16, 2023
The Orioles’ pitching has been a different story–Baltimore ranks 26th in team ERA and 27th in quality starts. The Orioles staff is fourth in earned runs allowed, and Kyle Gibson is the only starter with a quality start (2).
The bullpen has been much better–the Orioles ‘pen ranks 5th in team xFIP and 2nd in WAR, but they’ve blown four of their eight save opportunities, which is likely why the Orioles have won just 41% of their close games.
Orioles Individual Award Odds
The Orioles as a team might not be the best in the American League, but they have some players whose odds have risen thanks to a solid start to their respective seasons.
C Adley Rutschman is the 5th favorite at +1800 to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award. The Baltimore catcher ranks 14th in batting average, 3rd in OBP, 9th in OPS, and 10th in WAR. Rutschman isn’t close to winning the MVP, and +1800 aren’t good enough odds to make this wager.
Get in, Adley’s driving everyone home. pic.twitter.com/ZmkM17MEoh
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 15, 2023
1B Ryan Mountcastle is a +10000 longshot to win the MVP, but if the regular season were to end today, Mouncastle might get more MVP votes than Rutschman would. Mountcastle tops the majors in RBI (20) but is batting .217. Mountcastle has been solid, but he’s a longshot for a reason and might not be on the board by June.
Ryan Mountcastle – Baltimore Orioles (5) pic.twitter.com/hHvjLm7s2n
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) April 12, 2023
SP Kyle Gibson is +8000 to win the AL CY Young Award and has two quality starts with a 3-0 this season. Gibson is the only starting pitcher throwing the ball well for Baltimore but winning the CY Young Award is likely out of Gibson’s reach.
Kyle Gibson allowed four runs over 5 1/3 innings in Chicago today.
The veteran spoke with the media after his outing. https://t.co/ORixK2GWuu pic.twitter.com/p8VaDY1xmX
— Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) April 15, 2023
SS Gunnar Henderson opened as a +250 favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award, but he’s now the 4th favorite at +700. The 21-year-old rookie slashes .173/.373/.289/.662 with one home run and two RBI over 45 at-bats. Henderson is 18th in strikeouts and has struggled a bit, but we liked Henderson at +250 and still like the rookie at +700.
Gunnar Henderson can pick it, no cap pic.twitter.com/2GbtUFBvDS
— Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) April 9, 2023
Baltimore Orioles Team Win Totals
The Orioles opened at 79.5 wins, but that number has decreased to 76.5. I didn’t like them for 80 wins, and I can’t see Baltimore winning more than 76.5 games. The starting pitching has been awful—Gibson has started well, but he’s posted single-digit wins over four of his previous five seasons.
Logan Gillespie and rookie Grayson Rodriguez have struggled, and while closer Felix Bautista has looked good, the bullpen is still average, which won’t get the job done. The offense has been good, but the AL East is brutal, and I would bet Under 76.5 games +110 BetMGM.
