MLB’s Smallest Payroll Not Deterring Surprising Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are 130 games into a 162-game schedule. They have played 80.2% of their games in 2022, in case you don’t have a calculator handy.

The Orioles have been the biggest surprise in the major leagues over those 130 games. They have gone from one of the worst teams in baseball to a contender.

And with more three-quarters their season in the books, the Orioles can no longer be considered a fluke.

The Orioles showed that again Thursday night when rookie Kyle Bradish pitched seven scoreless innings and Baltimore blanked the American League Central-leading Guardians 3-0 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

“I think it just puts us on notice that we’re a for-real team this year,” Bradish said. “We’re going to come in and play everybody hard. It doesn’t matter who you are.”

At 69-61, the Orioles are just 1 ½ games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the third and final AL wild card. Pretty amazing stuff for a franchise that lost 115, 108 and 110 games in the last three full seasons – they were 25-35 in the pandemic-altered 2020 season.

And they are doing it with a $43.7-million payroll, the lowest in baseball.

The Orioles still have 32 games left but the idea of making the playoffs for the first time since 2016 no longer seems farfetched.

“I think our guys are playing with a ton of energy,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We play exciting baseball. I think our guys have welcomed (being in a pennant race). Nobody thought we were going to be in the situation we’re in right now. The credit really goes (to the players) to put themselves into position to play games in September that matter.”

The biggest reason why the Orioles have put themselves in the postseason picture is good pitching.

Baltimore’s 3.79 ERA ranks 10^th among the 30 major league teams. The Orioles have shaved more than two full runs off their 5.88 mark of last season, which was easily the worst in MLB.

The Orioles don’t have any pitchers who will earn any votes in the Cy Young Award balloting. At 10-9, veteran Jordan Lyles is the only starter with double-digit wins.

However, the bullpen has been outstanding even after the trade of closer Jorge Lopez to the Minnesota Twins a month ago. Rookie Felix Bautista has seamlessly stepped into the ninth-inning role and has eight saves since Lopez was dealt.

“The first thing is our pitching,” Hyde said. “It’s improved so much. They’ve been able to keep us in ballgames all year long. Our bullpen has held leads for the most part and given us a chance to win.”

The Orioles are just 20^th in runs scored at 4.20 a game. However, such core players as first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, center fielder Cedric Mullins and right fielder Anthony Santander still have the arrow pointing up as they enter the primes of their careers.

The most exciting aspect of the Orioles, though, might be two of their rookies, catcher Adley Rutschman and infielder Gunnar Henderson.

Rutschman was the first overall pick in the 2019 amateur draft from Oregon State. The 24-year-old was considered the consensus best prospect in baseball when he was called up May 21 from Triple-A Norfolk.

Most outlets had Henderson ranked as either the best or second-best prospect in the game when he got the call from Norfolk on Tuesday. The 21-year-old then hit a home run in his second big league at-bat.

“It’s fun to see these guys graduate to the big leagues and what a great experience for them to be playing in their first year in these kinds of environments,” Hyde said. “It’s really a case of getting thrown right into the fire but we were confident both could handle it.”

Perhaps Rutschman and Henderson will be thrust into the crucible of the postseason next month. The Orioles certainly believe they can get there.

“It’s a great group of guys,” Hyde said. “The clubhouse is unbelievable. The dugout is incredible. Our guys really care about each other and that means a lot. It’s a special group, a special team. It’s been a really fun year.”