How Good Are the 2023 Baltimore Orioles ???
 

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I believe that the question of whether or not the 2023 Baltimore Orioles are for real has been answered ........ the question is, HOW REAL are these 2023 Birds ???


They are almost unquestionably as good as last year's solid, 83-79 team, who had a winning season in spite of being in the best division in baseball AND having had to play an unbalanced schedule in which almost half of their games (76) were against those intra-division rivals.


But are the Orioles about as good as last year's team, which would make them about an 86 or 87-win team with the easier, balanced schedule ???


Are the Orioles a little better than last year's team, which would make them about an 89 or 90-win team, and have them sitting on the playoff bubble ???


Or are the Orioles about a 94 or 95-win team, which would make them a bona-fide contender for an American League championship ???


Stayed tuned to find out, and buckle up and get ready to have some fun with these Birds ...... at the very least, they have made things interesting with their "style" of victories, more than half of which (14 out of 25) have been the come-from behind variety.

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The 6 Teams That Are Unexpected MLB Contenders in 2023

(ESPN News)

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...angers-red-sox



1) l TAMPA BAY D-RAYS

2) l BALTIMORE ORIOLES

3) l TEXAS RANGERS

4) l ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

5) l BOSTON RED SOX

6) l PITTSBURGH PIRATES

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(JUNE 15th)


The Orioles have not been swept in a series since l Adley Rutschman l was still playing down at AAA-Norfolk ...... that was 13 months ago, in May of 2022.

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(STRANGE, BUT TRUE)



The first Orioles-Yankee game that I ever went to was at Yankee Stadium, in 1977. ) The score of that game was 14-2, in favor of the Yankees.


https://www.baseball-reference.com/b...97707280.shtml



The most recent Orioles-Yankee game that I went to was last night, at Yankee Stadium. ) The score of the score of the game was 14-1, in favor of the Orioles.


https://www.baseball-reference.com/b...02307060.shtml

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Hope you saw the homer run derby, the kid with the O’s hit them from both sides of the plate. Wow

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In 76 Plate Appearances with the New York Yankees this season, l Aaron Hicks l OPS'd .524 ...... in 187 Plate Appearances with the Baltimore Orioles this season, Aaron Hicks has OPS'd .860. The proverbial icing on this cake for the Birds is the fact that the Yankees are paying Hicks $10.3 Million for this season, while the Orioles are paying him $480,000.



Orioles’ Aaron Hicks Tallies 3 Hits, 2 Runs

(RotoWire Staff)

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/ba...hits-two-runs/

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A good faith move on the part of the Orioles ...... their star relief pitcher will be out for the entire 2024 season and part of the 2025 season, yet they still signed him to an extension for more money than they had to give him.



Orioles Make Felix Bautista Contract Extension Move After Tommy John Surgery Announcement

(By Nick Meyer)

https://clutchpoints.com/orioles-new...y-announcement

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My team didnt make the plyoffs, Im going to band wagon with the Orioles.

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In the regular season, the Orioles did better than I thought, winning 101 games and the AL East title.

In the post-season, the Texas Rangers thoroughly kicked their asses.

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Orioles GM Mike Elias Named MLB Executive of the Year After Unprecedented 101-Win Season

(By Jacob Calvin Meyer)

https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/...ufe-story.html

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(MARCH, 2024)



Even though these games don't count, the Orioles appear to be really focused and determined in these Spring Training contests ...... I wonder if this team feels similar to the way that the 1983 Orioles team felt, a team that was on a mission from February through October after barely missing out on winning the division title and a chance to win the World Series in 1982.

The 2023 Orioles won 100 games and claimed the AL East title, but were swept in the divisional round of the playoffs ...... perhaps this 2024 Orioles team feels like they could have and should have at least won the AL Pennant and earned a trip to the World Series in 2023.

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10% of the 2024 season has elapsed, and with a record of 10-6, the Orioles are on pace to go either 101-61, or 102-60. I have a feeling that they will go 95-67, and finish 2 games behind the Yankees, even though I think that the Orioles have a slightly better team than the New Yorkers. I also think that even if the Orioles do wind up going 95-67, which is 6 games worse than last year's 101-61, that they will fare better in the post-season than did the 2023 Orioles team. I think that they will win the American League Pennant to advance to the World Series for the first time since 1983, before losing to the National League champions in the 2024 Fall Classic.


Thanks for listening to my rat's ass of an opinion on the fate of my beloved Baltimore Orioles for the 2024 season ...... my opinion plus $18 will get you a one-way train ticket from Brewster, NY to Grand Central Station in New York City.

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For only ) the 4th time in MLB history !!! ) a team started a game with a lead-off home run in the 1st inning, and ended the game with a walk-off home run in the 9th inning ...... and those were the only runs of the game in which they scored.




1) l 5/15/2024 llllly BAL vs. TOR lltlll (Gunner Henderson lead-off home run, Adley Rutschman walk-off 2-run home run.)


2) l 9/2/1983 llllllllt PHI vs SF llllllllll. (Joe Morgan lead-off home run, Ozzie Virgil pinch-hit walk-off grand slam.)


3) l 8/22/1971 llllll, OAK vs BOS lllll) (Bert Campaneris lead-off home run, Reggie Jackson inside-the-park walk-off; both off of Sonny Siebert.)


4) l 8/9/1966 lllllllll. ATL vs LAD lllllll. (Felipe Alou lead-off home run, Eddie Mathews walk-off solo home run; both off Sandy Koufax)




SOURCE: l Sarah Langs

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