Baltimore Orioles: Three players with outstanding August numbers

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August has been a good month for the Baltimore Orioles as several players are performing better than they have all year.

In fact, the Baltimore Orioles hitters and pitchers have put up numbers that haven’t been seen since their strong start in April.

Overall, the team is five and four in August. But, this doesn’t tell the whole story. During this time, the Orioles have outscored their opponents by 20 runs. Dylan Bundy has earned two wins so far in August and Ubaldo Jimenez added a win to his stats. Jeremy Hellickson also got his first win as a pitcher for the Orioles, too.

The team appears to be playing for the post-season, even though the O’s are several games back of earning a Wild Card spot, they keep playing hard. If the O’s want to play in the postseason, they have to overcome the trouble they had in the middle of the season, especially May and June. (Although, July wasn’t much better).

In May and June, the Orioles had a win-loss percentage of .429, but May was significantly better than June. The Orioles were outscored by eight runs in May, but in June, they were outscored by 62. Ouch. In July, the win-loss percentage was .462 and the team was outscored by only four runs. So far, the O’s have outscored their opponents by 17 runs in all of 9 games.

These three players are having the most success so far in August.

BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 05: Tim Beckham /

Tim Beckham joined the Orioles at the trade deadline and it seems like this trade was meant to be. Sometimes a change of scenery can make a huge difference for a player. With his unexpected performance in August, he clearly deserved the AL Player of the Week honors that he received.

With the Tampa Bay Rays, Beckham was hitting a slash of .259/.314/.407 with an OPS of .721. In his short time with the O’s, he has a slash of .514/.528/.914 and an OPS that it literally double what he was doing in Tampa – 1.442.

He is also killing it on the field. Prior to his arrival, the shortstop position was in flux as J.J. Hardy recovers on the DL. Now that Beckham is doing what he’s doing, questions are popping up about what will happen when Hardy returns. Beckham’s range in Tampa in 2017 was 3.50, now with the O’s it’s 4.67. It’s like he was meant to be in Baltimore – someone just had to bring him to Maryland.

He has even reduced his strikeout rate. With the Rays, he had 317 at bats and 110 strike outs. With the O’s, he’s had 35 at bats and 7 strikeouts. He had a 34% strikeout rate with the Rays, but he’s only got a 20% rate in Baltimore.

It’s safe to say that Beckham’s numbers will average out, but he has had a hit in every game played with Baltimore. And of those games, he has had six multi-hit games. The guy is on a role and his 12 RBIs in 9 games proves it.

BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 04: Manny Machado /

August has also been good for Manny Machado. After several seasons of being named one of the best players in the game, Machado has struggled for most of 2017. But, once August rolled around, something changed. While he has still looked like the same guy defensively, making catches that most humans can’t imagine, his offense has changed.

For the majority of the season, Machado’s average has hovered around .220. But, in August, his slash after nine games is .342/.333/.632 with an OPS of .965. Like Beckham, he has three home runs this month. Machado has three games with extra base hits. And, he has recorded a hit in all but two games. In one of those hit-less games, he recorded two RBIs – so his bat is making a difference. Impressively, Machado has only 2 strikeouts in 38 at-bats.

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His stats began improving in the last two games of July. In the final game against the Texas Rangers, he went three for four and in the last game of the month against the Kansas City Royals, he went two for four.

The highlight of August (so far) was his grand slam against the Los Angeles Angels. But, along with the four RBIs he earned in that game, he earned five of them the day before against the Detroit Tigers. In the game on August 6, Machado went a remarkable four for five and was only a triple shy of a cycle.

The guy is back and the timing couldn’t be better.

HOUSTON, TX – MAY 26: Welington Castillo /

When it comes to power hitters, Welington Castillo might not be the first name that comes to mind. But, in August, he has delivered it. Unlike Machado and Beckham, Castillo splits his time so he has only played in five games so far in August. But, in those five games he has two home runs.

Better yet, he has hit in every game in August. His to-date slash is .288/.322/.464 with an OPS of .786. In his five August games, he is hitting .389/.368/.778 with an OPS of 1.146.

What is so impressive about Castillo’s August is what he was doing prior to the change in the month. In 17 games in April, he hit one home run. He hit three in May and in June he hit four. July wasn’t as good as he only hit two 14 games. Now, in five games – two home runs is seriously impressive.

Castillo has hit home runs in previous seasons, but if his August streak continues, he could top his home run numbers. His best season was 2015 where he hit 19 of them when he played with three different teams – the Cubs, Mariners, and Diamondbacks. In 2016, with the D-backs, he hit 14.

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Hopefully, his power will continue as the Orioles need all the help they can get to reach the postseason.

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August has been a good month for the Baltimore Orioles as several players are performing better than they have all year.

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