Baltimore Orioles: Zach Britton gets due respect for his work in 2017

The Baltimore Orioles may not have had much of a starting rotation, but the team’s bullpen was outstanding, especially with Zach Britton at the back end.

Fans of the Baltimore Orioles were not the only people who had respect for the fireball closer, one fellow AL East player did, too.

In an article from Evan Longoria in The Players’ Tribune, Longoria shared his thoughts on the five toughest pitchers in his division, the AL East in the 2017 season.

Those pitchers included starters Chris Sale and Marcus Stroman. He also included Dellin Betances and Craig Kimbrel. His fifth was Britton.

Why Britton earns respect

He included Britton, despite him being out for a significant portion of the season. Longoria commented on the way that Britton pitches and how hard it is for batters to hit Britton’s sink. Longoria wrote:

CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 29: Former New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera (L) and Zach Britton /

"“It’s his sinker that gives guys nightmares. Coming out of his hand, it looks good — it looks hittable, like it’s coming right for the zone. Plus, it’s coming in at 96–97 mph. So it almost looks like a fastball.”"

As fans, we only get one perspective on any pitcher’s stuff. And, it’s from the back of the pitcher. We do not get to see the ball come at us at 90+ miles per hour with spin and God knows what else pitchers put on it. So reading Longoria’s take on the two-time All-Star and Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year is a lesson in what Britton really has.

Longoria went on to say:

"“In terms of a closer having one pitch that’s so dominant, Britton is a lot like Mariano Rivera. I mean, Rivera is in a class by himself in baseball history … but if Britton can come back and pick up where he left off with that ridiculous sinker, he could one day be considered in the same category.”"

Wow. Britton did win the eponymous Rivera award, but to be compared to the man with the most successful saves (652) in the history of the MLB is a real honor. Longoria faced both men, so he would know.

Numbers in 2017

So, how good was Britton in 2017? He wasn’t as good as he was in 2016, but he was still good. In 2016, he had an unbelievable ERA of 0.54. In 2017, his ERA was 2.89, which was his worst since converting from a starter to a reliever. He pitched in 38 games and finished 30 of them.

For comparison purposes, Britton had 47 saves in 2016, 36 in 2015, and 37 in 2014. Being injured did put a little wrinkle in his stats. He had 15 saves in 2017.

When Britton entered the 2017 season, he had 47 consecutive saves from 2016. He saved 11 more in 2017 before he blew one on August 23 against the Oakland Athletics. He then blew another one a few weeks later on September 12 against the Toronto Blue Jays. It seemed that very little went well for any of the Orioles in September.

All those injuries added up

Britton missed most of May and all of June with a variety of injuries and issues. He had a left forearm strain in May and June. Then, his knee gave him trouble in September. His numbers were down from 2016 because of these issues. As he enters his free agency at the end of 2018, those injuries could affect his opportunities.

However, Britton was true to the way that he got outs. His most common method is the ground ball. According to FanGraphs, 72.6% of pitches hit were ground balls. The big difference in 2017 was his increase in line drives. After only 11.3% of hit balls were line drives in 2016, batters hit 19.5% of them in 2017. He did throw 30 fewer innings in 2017 than he did in 2016.

Another big difference in Britton’s stats from 2016 to 2017 was the sheer number of hits he gave up. In 67 innings in 2016, he gave up 38 hits and one home run. In 37.1 innings in 2017, he gave up 39 hits and one home run. His slider velocity was down about one MPH, but that wouldn’t make it that much easier to hit. Especially because his slider was still nasty in 2017.

Next: Free agent pitchers to consider

An off-season full of proper care and conditioning should be just what the doctor ordered. Hopefully, Britton will return to full health for his benefit and the benefit of the O’s and their fans. It would be nice to see Britton channeling Rivera in 2018 and work his way up in the record books.

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