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Baltimore Orioles: Happy Birthday, Kevin Gausman

By Kristen Bentley

BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 01: Starting pitcher Kevin Gausman #39 of the Baltimore Orioles works the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 1, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 01: Starting pitcher Kevin Gausman #39 of the Baltimore Orioles works the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 1, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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Happy Birthday to Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher, Kevin Gausman!

The Colorado native who was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 2012 is now 27 years old.

He is clearly very proud of his Colorado roots, as he spent some his special day playing catch atop a mountain in the Centennial State.

On Twitter, he posted a beautiful shot of the relaxed madness that is Colorado – where else do they wear t-shirts on the top of a snow-covered mountain!?

Gausman is one of two pitchers with a spot in the starting rotation for the upcoming season. In the 2017 season, he was one of two starting pitchers with a WAR in the positives. The other was Dylan Bundy, who will be joining him in the rotation.

Looking at his numbers in 2017

Gausman started a league-high 34 games and finished the season with an ERA of 4.68. His career ERA is 4.18. Unfortunately, he had his highest WHIP of his career in 2017, finishing the season with 1.495. He faced 816 batters and struck out 179 of them and walked 71 of them.

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As a pitcher, the best way to describe Gausman is an innings-eater. He’s certainly not an ace, but he’s not the worst out there. He was the second-best starting pitcher in Birdland in 2017, but he was near the bottom when comparing him to the other “second-best” pitchers on other teams. In fact, when it comes to ERA, he ranked 49th, just ahead of Masahiro Tanaka.

Comparing to pitchers on other teams

For comparison, three Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, and Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers ranked above him and so did four Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs pitchers. Bundy finished in 37th place. We won’t even talk about where he ranked with his WHIP.

It is clear that Gausman has some work to do in the off-season. He has to work on his consistency and increase his strikeout rates. For comparison, Chris Sale had 308 strikeouts in 214.1 innings. Gausman’s 179 in 186.2 innings pales. The Orioles have the defense, bullpen, and offense to be a contending team.

Next: Please, stop this nonsense, Mr. Palmeiro

The starting pitching has to be better and Gausman’s 2018 performance will be a key to that change. Hopefully, his 27th year will be his best one yet on the mound.

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