Baltimore Orioles: The Worst Pitching Staffs Of The Decade

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BALTIMORE, MD – SEPTEMBER 06: Dylan Bundy #37 of the Baltimore Orioles walks off the field after being pulled during the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 6, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /

The 2019 season wasn’t the worst we’ve seen from Baltimore Orioles starters.

Believe it or not, per Fangraphs WAR, the 2019 Orioles saw 5.1 fWAR of value from their starters in 2019, which comes in third on our list.

Starters went a combined 36-76 with a 5.57 ERA and team-worst 5.72 FIP, 2.04 HR/9 IP, in 789 innings pitched, the fewest number of innings thrown by Orioles starters last decade. They were the only staff to produce a groundball rate lower than 40%, finishing at 38% on the season. Not surprising for the league’s worst pitching staff which allowed a record number of home runs in 2019.

Dylan Bundy led the way with 161 IP, with rookie LHP John Means being the only other starter to surpass 100 IP (155). Gabriel Ynoa was the third pitcher to top 100 innings, but he made just 13 starts and saw much of his work out of the bullpen.

Oddly enough, Means and his 12 wins and 3.60 ERA both led the team and earned himself a trip to the 2019 All-Star game, not bad considering he was contemplating walking away from the game before the season started.

It was a long season that saw the Orioles trod out guys like Tom Eshelman, Ty Blach, Chandler Shepherd, and even Sean Gilmartin for one start. Erasing the 2019 season from memory may not be a terrible idea. While 2020 likely won’t be much better, at least we will, hopefully, get to see a number of highly-anticipated prospects make their major league debuts next season.

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