Baltimore Orioles: Predicting the Win-Loss Record for the 2020 Schedule

The Baltimore Orioles don’t have the easiest 60-game schedule in the short 2020 season.

With the perennially tough AL East and several top-notch NL East teams – including the current World Series champs, it’s safe to say the Baltimore Orioles might not win many.

My 16-year-old baseball-loving son and I collaborated to make our predictions of how the Orioles will do in their 40 games against the AL East and their 20 games against the NL East.

At this point, the actual schedule has yet to be released, so we don’t know if they will have three-games series, or get all five games at each park done at once. But, this is our prediction. Overall, we have the Orioles winning 19 games. That’s a .316 win percentage.

For comparison, the Orioles had a .333 win percentage in 2019. The last place Tigers had a .292 win percentage.

It didn’t take us long to come to an agreement. Although, my son originally thought the Yankees would win all ten, and the Red Sox would win eight. I had to remind him that the Red Sox no longer had Mookie Betts, Chris Sale, or David Price. He had to remind me about Gerrit Cole, but sometimes people have bad days. I put my two cents in to get the Orioles a few more wins.

Here’s what we decided upon:

AL East Teams:

Blue Jays 5-5
Rays – 3-7
Red Sox 4-6
Yankees 2-8

NL East Teams:

Braves 0-4
Marlins 2-2
Mets 1-3
Nationals 1-4
Phillies 1-4

We argued a bit about the Phillies, as their pitching isn’t as strong as other NL East teams. So, when I asked about whether the Phillies had pitching, my son responded with “Do the Orioles have hitters?” I had to reply with a resounding, “Yes, they have some.” I was thinking of Hanser Alberto and Anthony Santander. He was thinking of Chris Davis, and sadly, no one else.

The Orioles biggest problem with this schedule will be pitching match ups. If the Orioles want to win, they should not put John Means (or pitchers who are doing well) up against Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole, or the other aces. While it will be a good learning experience for the young lefty, it might not help the team get wins.

Means is good, but those aces are more experienced. It’s not that the Orioles should intentionally lose, but if I were Brandon Hyde, I’d do my best to get as many wins as possible by putting my best pitcher against the middle or bottom of the rotation pitchers.

Next. The Taxi Squad and O's Top Prospects. dark

Although, an intentional tank might not be a bad idea, as a serious rebuild needs high draft picks. I hope I’m wrong with my low expectations. Should we have gone with a lower win percentage?

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