Baltimore Orioles player of the month: The Orioles are so hot it Burnes

On February 1, just one day after the announcement of the Baltimore Orioles getting new ownership, the team finally pulled the trigger on a trade for a true number one starter. Corbin Burnes came to Baltimore to be the ace of this staff and help lead the Orioles to the World Series. Obviously it's too early to accomplish the latter, but Burnes has been everything the Birds were hoping for in the interim.

Burnes has been huge for the Orioles all season long and ranks among the top 10 in innings pitched, ERA, wins, quality starts and strikeouts among starting pitchers in the American League. Burnes was particularly impressive in the month of May. He made six starts in the month, all of which were quality starts. Burnes only went 2-2 in the month, but O's ace certainly did his part in each of those games.

The two losses that Burnes recorded were his first two starts of the month against the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals. Burnes pitched 12.1 innings combined and surrendered five total runs. Unfortunately the Orioles scored a combined total of zero runs in those games, and Burnes' efforts were for naught.

Over the next four starts, Burnes pitched 25.0 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. He went 2-0 and held those teams to just four earned runs, three of them from the White Sox. Burnes struck out 24 batters while only allowing 22 hits in those games.

Corbin Burnes hitting his stride for the streaking Orioles

In Burnes' first win of the month, he yielded one unearned run over 6.0 innings against the Mariners while tying his season high in strikeouts with 11. Burnes was equally as dominant in his second win when he held the Red Sox to just three hits and one unearned run in 7.0 innings, which equaled his longest outing of the season.

Several other players had noteworthy performances for the Orioles. Adley Rutschman had an explosion of power, including a walk-off home run. Kyle Bradish flirted with a no-hitter while returning from a UCL injury. Jordan Westburg also had a walk-off and established himself as one of the game's best infielders. Even Jorge Mateo stood out as he locked down the starting second base position.

But for all the offensive excitement that we saw in the month of May, Burnes was the most consistent performer throughout the month. He gave the Orioles a chance to win all six games he pitched and lowered his season ERA to from an already impressive 2.76 at the end of April to 2.35 as it currently stands. That is why Corbin Burnes is our Orioles Player of the Month.