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The average outing by a starting pitcher in the postseason this year was 4 2/3 innings. That is a pretty surprising stat for me. Sure, some early knockouts brought that number down but 4 2/3 innings on average for some of better starters in the game?
No doubt the bullpens get more use in the postseason and the off-days in each series made it possible for some relievers to pitch almost every game.
The Orioles bullpen is rather important to the team, especially one that gets fewer innings from...
Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon did not win the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for his work on defense in 2017. The Rockies' Nolan Arenado took the honor, winning his fifth Gold Glove on Tuesday night. Rendon did win a Silver Slugger Award in 2014.
Rendon still improved on his fielding percentage by three points in 2017, getting to .979. He committed only seven errors in 334 chances.
Nationals center fielder Michael A. Taylor came up short as well in his nomination for a Gold Glove. Taylor...
A dip in defensive metrics may have denied Manny Machado a third Rawlings Gold Glove Award.
Machado lost out to the Rays' Evan Longoria tonight among American League third basemen, with the announcement coming via ESPN. The Indians' José RamÃrez also was a finalist.
Gold Gloves were delivered to Machado in 2013 - the same year that he won the Platinum Glove as best overall defensive player - and 2015. The pattern of winning every other year, as brief as it was, ended tonight.
Machado...
With a break in the awards shows - the Silver Sluggers are announced on Thursday and the Wilson Defensive Players of the Year on Friday - it's a convenient time to rummage through the ol' mailbag again and delve into the duplicates.
You ask and I answer. Someone else asks and I answer again. And the dance continues until my feet swell.
I skipped the ones asking, "Who exactly will the Orioles sign this winter?" I already feel pretty useless. Let's not crush my spirit completely.
Otherwise,...
Right-hander Stephen Strasburg took a significant step forward in 2017.
The Baseball Writers' Association of America agreed it was, and arguably could be, the best season of his career.
On Monday night, Strasburg was named one of three finalists for the NL Cy Young Award, alongside Nationals teammate Max Scherzer and Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw. The winners will be announced Nov. 15.
Strasburg received consideration for the honor in 2014, finishing ninth in the balloting, but never has...
Did a player that has been underrated most of his career finally get some level of recognition Monday evening?
He did. The Orioles' Trey Mancini was named as a finalist for the American League Rookie of the Year Award. It's an all AL East final trio with Aaron Judge of New York and Boston's Andrew Benintendi joining Mancini.
Judge is expected to become the easy winner of the award. But will Mancini get second place over the more heralded Benintendi?
Even that might be tough for a player that...
Though the Orioles aren't offering up names of pitchers who are targeted in free agency, there's definite interest in Andrew Cashner and left-hander Jason Vargas to plug holes in a rotation with only two returning starters.
MLBTradeRumors.com predicted that Cashner will receive a two-year, $20 million contract from the Athletics. Past injuries and a decrease in fastball velocity are marks against him, and he's a pitch-to-contact guy, while the Orioles could use the strikeouts. He averaged...
The Nationals raced out to a big lead in the National League East and secured the division with outstanding starting pitching throughout the season.
The leaders in the starting rotation for the Nats were Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. The pair has been rewarded as finalists for the NL Cy Young Award, announced tonight by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on MLB Network.
But Dusty Baker was left out of the top three for NL Manager of the Year.
Scherzer won the Cy Young last...
With Aaron Judge a lock to be named American League Rookie of the Year, cracking the top three finalists can be viewed as a nice consolation prize.
Trey Mancini will take it.
Mancini, Judge and Red Sox's outfielder Andrew Benintendi were revealed as finalists tonight on MLB Network. The winner will be announced on Nov. 13.
Judge, the Yankees' baseball-crushing right fielder, should gather all of the first-place votes from members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Benintendi...
As part of his "10 questions for fans" series, my MASNsports.com colleague Steve Melewski recently asked his readers who is their all-time favorite Oriole, and I thought to myself, "Hey, this would also be a good question to pose to Nationals fans, too!"
There is obviously a major historical difference in terms of longevity between the two franchises - the Orioles have called Baltimore home since 1954 and the Nationals have only called Washington, D.C., home since 2005 - but I think that...