The O’s Hot Start
Whoever expected the Baltimore Orioles to be 6-0 after the first six games of their season, raise your hand. Not that many people right? The Orioles have won in ways that many haven’t expected them to. It’s been mainly through their pitching.
Chris Tillman had his Opening Day outing cut short by the rain, but before that, he struck out 5 of the 6 batters that he faced. Yovani Gallardo then followed up Tillman’s start with a 2-run start himself. He was removed after 5 innings. In the next three games (with starts from Ubaldo Jimenez, another start from Tillman and a start from Vance Worley) the Orioles only gave up a maximum of 3 runs.
For a team that has struggled with starting pitching in the past, it has been a breathe of fresh air for the Orioles. Don’t forget about the home runs because they have hit a lot of them. They have hit eight home runs, which ranks seventh in the Majors. However, the Orioles have been playing in cold weather and they have played one less game than many other teams. Expect them to climb the rankings later on during the season.
The Orioles batting average as of is .298, on-base percentage of .347 and a slugging percentage of .503.* All of those numbers rank in the top-five in the Majors.
Another huge story from the Orioles is the emergence of two new additions to the team. Both of them are outfielders and their names are Joey Rickard and Mark Trumbo. Rickard is a 24-year outfielder who has filled in nicely for the injured Adam Jones. He holds a slash line of .444/.400/.667 and has a home run. Not bad for a rookie. Trumbo has a slash line of .474/.500/.474. He currently holds the second highest average in the Majors. What a start by Baltimore.
Trevor’s Story
Trevor Story has hit seven homers in only six games. By the way, he’s only a rookie and 23-years old. Story has 12 RBI and it puts him on a pace for a 189 home runs and 324 RBIs this season. Story averaged only 14 homers in five minor league seasons.
His only explanation:
“I just clear my mind, compete with my eyes and react with my hands.”
He leads all of Major League Baseball in home runs, RBI (12), total bases (30) and slugging percentage (1.111). He hit .333 (9-for-27) and scored seven runs. He also becomes the first player to hit seven home runs in his first six career games and is the first player ever to go deep seven times in his team’s first six games in a season.
On Monday, Story was named National League player of the week for April 4-10.
*Stats are of 4/10/2016, Trumbo and Davis have hit one home run each in today’s game against the Boston Red Sox.
