With so much going on every season, making preseason MLB predictions on the American League’s biggest surprise of 2023 is a tall task. The Baltimore Orioles have some of the best young talents in the game, and 2023 will be the year they see how effective their rebuild has been.
Orioles Feature Two of Baseball’s Top Prospects
It’s not often that the words exciting talent or potential MVP are thrown around regarding a player on the Orioles. Manny Machado was probably the most recent example and he was signed in 2010.
Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson have the talent and youth to become top MLB players sooner than later. Heck, they are already chewing up opposing pitchers as it is. Rutschman could be one of the best-hitting catchers the league has seen in quite some time while Henderson is the No. 2 prospect in all of baseball at 21 years old. They are both defensive specialists with Gold Glove potential for Baltimore. Regarding young talent, the MLB news is very positive for Baltimore.
👀 Gunnar Henderson 👀 pic.twitter.com/FK7yH82Kji
— The Verge- An Orioles MiLB Podcast (@BSLOnTheVerge) March 9, 2023
Even if the pair don’t explode regarding production in 2023, mere average growth from players of this level could be enough to push the Orioles over their MLB lines for a 77-win season.
Rotation has Pieces Needed to Succeed
The Orioles’ pitching will start the season with three starters from their 2022 rotation – with one notable exception. John Means is the ace of this franchise and is another young Baltimore player with the talent to become one of the best pitchers in the MLB. The problem is, Means is coming off Tommy John surgery and is not expected to rejoin the team until after the All-Star break. The MLB news isn’t great, but the Orioles must survive half the season without him.
Without Means, newly signed Kyle Gibson and Cole Irvin’s contributions become more critical. Kule Bradis, Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells round out the projected opening-day rotation for the Orioles.
This is a mixed bag of names, and betting online in favor of the O’s early in the season may be risky. Gibson is on the wrong side of 35 and finished with a rough 5.05 ERA last season. But he provides some veteran leadership and could return to his 2021 form with a 3.71 ERA. Meanwhile, Irvin has been a consistent force in his first two full seasons in the league and finished 11th in BB/9 last season.
The bullpen features some outstanding players and should be one of the strengths of the Orioles in 2023. Second-year closer Felix Bautista will try to do his best Zach Britton impression and try to repeat his 2022 results. Bautista posted a 2.19 ERA last season with a strikeout rate over 35% and is a good MLB bet to continue his growth.
The Orioles already shocked baseball last season when, against the Las Vegas odds, they made a huge jump forward. Baltimore failed to make the playoffs, but it finished with a winning record for the first time since 2016. In 2023, it wouldn’t shock me if the O’s returned to the playoffs for the first time in seven years.
