![]() Seager, utilityman Josh Smith, and Heim all had at least 5 DRS, with Heim fourth in the majors with 13 CRAA (Catching Runs Above Average, my aggregation of Statcast’s framing, blocking and throwing metrics) as well, driven by strong framing numbers. García’s elite throwing arm in right field powered him to strong ratings in DRS (7) and UZR (6.8). Semien, who moved from shortstop to second base upon signing with the Rangers, is the current lineup’s only past Gold Glove winner and was the team’s defensive star (16 DRS, 10 RAA, 5.8 UZR), but he had plenty of help. Supplanted by Carter, Jankowski could very well have some late-inning tactical value. Only three Rangers stole at least 10 bases: Travis Jankowski (19, 95%), Semien (14, 82%), and Taveras (14, 78%). Mateo (32 SB, 86% success), Mullins (19 SB, 86%), Frazier (11 SB, 73%) and Henderson (10 SB, 7%) all reached double digits in steals, with the first two accompanying that with very high success rates. ![]() The Orioles’ biggest edge on offense is via the basepaths. It’s worth remembering that power plays up in importance during the postseason, because it’s harder to string together the multiple events to score otherwise against better pitching. In fact, among the playoff teams, only the Diamondbacks and the since-eliminated Brewers scored a lower percentage of their runs via homers. Santander and Henderson both hit 28 homers, and Rutschman 20, with five other players in double digits, but this is not a particularly powerful or homer-dependent team. Overall, Rutschman (.277/.374/.435, 127 wRC+) and Henderson (.255/.325/.489, 123 wRC+) are the lineup’s big studs, with O’Hearn enjoying a nice breakout (.289/.322/.480, 118 wRC+) in his age-30 season thanks to mechanical adjustments and playing almost exclusively against righties he homered 14 times in just 368 PA. Mountcastle’s career splits show a 130 wRC+ against lefties, 105 against righties. Hyde gave Rutschman a break from catching when lefties started, aided by McCann’s career 104 wRC+ against them as opposed to this year’s struggles. The big things to know are that the team as a whole was only a couple hairs above average against righties, but that most of the likely configurations leave a potential hole against pitchers of either hand, though perhaps not as extreme as suggested above. Given the Orioles’ September injuries, the late-season exposure they gave to young players such as Westburg and Heston Kjerstad (who may not be on the postseason roster), and the positional mobility of Henderson, Westburg, and others, I had a hard time discerning their recent patterns, so I based this more on what they looked like pre-trade deadline. Updating a helpful table from Kyle Kishimoto’s Rangers-Rays preview, here’s a look at their platoon stats:Ĭonsider these lineups highly speculative. 306/.413/.645 (180 wRC+) in 75 PA since begin recalled, they’re a more potent bunch than their season numbers indicate. With Seager currently healthy and with rookie left fielder Evan Carter hitting a sizzling. Josh Jung added 23 in just 122 games, and five other players reached double digits, three of them part-timers. They hit a ton of homers: Adolis García‘s 39 were second only to Shohei Ohtani’s 44, Seager tied for fourth with 33 despite the missed time, and Marcus Semien tied for 12th with 29. 327/.390/.623 (169 wRC+) the batting average, slugging percentage, and wRC+ all ranked second in the AL, his 6.1 WAR third. They’re led by Corey Seager, who despite being limited to 119 games due to hamstring and thumb injuries put together an MVP-caliber season, hitting. Rotation-mate Jon Gray is also out due to a forearm strain.Īided somewhat by their ballpark, which favors lefty hitters but hurts righties, the Rangers have one of the majors’ most potent offenses. Injuries will color this series, most notably the absences of the Orioles’ Félix Bautista, who dominated hitters for five months before tearing his UCL, and Max Scherzer, who came over via a deadline trade with the Mets and pitched well before straining his teres major. ![]() As they finished with the same record as the Astros but lost the season series, 9–4, they wound up seeded fifth as a wild card but ran circles around the 99-win Rays in the first round, outscoring them 11–1 in two games in front of paltry Tropicana Field crowds. With future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Bochy coming out of retirement, the Rangers, who have been built much more through trades and a whole lot of money spent in free agency, won 90 games but coughed up a 2.5-game AL West lead. Under Brandon Hyde, the largely homegrown Orioles won 101 games, their highest total since 1979, and claimed the AL’s top seed, giving them a first-round bye. For the first time since 2016, the Orioles are in the playoffs, and likewise for the Rangers, as both teams’ lengthy - and very different - rebuilding efforts have finally paid off.
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