Team Work: Baltimore Orioles’ batters push team forward in 2012 - MLB Feature
The Baltimore Orioles resurfaced as a strong team in 2012. The last time they had been highly competitive was back in 1997. Since then, the team had a steady downhill trend in performances and had not posted a single winning season in 15-years.
The team had a great offensive year in 2012. None of the batters performed historical feats but all of them kept on contributing their bit, helping the team move forward. The club benefitted from the team work in the batting line-up and the overall numbers
posted show the unit in a positive light.
Eight of their batters managed to play over 100 games. Six of the batters had over 400 at-bats. Four batters were able to hit more than a 100 hits during the course of 2012 regular season, a consistency that helped the team.
The best average in the team was posted by Nolan Reimold who posted a .313 batting average. The 29-year-old was part of the team for only 16 games and had 67 at-bats. He also had 21 hits, including six extra base hits and drove in 10 RBI’s while going long
on five occasions.
Nolan has shown a lot of promise and the left-fielder intends to be a permanent feature of the Baltimore ballclub in future. The right-hander has shown potential and given the Orioles every reason to give him more time in the middle.
Nick Markakis also had a great year with the bat. In his 420 at-bats during 104 games, he posted a .298 batting average and an on-base percentage of .363. The left-hander hit an impressive 125 hits with 13 home-runs and batting in 54 runs.
The pick of the batters was Adam Jones. He was the only Orioles’ batter to feature in all 162 regular season games and had a .287 batting average in 648 at-bats. The 27-year-old had 186 hits including 42 extra base hits and 32 home-runs. His on-base percentage
was .334 and a slugging percentage of .505. All of these numbers are better than Adam’s career averages. He also bagged a Gold Glove Award for his fielding prowess.
Chris Davis featured in 139 games with 515 at-bats. The batter was not short of hits, with 139 including 20 extra base hits. He had 85 RBI’s and went long 33 times, the most for the Orioles in 2012 regular season. His batting average of .270 with a .326
on-base percentage and a .501 slugging percentage are more than just reasonable.
Matt Wieters also had a fantastic year with the bat. The 26-year-old catcher featured in 144 games and had 526 at-bats. With a batting average of .249 and 83 RBI’s and 23 home-runs, Matt played an important part in his team’s success. He also had a fantastic
year behind the plate, winning the Rawlings Gold Glove for a second consecutive year.
Shortstop J.J. Hardy managed 663 at-bats in 158 games. He posted a .238 batting average with a .282 slugging percentage. He hit 158 hits including 32 extra base hits and also hit 22 home-runs and 68 RBI’s. The averages were below the career numbers that
Hardy has posted but he did play an important part in the success of the Orioles with all round show during the season. He was one of the three Gold Glove winners in 2012 for the O’s.
Looking at the overall numbers, it was the overall good work that allowed the team to move forward and this certainly showed that a star team does not have to be filled with star players. Rather it is more useful to have players who can come together and
take the team forward with their combined efforts.
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