It’s both amazing and refreshing to see how much the Baltimore Orioles have improved in all areas: player development, scouting, involvement in the amateur international market, and many others.
As a result, they went from finishing 52-110 in 2021 to 83-79 last year and, so far, a 24-13 mark in 2023.
They are taking giant steps.
One of the trades they executed last year is the perfect proof of that.
They had made reliever Jorge Lopez look like an All-Star, but decided to trade him to the Minnesota Twins for four pitchers: Yennier Cano, Juan Nunez, Cade Povich, and Juan Rojas.
They spotted a diamond in the rough in Cano, and with a lot of work, have produced another All-Star-level reliever.
The recipient of an extended chance with the O’s in 2023, he has been marvelous.
“Yennier Cano of the @Orioles has a WHIP of 0.16 in 14 appearances this year. That’s the lowest WHIP by any MLB pitcher over any span of 14 appearances in the modern era (minimum 50 outs recorded),” OptaSTATS tweeted.
Yennier Cano of the @Orioles has a WHIP of 0.16 in 14 appearances this year.
That's the lowest WHIP by any MLB pitcher over any span of 14 appearances in the modern era (minimum 50 outs recorded). pic.twitter.com/Sv003gqLz9
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 11, 2023
A 0.16 WHIP is nothing short of amazing.
No pitcher is capable of maintaining such a low WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) for an entire season, not even a reliever.
However, it will be fascinating to see the numbers of the sinker-changeup specialist at the end of the season.
So far, he hasn’t allowed a single run in 18.1 innings, and he has conceded three hits and no walks (!) with 22 strikeouts.
He is a true win for the O’s front office and talent development department.
NEXT: MLB Analyst Brings The Orioles Back Down To Earth
