A look at O's rotation improvement in 2020

The Orioles' rotation ERA this year was 5.09 for the 60-game season. They had it down to 4.75 with just a few games to go. But short outings by Jorge López, where he gave up eight runs, and Dean Kremer, where he gave up seven, raised it again.

The O's finished 11th in the American League in rotation ERA. Had they kept their ERA in the 4.75 range, they still would have finished 11th. That is still the best for an O's team since the 2016 team that won 89 games and made the postseason.

O's rotation ERA in recent seasons:

2016: 4.72, 13th in AL
2017: 5.70, 15th in AL
2018: 5.48, 15th in AL
2019: 5.57, 14th in AL
2020: 5.09, 11th in AL

Some of the games where the O's starter gave up a big number in runs did hurt the final ERA. But in the last 23 games, O's starters allowed one earned run or less 12 times. Of those 12 games, John Means produced four of them, while Kremer had three, Keegan Akin and López two each, and Alex Cobb one.

The O's used 10 starters this year and only one averaged even more than five innings per start.

5.23 - Cobb
4.89 - López and Tommy Milone
4.67 - Kremer
4.48 - Asher Wojciechowski
4.37 - Means
3.72 - Akin and Wade LeBlanc
3.58 - Thomas Eshelman
3.00 - Bruce Zimmermann

There were certainly reasons to be encouraged by what Akin and Kremer did when given the shot. Akin went 1-2 with a 4.03 ERA in six starts and the Orioles went 4-2 in those games. He showed some swing-and-miss stuff and a fastball with late life. He averaged 12.27 strikeouts per nine innings, which was fourth among AL rookies that pitched at least 25 innings.

Kremer posted a 1.69 ERA and opponent average of .145 in his first three starts, where he fanned 20 in 16 innings. He showed a slider/cutter that was a real weapon. He got a whiff percentage of 35 percent on that pitch. It was a strong debut.

Means' finish was spectacular and must have alleviated any concerns about him. Over his last two starts, he fanned 21 with one walk over 11 2/3 innings. Over his last four outings, he fanned 30 with three walks over 23 2/3 innings. His ERA was 1.52 with a WHIP of 0.63 in those four games. He was dominant.

Even Cobb, after going through a mid-year slump, finished well. He gave up three runs in 13 innings in his last two games versus the Rays and Red Sox. For the year, he gave up two earned runs or less in seven of 10 starts and the Orioles went 5-5 in those games.

The team improvement was nice for the Orioles. Introducing two rookies into the rotation was a real plus as the rotation not only got younger but better. Means and Cobbs are locks for the 2021 starting five, barring any moves or injuries. Akin and Kremer have a big leg up on any other competition. They established themselves to whatever extent they could in a short trial. Zimmermann got there and we need to see more.

A host of young pitchers are on the way and that bodes well for the Orioles. They turned a bit of a corner in the rotation late in the 2020 season. Now they need to keep trending up as they seek to produce a playoff-caliber rotation year in and year out.