Andrew Stetka: O's pitchers limiting home runs, helping team win

The Orioles are already doing things this season they haven't done in this millennium. Win streaks? Not something the Birds are quite accustomed to. They now have two of them over that stretch at least seven games after having just two between 2000-2015. Over the last few seasons, the Orioles have mostly gone about their winning ways by taking two out of three. Sweeps are rare, but losing streaks are rare, as well. It's a simple enough method if you can follow it over the course of a long season. These extended winning streaks feel like an added bonus.

Part of the reason the Orioles have been able to win games the way they have is the offense. Specifically, it's the power. The O's lead the major leagues in home runs and are perennially at the top of that list over the past few years. They are a top five team in slugging percentage, and perhaps surprisingly top 10 in on-base percentage. Simply put, the Birds with the bats are getting it done. But you expected that to happen. You expected this to be an offensive juggernaut. Perhaps the most important reason as to why the Orioles are winning the way they are this season is on the other side of the ball.

Not only are the Orioles hitting a lot of homers, they also aren't giving them up. The pitching staff is posting a stronger-than-expected ERA while playing in a number of tight games. But by keeping the ball in the ballpark, they are eliminating one of the biggest factors that leads pitching down the wrong path. Just a few short years ago in 2013, the Orioles gave up 202 home runs as a pitching staff, which was good for worst in the league. Two years prior to that, they were also in the cellar after giving up 210 homers. They remained in the bottom 10 in that category in 2012 and 2014. The O's gave up the 11th-most home runs last season.

So what exactly is behind the change? Despite allowing three homers yesterday, the Orioles rank second in fewest home runs allowed this season, tied with the Cubs. I'd say they have a pretty good pitching staff to compare to. It's also just behind the Mets. That's the same Mets staff that won the National League pennant last year and includes the likes of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard. Orioles pitchers don't stack up with those names in stature, or just about anything else. Has the subtraction of Wei-Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez helped the staff that much? Each ranked in the top 25 last season in home runs allowed, combining to give up 52. In 2014, it was much of the same, as they both led the team once again and combined to give up 48 homers.

I'd be curious to know if pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti are doing something different with the pitchers. It's not like the team is performing well above average in producing ground balls. They are right around the middle of the pack. The easiest thing to point to would be the team's home run-to-fly ball rate, which is the best in baseball. Even when the ball is hit in the air, it's generally staying in the park. This would tend to suggest that there will be some regression in this category, and that the ball will start to fly out more. The weather could be playing a factor, as well. We are just about six weeks into the season and the O's haven't played a ton of warm-weather games. Once the mercury starts rising, the home run numbers likely will.

Regardless of the reasons, the Orioles pitching staff is getting the job done six weeks in, and it's showing in the standings. The beauty of it all is that the O's don't need a pitching staff that ranks atop the league in order to win games. They need to be perhaps a bit better than average, and the offense has the ability to carry the rest of the load. These bats are that good. Chewing up innings and keeping the bullpen fresh will be key, but keeping the ball in the stadium is a nice, refreshing change of pace for this version of the Orioles.

Andrew Stetka blogs about the Orioles for Eutaw Street Report. Follow him on Twitter: @AStetka. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.