Comparing Ryan Mountcastle's major league start to Manny Machado's

Not only did Ryan Mountcastle have a stunningly good rookie year for the Orioles, but if you compare his first 35 big league games to Manny Machado, Mountcastle comes out ahead. Well ahead.

It was one strong performance and probably better then we had a right to expect. He walked more, he defended fine, he ran very well and he hit. Man, did he hit.

Over 35 games and 140 plate appearances, Mountcastle batted .333/.386/.492 with five doubles, five homers, 23 RBIs and an OPS of .878. His OPS+ of 140 was 40 percent better than league average. Last year, when he was named the International League MVP, he posted a line of .312/.344/.527 with an .871 OPS.

At Triple-A Norfolk in 2019, Mountcastle's walk rate was 4.3 and it was 7.9 this year, just below league average of 8.3. Last season, his strikeout rate was 23.5 on the farm; with the Orioles, it was 21.4 and league average was 21.8.

So Mountcastle was hitting for average and power this season, even better than he had hit at Norfolk while at the same time walking more and striking out less. So, yeah, a pretty strong debut.

Here is the comparison of Mountcastle's 35 games this year and Machado's first 35 games when he was called up in August 2012:

Machado: 267/.281/.450 with four homers, 16 RBIs, three walks, 25 strikeouts, OPS of .732

Mountcastle: .333/.386/.492 with five homers, 23 RBIs, 11 walks, 30 strikeouts. OPS of .878.

While Mountcastle produced almost equally well at home (.848 OPS) and on the road (.902), he did have a big split difference when facing left- and right-handed pitching. He hit .267/.324/.333 with an OPS of .657 off lefties and .354/.406/.542 with an OPS of .947 against right-handers. The good news for his stats is he took 76 percent of his plate appearances off right-handers.

O's Triple-A manager Gary Kendall, who along with Buck Britton ran the Bowie alternate camp this year, pretty much called it when I interviewed him last winter. This was right after the Orioles added Mountcastle to their 40-man roster. I asked him then if Mountcastle would be ready to meet the major league challenge when his time came?

"Oh, I think Ryan is going to be ready when he gets that opportunity," Kendall said then. "He seems to rise to the competition. I know Manny (Machado) was a player like that several years back. He kind of improved when he got around that level of baseball. When you have tools and you are thrust into that, you rise to the occasion. And I think this guy, offensively, can really be a force.

"That (his walk rate of 4.3 percent) can get better. When Mike Elias came down, it was addressed and there were times he picked up some walks in some crucial situations. It's going to come with time. For me, it was about pitch selection early in counts. Sometimes he would swing early in the count that if he had more patience, I think he would not have been in some situations that led to strikeouts. But getting more at-bats and more knowledge about the game each day, I think he will continue to make strides here."

Guess what? He did make those strides.

Kendall also managed Mountcastle at Double-A Bowie and managed Machado at Bowie in 2012. When I asked some specifics last November, he did not shy away from these two statements: Mountcastle can be an impact bat in the majors and it is not out of line to say he has Machado-like potential at bat.

"I don't think it's overstating it," Kendall said. "He's as good a bat as our fans and staff have seen come through here in a long time. You look at the numbers in Bowie and these different levels. Who's done it? Here is a guy that has. There is no reason he can't (be an impact bat) with good repetitions at the big leagues.

"You know, Ryan did more damage on offense at all levels than Manny. He has very impressive numbers. And I know it's the minor leagues, so I don't get fooled by that. But why not? What is left to be proven? I think he could be very special once he gets up there."

That words rang true during the 2020 season. Mountcastle exceeding expectations in many areas and clearly lived up to lofty expectations about his bat.

Another positive for Mountcastle that could bode well for his future is that, of his plate appearances this year, 110 of 140 (78 percent) came against American League East clubs. He batted .333 with an OPS of .782 in seven games versus Tampa Bay. In eight games against the Yankees, he hit .273/.825. The other playoff team in the division was Toronto and he hit .345/.918 in seven games against the Blue Jays.

When he hit with runners in scoring position, Mountcastle went 12-for-35 (.343) with 12 RBIs. But here is something interesting. He had an OPS of just .718 batting with RISP. Of those 12 hits, all were singles. Did he cut down on his swing in the clutch spots? Maybe so and he did come up with some big hits.

In the Statcast sprint speed data, Mountcastle was in the 79th percentile, meaning the top 21 percent. He was easily an above-average runner. And while he hit .350 on fastballs, he also hit .347 on breaking balls. He showed an ability to hit the ball to all fields and that certainly makes him a more well-rounded hitter.

Mountcastle should gets some votes, but likely has little chance to win the AL Rookie of the Year award. But because we just went through this strange and shortened season, he will begin 2021 still with rookie eligibility. He could contend for the award again next year.

For the Orioles and their fans, it had to be pretty special for a young, homegrown player to come to the majors and live up to every bit of the hype.

From last night: The Orioles are making some changes on their coaching staff. The story first appeared here on MASNsports.com.