Outfield platoon talk

How many platoon spots in the outfield are too many? Right now, the Orioles appear headed for platoon situations in both left and right field.

That is probably fine, since the only other lineup spot looking at a potential platoon is designated hitter, pending how the rest of the offseason goes with signings and/or acquisitions.

Going by the 2016 statistics, the Orioles ranked below average on offense in left field, above average in center field and well above average in right field.

But Adam Jones was the only player to make over 100 starts in any outfield spot last season with Mark Trumbo making 95 to lead right fielders and Hyun Soo Kim making 78, the most among the nine different Orioles to make at least one start in left field.

Here is a look at the American League average stats at each outfield spot and how the O's stacked up in 2016.

Left field
AL: .252 average, .320 OBP, .406 slugging, .727 OPS, 18 homers, 69 RBIs.
O's: .251 average, .323 OBP, .365 slugging, .687 OPS, 12 homers, 45 RBIs.

O's starts in left: Kim (78); Nolan Reimold (41); Joey Rickard (seven); Steve Pearce and Ryan Flaherty (two each); Michael Bourn, Drew Stubbs, Julio Borbon and Trumbo (one each).

Center field
AL: .261 average, .324 OBP, .407 slugging, .730 OPS, 17 homers, 68 RBIs.
O's: .265 average, .311 OBP, .430 slugging, .741 OPS, 30 homers, 86 RBIs.

O's starts in center: Jones (150); Rickard (six); Reimold and Borbon (two each).

Right field
AL: .264 average, .332 OBP, .437 slugging, .769 OPS, 24 homers, 79 RBIs.
O's: .266 average, .339 OBP, .502 slugging, .841 OPS, 37 homers, 89 RBIs.

O's starts in right: Trumbo (95); Rickard (31); Reimold (12), Bourn (nine); Pearce (five); Stubbs (four), Chris Davis (three); Flaherty (two), Dariel Alvarez (one).

If the Orioles do start Kim in left and Seth Smith in right field, who platoons with that pair? Based on the Orioles' 2016 plate apperances, the team had about 75 percent against right-handed pitching and 25 percent against southpaws.

A Twitter follower pointed out that Stubbs, an Oriole at the end of last season, has some decent career numbers versus lefties. In 952 plate appearances, Stubbs is batting .272/.348/.444 with an OPS of .791.

Last season with Triple-A Norfolk in 124 at-bats against southpaws, Alvarez hit .323/.338/.444 with an OPS of .782.

The Orioles also have Christian Walker among their outfielders on their 40-man roster. Last year at Norfolk, Walker hit .265/.348/.441 with an OPS of .789 against left-handers.

Rule 5 pick Anthony Santander is a switch-hitter and is coming off shoulder surgery. But with Single-A Lynchburg of the Carolina League last season, he hit .296/.388/.493 with an OPS of .881 in 152 at-bats against lefties. The Orioles' other Rule 5 pick, outfielder Aneury Tavarez, is a lefty batter. In the Double-A Eastern League in 2016 against left-handers, he hit .313/.345/.425 with a .770 OPS over 80 at-bats.

On Dec. 2 the Orioles claimed outfielder Adam Walker off waivers from Milwaukee. From 2013-2015, Walker led three minor leagues in home runs, RBIs and total bases, while also racking up big strikeout numbers. Last year at Triple-A against left-handed pitching, Walker hit .264/.333/.552 with nine homers in 125 at-bats and an OPS of .885. But two years ago at Double-A, he didn't hit as well against southpaws, batting .232/.339/.432 with four homers in 95 at-bats and an OPS of .771.

The assumption is that Rickard would be a good candidate to be the right-handed hitting part of a platoon. For the Orioles in 83 at-bats versus southpaws last season, he hit .313/.367/.494 with an OPS of 861. Encouraging numbers in a small sample size.

With Jones in center, perhaps the O's could find a combination of four players to give them a chance to produce above-average offense at all three outfield spots in 2017.