The O's offense got better during the 2019 season

The 2019 Orioles scored 729 runs, which was 107 more than the 622 by the 2018 Orioles. So that was a nice improvement from a very low run total in 2018.

The Orioles offense got better in the second half and was about league average after the All-Star break. Perhaps that is a nice start for the club on the way to producing an above-average offense down the road.

First a look at some of the numbers -

American League team average for 2019: .253/.323/.439 with 4.9 runs per game, 1.4 home runs per game, .761 OPS.
O's in 2019 second half: .255/.320/.433 with 4.9 runs/gm, 1.5 HR/gm and .753 OPS.

Here are the O's runs per game and OPS by month -

April: 4.2 and .695
May: 4.1 and .718
June: 4.3 and .704
July: 5.1 and .736
August: 4.6 and .765
September: 4.9 and .743

The Orioles' strikeout rate for the year of 23.1 percent was seventh-highest in the AL, and the team walk rate of 7.5 was 13th.

Still work to do, obviously, and the pitching did not show the same improvement with a team ERA of 5.59 in the first half and 5.61 in the second half.

Plenty of work to do there. The Orioles did play .303 ball (27-62) before the All-Star Game and .370 ball (27-46) after it.

But if the team were to have Austin Hays and Anthony Santander for a full year, that could bring the final season stats up even more. What if Ryan Mountcastle debuts and does well in 2020? That helps even more. As always, some players will do better than they did this year and some, like Trey Mancini, Hanser Alberto and Jonathan Villar (if offered salary arbitration) could be challenged to duplicate or improve on strong seasons. Renato Núñez might not hit 31 homers again or get the playing time in which to do that. As always, some players that could make an impact on the lineup may be added. Richie Martin made a nice second-half improvement, but now that his Rule 5 status is satisfied, the club could consider sending him to the minors for more work with his bat.

Who knows what Chris Davis will offer next year? Certainly his long list of doubters is still there. We're told he'll be in spring training, but if he struggles during the season, will the club consider cutting him then? He can't block Mountcastle, can he?

Other young players, such as Rio Ruiz and DJ Stewart, could take steps forward. What becomes of the catching position? Are both Chance Sisco and Pedro Severino key players next year? How far away is Adley Rutschman? Quite a ways, you would think, on opening day of next season.

But the Orioles offense was trending up the second half as Villar got his bat going and Santander arrived to help the cause. What was your take on the O's offense this year, especially in the second half, and what potential is there for the future?