Zach Wilt: Britton a critical piece in Orioles' run at division crown

Zach Britton locked it down again for the Orioles last night. The guy seems to be as much of a sure thing as traffic on the beltway at 5:45 p.m. It had been a little while since we've seen that "S" next to Britton's name in the box score. His last save came on July 23 against the Cleveland Indians.

It was clear that Britton didn't have his best stuff; he threw 10 strikes of his 20 pitches and issued a walk to Rougned Odor. Jim Hunter commented on the MASN broadcast that Britton may have been a little too strong on the mound. Even on an off night the result was a familiar one, a save for the O's closer.

That's number 33 on the season for Britton, the most in the American League. He's also recorded all 33 of those saves consecutively and last night became the first left handed pitcher in major league history to ever accomplish that feat. It's been a while since Orioles fans have had to stomach a blown save. We're getting spoiled.

Dating back to last season, Britton has successfully converted 35 consecutive save opportunities. He ranks 20th all-time on that list. Last night's save was a big one for a couple reasons. He tied Jim Johnson's consecutive saves streak set from July 30, 2012 - May 10, 2013. He also passed Tippy Martinez for sole possession of third place on the Orioles all-time saves list. Britton is the Orioles club leader for most saves by a left handed pitcher.

Since 1988, the modern era of baseball history according to Baseball Prospectus' Sam Miller, only nine other relief pitchers have had longer consecutive scoreless appearances than Britton (28.1 IP). Craig Kimbrel holds the longest streak set in 2013 (36.1). The great Mariano Rivera's longest consecutive streak without allowing an earned run was 24.2 innings in 2009.

It's hard to think about Britton in any other role than Orioles closer at this point. He hasn't started a game since September 4, 2013. Since going to the bullpen, he's pitched to a 1.45 ERA in 184 relief appearances. How good is that? It's the lowest ERA of all-time for relief pitchers with at least as many appearances.
There may be pitchers that throw harder or see more of the spotlight in bigger markets, but you have to search pretty hard to find a closer as clutch as Britton has been since taking over the ninth in Baltimore. Britton has pitched in 121 games during save situations and has posted a 1.48 ERA in them. That 1.48 mark ranks fourth all-time among relievers appearing in at least 100 save opportunities over their career. He's held opponents to a .194 batting average in save situations over his career and ranks sixth all-time in that category among closers with at least 100 save opportunities.

Last night's victory also gave the Orioles the best record in the American League. Without Britton's heroics in the ninth inning, there's no way the O's would be where they are in the standings. He's been a critical part of their success in 2016 and will surely play a key role should they play baseball in October.
No matter how you divide the statistical splits, Britton's name seems to always be among the leaders. It's astounding what he's been able to do the past three seasons. The crazy part is, he seems to be getting better each time he takes the mound.

At the trade deadline we saw two big name relief pitchers get moved when the Cubs acquired Aroldis Chapman and Indians added Andrew Miller. While both of those guys will help their new clubs secure wins in the ninth inning, there's no guy I would rather turn to in a one run game in the ninth inning than Britton.

Zach Wilt blogs about the Orioles at Baltimore Sports Report. Follow him on Twitter: @zach_wilt. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. 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.