What the headline says.
Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres might be the guy doing it most convincingly, but he is not in any way the only player victimizing Baltimore pitching this season. Through 49 games in 2019, the Orioles have allowed an astonishing 105 home runs — 16 more than the Mariners, the second worst team in the stat, and a full 31 more than the Brewers, the third worst team in the stat.
Amid continuing suspicion that the baseball is juiced, or even somehow more juiced than it has been in the last few seasons, a bunch of team- and league-wide home runs records could fall in 2019. Teams are averaging 1.33 home runs per nine innings this season, a hint above the record mark of 1.27 set in 2017 — and typically home-run rates pick up with warmer summer weather.
But barring some major changes and an unexpected turnaround from the Baltimore pitching staff, perhaps no record will be shattered as convincingly as this one. It’s almost Memorial Day and the Orioles are on pace to allow 347 home runs. The current record for home runs allowed in a season is 258, held by the 2016 Reds.
To put it another way: Those same 2016 Reds, unsurprisingly, hold the record worst rate of home runs per 9 innings, at 1.61. The Orioles’ current HR/9 is 2.19. Chris Davis opened this season by breaking the all-time record for at-bats without a hit, and it’s not even going to wind up the most ignominious mark set by the 2019 Orioles.
Starting pitchers David Hess, Dan Straily and Dylan Bundy have combined to allow 42 home runs, one more than the entire Tampa Bay Rays’ pitching staff has yielded through Wednesday’s play.
After opening the season by winning four of their first five games, the Orioles are now 15-34 on the year and own the worst record in Major League Baseball. It’s bleak.
