Looking at some early season numbers by the O's

The Orioles lost to the White Sox 6-2 last night, again failing to provide Jeremy Guthrie with any kind of run support. Still, despite that loss, the O's (13-14) took three of four from the (currently struggling) White Sox, and they've won five of their last seven. They're now in Kansas City for three games against the Royals before heading back to Baltimore for a six-game homestand.

As a 13-14 team should, the O's have various strengths and weaknesses, though not all of them are currently defined since the first full month of the MLB season just ended. Let's examine some individual and team stats (numbers are taken from before last night's game):

- The O's have an MLB-worst on-base percentage of .290.
- They have been slugging the ball though: They have a .381 slugging percentage -- not great, but not near the bottom either.
- As a team, the O's are tied for second to last in walk percentage (7.0%).
- The O's have been the second-most unluckiest team (.259 team BABIP).

- O's starters have a 3.93 ERA. O's relievers have a 5.34 ERA -- third worst in baseball.
- The bullpen is walking 4.60 batters per nine innings. The starters? 2.82 BB/9.
- O's relievers have a collective WAR of -0.8. The starters? 1.9 WAR.
- I understand the O's don't have a ton of effective relievers at the moment, but Josh Rupe has to go. In 10.2 innings, he's allowed nine earned runs while striking out five and walking five. Oh, and he's already allowed five home runs. When Brian Matusz comes back, why don't they just move Brad Bergesen to the bullpen and insert Matusz into the rotation? That has to be much better than relying on Rupe to retire opposing batters, even in non-leverage situations.
- Pedro Beato, a Rule 5 draft pick by the Mets from the O's, still has yet to give up a run in 17 innings this season out of the bullpen.

- Zach Britton is 5-1 with a 2.63 ERA despite only striking out 4.78 batters per nine and walking 3.58 per nine. However, he's posting a 54.5 groundball percentage and is allowing only 0.72 HR/9. He's been somewhat lucky (.241 BABIP), so he may run into some trouble in the near future if he doesn't strike out more batters or cut down on the walks a bit. Then again, he's doing a fantastic job for a rookie with just six career starts under his belt. He's been impressive.

- Matt Wieters leads the team with a 0.8 WAR. Robert Andino (!) and Luke Scott are right behind him at 0.7.
- Wieters is hitting .247/.318/.468 and has four homers. His slugging percentage is currently fourth best among qualified catchers.
- Only five Orioles have OBPs over .300. The not-list includes Nick Markakis (.274), Vladimir Guerrero (.269), Mark Reynolds (.253), and Adam Jones (.250).
- Mainly because of those poor offensive numbers, four O's regulars are currently boasting negative WARs: Reynolds (-0.5), Derrek Lee (-0.3), Markakis (-0.3), and Guerrero (-0.2).