Early season superlatives for Orioles

This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

KANSAS CITY -- The Orioles entered the first month of the 2023 season with raised expectations. They exited the month having lived up to them.

Baltimore's 18 victories are the most the club has had in April. It was also the O’s winningest month since they went 19-9 in June 2016.

Add in the Opening Day victory in Boston on March 30 and the Orioles entered May at 19-9, with the second most wins in the American League. The performance was much different from past Aprils under manager Brandon Hyde -- Baltimore entered May at 7-14 in 2022, 12-14 in ‘21 and 10-20 in ‘19.

“I think guys are just looser,” center fielder Cedric Mullins said. “I think last year, even though we knew we still had a chance to be a good team, it was just a lot of wound-up pressure that we were trying to put on ourselves. Guys are playing free, playing loose and getting results from it.”

With April in the books and May underway, let’s hand out some early-season superlatives for the first month (and some change) of the Orioles’ season.

Most Valuable Hitter: SS Jorge Mateo

Last year, Mateo impressed with his glove (winning the Fielding Bible Award at shortstop) and his speed (stealing an AL-high 35 bases). The 27-year-old is still doing both in 2023, but his hitting has taken a huge step forward. In 24 games, he has a .338/.384/.636 slash line with six home runs.

Entering Tuesday, Mateo’s 1.7 bWAR ranked third among MLB position players, behind only Toronto’s Matt Chapman (2.1) and Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. (1.9).

Most Valuable Pitcher: RHP Tyler Wells

Wells’ 0.77 WHIP through six games (five starts) ranks third best among qualified AL pitchers, behind only Texas’ Jacob deGrom (0.76) and Minnesota's Joe Ryan (0.76). Wells pitched a career-high seven innings while blanking Detroit on April 21, then matched a career best with seven strikeouts vs. Boston on April 26.

Those are the results the Orioles were hoping for after converting Wells from a reliever to a starter last year.

Surprise Performer: RHP Yennier Cano

Considering Cano did not pitch well in his first taste of the big leagues last season -- and that the 29-year-old right-hander opened this year with Triple-A Norfolk -- nobody could have foreseen his meteoric rise to becoming Baltimore’s top setup reliever. Yet, that’s what has happened, and he’s been nearly unhittable, with batters going 1-for-36 against him through his first 10 outings.

Most Likely to Improve: SS/3B Gunnar Henderson

Henderson endured some growing pains during his first April in the Majors. The 21-year-old infielder is batting .184 through 24 games, but also has a .361 on-base percentage, thanks to his 20 walks, which is second on the Orioles. MLB Pipeline’s former No. 1 overall prospect is taking good at-bats, so it may be only a matter of time before he goes on a tear.

Biggest Key to Success: The bullpen

Entering May, Baltimore’s bullpen ERA of 2.86 was the best in the Majors. That number has since inflated a bit (3.03, sixth in the AL and eighth in MLB), but this unit continues to be a foundation of the team’s success. Four O’s relievers have an ERA below 2.00: Cano (0.00), Danny Coulombe (0.84), closer Félix Bautista (1.32) and Bryan Baker (1.76).