This story was excerpted from Zachary Silver’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
We’re now just over two months into this 2022 Orioles season. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate it?
I’d give it a solid 5.5.
There’s plenty to celebrate, the team owning a laundry list of marquee wins -- the second-most of the walk-off variety in the Majors with five -- but plenty left to improve upon. The central most aspect of the latter might be around Adley Rutschman, his slow start beginning to nick away and show signs of life. His progression will color the remainder of the 2022 Orioles season.
With all that in mind, let’s hand out some early-season awards across the O’s roster:
MVP: Austin Hays
Pick what you want. It could be the offense, some of the best of his career in a sustained duration. The defense, firing 95-plus mph darts -- some north of 100 mph -- around the infield for four outfield assists. Or perhaps even the clutch gene; Hays owned an .897 OPS with runners in scoring position entering Sunday. No matter how you slice it, Hays is the Orioles’ MVP to this juncture.
Next up: Trey Mancini
Cy Young: Jorge López
The bullpen prowess has been the Orioles’ storyline of the season, and López is the face of the turnaround. Handed the closer role out of Spring Training, López has turned into one of the best in the Majors. His 0.93 ERA and 435 ERA+ entering Sunday are far cries from his 6.07 and 74 marks a year prior. Relief looks good on him.
Next up: Cionel Pérez, Keegan Akin, Dillon Tate
Rookie of the Year: Félix Bautista
Come the end of the season, this honor may very well belong to Rutschman -- both the team award and that of the American League. But he’ll have to turn a sharp corner in order to do so. Rather, Bautista and his 1.82 ERA and top-tier whiff rate across 25 outings is the clear choice. When López went on the bereavement list in May, it was Bautista who was called upon as the closer.
Next up: Rutschman, Joey Krehbiel, Nick Vespi, Tyler Nevin
Platinum Glove: Jorge Mateo
Mateo still struggles with the routine plays, his eight errors leading the team, but they’re far blown out of the way with as many highlight reel plays as he compiles. By all advanced metrics, he’s the Orioles’ most valuable defender, among the best defensive shortstops in baseball by the outs above average metric and was named the defender of the month for May by Sports Info Solutions.
Next up: Cedric Mullins, Hays
Better than you think: Ramón Urías
The gap between expected and actual statistics has bitten plenty of Orioles this season, and while Mancini has seen his numbers stabilize, Urías is still searching. Slowly he’s seeing that, but with a hard-hit rate and average exit velocity among the best in the Majors, he’s being bitten far more than he deserves. Now, he’ll have to re-discover his ascension when he’s no longer bitten by the injury bug.
Next up: Krehbiel, Tyler Wells
Likeliest All-Star: Hays
The biggest question is if we see a 2019 play out once again, when Mancini was seemingly the easy choice for the All-Star Game but John Means was the selection given the abundance of elite talent in the outfield. I’ll give the nod to Hays because of how he stacks up against the current field himself. But if there’s extra room in the bullpen, López could very well receive a heartfelt nod, already with far more innings than many of his closer counterparts.
Next up: López, Mancini, Pérez, Akin