All Orioles team 1965-2017, pitchers

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In putting together this list of Orioles pitchers, I went down the wins and saves total more than with any other team. The 1971 Orioles had four 20 game winners. Three are on this list of starters. Three of the Orioles top 5 save leaders are also on this list. So, here we go.

Starting pitcher: Jim Palmer I remembered Jim as a good pitcher, but when I looked at his stats, he was even better than I remembered. Jim had 7 seasons with 20 wins or more. From 1975-77 Jim led the AL in wins. His final won-lost record was 268-152. Four times he led the AL in innings pitched. In 1975 Palmer led the AL in ERA with 2.09 and shutouts with 10. Those numbers are even more amazing when you consider he's strikeouts per 9 innings was 5 and his walk per 9 innings was 3. Jim had 6 seasons with a WAR of 6 or more, maxing out at 8.5 in 1975. Jim Palmer, an easy choice as the best O's pitcher since 1965.

Starting pitcher: Dave McNally From 1968-71 Dave won 20 games or more. Dave led the AL in wins, going 24-9 in 1970. McNally was very good in postseason play, going 7-4 with and ERA of 2.49. McNally spent 14 seasons with the Orioles, going 181-113 with an ERA 3.18. Like Palmer, McNally also wasn't a big strikeout guy, averaging 5 strikeouts per 9 innings. The lefty was helped by the tight Baltimore defense during his time there, but hey, sometimes it's not how, it's how many. With Dave the how many was 181 wins.

Starting pitcher: Mike Cuellar After coming over from the Houston Astros, the Mike and his screwball had an excellent run in Baltimore. From 1969-74 his win totals were 23-24-20-18-18-22. In 85.1 postseason innings, Cuellar went 4-4 with and excellent ERA 2.85. Like Palmer and McNally, Mike also pitched to contact, striking out only 5.2 hitters per 9 innings. Mike finished with 8 years in Baltimore, and ran up a record of 143-88 with an ERA of 3.18. That's good enough for the third slot on this list.

Starting pitcher: Mike Mussina Moose is the only guy on this list who didn't pitch for the Orioles in the 70s. Mike pitched for the Orioles from 1991-2000. He didn't have any 20 win seasons, but he did have two 19 win and two 18 win years. He finished with a record of 147-81 with an ERA of 3.53 before moving on to the Yankees. Mussina had 5 seasons with a WAR of 5 or more. His high water mark was 1992 when he had a WAR of 8.2. For his 10 seasons in Baltimore, he put together a WAR of 47.6. That reflects his consistency and effectiveness during not only his tenure in Baltimore but his career. I'll remember Mike as a precision pitcher. Sort of like a Jim Palmer lite. (but not too lite)

Starting pitcher: Mike Flanagan While Mike's numbers aren't quite as robust as the other four guys on this list, he's a strong number five. Mike spent 15 seasons with the Orioles, winning 141 games while losing 116. His ERA was a workman like 3.89. Mike's biggest season was 1979, when he went 23-9 with an ERA of 3.09. Those 23 wins led the AL. He also threw five shutouts, which also led the AL. Mike did that while striking out only 4.8 hitters per 9 innings. Those really were different times.

Relief pitcher: Zach Britton While Zach Britton is second on the Orioles all time save list, his 93.1% gets him the number one spot. In 2016 Zach went 47-47 in save opportunities. From 2014-16 Britton's save totals were 37-36-47. Britton is a left handed reliever who can get both right and left handed hitter out. His WHIP was below one from 2014-16. His WAR for 2016 was 4.3, which is remarkable for a reliever. Britton and his 93.1% close rate get the number one slot out of the Orioles pen.

Relief pitcher: Gregg Olson Gregg is the Orioles all time saves leader with 160. Though ERA isn't the best barometer of a relievers effectiveness, Olson's ERA was an excellent 2.26. His WHIP for his time with the Orioles was 1.1253. That's due, in large measure to his walk rate of 4.1 per 9 innings. Gregg was a pretty good strikeout guy, getting 8.9 per nine innings. Gregg Olson gets the number two slot out of the Orioles pen.

Relief pitcher: Stu Miller Okay, this may be a stretch. With apologies to Tippy Martinez and other guys I may have overlooked, I went with Stu. By the time I saw Stu pitch I'm not sure he could get his fastball into the low 80's. He could still get the job done. While Miller started his big league in 1952, he had a nice run with the Orioles from 1963-67. Though it's before 1965, Stu led the AL in saves with 27 in 1963. (How times have changed) Stu had a total of 99 saves. His ERA of 2.37 and WHIP of 1.120 also look nice. Stu gets a nostalgic look and the third slot out of the Orioles pen.

Those are my picks. How do they compare to yours? Let me know.


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