It’s tough to make predictions, as Yogi Berra once said, especially about the future. This Orioles team was expected to have a few weak spots: the rotation, followed by the rotation, and also the rotation. So far, so good: Baltimore’s starter ERA is 4.75, 22nd in MLB.
The problem with this story is that ERA is a limited tool, as statheads way more gifted than myself know. Take the starters again: their total ERA is 4.75, 22nd in the league. That’s pretty bad. On the other hand, their xFIP (expected fielding-independent-pitching) is 3.96, 14th in the league.