In the 2020 season, the Orioles used 58 different batting lineups for the shortened 60-game season. The last full season in 2019 saw them use 150 different lineups, with no one individual lineup repeated across more than four games.
This is important to keep in mind when looking at the 2021 Orioles Opening Day lineup because if the past patterns indicate how Brandon Hyde will fill out lineups for the rest of the year, we will seldom see this exact lineup again, if at all.
Here’s how they line up for the Opening Day game that was delayed by the whimsy of the last place Boston Red Sox:
- Cedric Mullins - CF
- Trey Mancini - 1B
- Anthony Santander - RF
- Ryan Mountcastle - DH
- Rio Ruiz - 2B
- Austin Hays - LF
- Maikel Franco - 3B
- Freddy Galvis - SS
- Pedro Severino - C
John Means is getting the Opening Day start as announced, so he’s already doing better than last year in that regard.