In what has become an almost yearly ritual since the beginning of the Buck Showalter/Dan Duquette era, the Orioles have outkicked their coverage.
Take that, Fangraphs and many of the other “algorithm” stat sites that purport to possess some special insight into the relative viability of the 30 major league teams. The Orioles continue to defy pseudo-science and will be taking part in the playoffs for the third time in the five years that just about major sports media entity has picked them fourth or fifth in the American League East.
"People say that every single year, I really don’t know why, but for some reason they like picking against us,'' said pitcher Kevin Gausman, who closed out the regular season on Sunday with a strong 7 1/3-inning performance at Yankee Stadium.