Inside The Orioles

Baltimore Orioles Projected To Have Most Valuable Infield and Catcher in MLB

The Baltimore Orioles infield plus catcher unit is projected to be the most valuable group in baseball.

Dylan Sanders

Sep 2, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (left) is greeted after his first inning solo home run by catcher Adley Rutschman (right) against the Chicago White Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Sep 2, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (left) is greeted after his first inning solo home run by catcher Adley Rutschman (right) against the Chicago White Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images
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The Baltimore Orioles have been one of the best teams in baseball over the past couple of seasons and should only be getting better as their players continue to pick up experience.

MLB data BrooksGate recently released a graphic showing the projected stats for different position groups around the league.

One such grouping was the infield plus catcher. The Orioles were atop the list with a projected fWAR of 21.6.

Adding the catcher into the mix likely gave them the number one spot, as Adley Rutschman is still favored to be among the best players at the position.

He has a projected fWAR of 4.6 with an OPS of .771. That would put him back closer to the earlier campaigns of his career, a rebound from his nightmare 2024 second half.

Over the final 58 games from last season, he posted just a .207/.282/.303 slash line with three home runs. That is nowhere near an acceptable level of production for who is supposed to be one of the franchise cornerstones.

The other franchise cornerstone, Gunnar Henderson, is also keeping their number high with a projected fWAR of 6.7. Even that could be a low-ball number as he far surpassed that last year with 8.0 fWAR.

It might be hard to give Henderson the benefit of the doubt to just run back a season that saw him finish fourth in MVP voting, but he also hasn't shown any signs of slowing down and is still just 23 years old. There is plenty of room for him to grow.

One player that is projected to make a jump is third baseman Jordan Westburg. He had 2.8 fWAR a season ago and is now projected to finish 2025 at 3.7.

Westburg is coming off of an All-Star season that saw him post a .264/.312/.481 slash line with 18 home runs in 107 games. That was already improved from his 68-game sample size the year before, so he is on an upward trend.

Having him break out into another near 4.0 fWAR player would be massive for this lineup.

Another interesting number was the fact that rookie second baseman Jackson Holliday is projected for 2.4 fWAR after his nightmare first two stints in MLB.

Holliday accounted for exactly 0.0 fWAR a season ago and 2.4 would push him a little bit above league average.

His struggles in the Majors were well documented, but he was still able to produce at a great rate at Triple-A. He seemingly just needs to find his swing at the next level.

Overall, there is no reason to believe that Baltimore won't have at least one of the top units in baseball. There is also a real chance that they finish as the best, if their players realize their potential.

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Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders

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