Orioles’ Corbin Burnes On Pace To Make Major Team History

The Baltimore Orioles' superstar pitcher Corbin Burns is on an insane pace this season.

Jun 4, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) pitches to the Toronto Blue Jays during the second inning at Rogers Centre. / John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

When the Baltimore Orioles pulled off the big trade to acquire Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers in the offseason, everyone knew how incredible of a move it was going to be. Burnes has been one of the best starting pitchers in baseball for quite some time now.

Burnes has helped turn the Orioles into a legitimate World Series contender in his first year with the team. He has become the ace of their rotation and has taken his game to a new level.

At this point in the season, Baltimore holds a 43-22 record and are not showing signs of slowing down. They have an elite offense and a top-notch pitching staff as well.

To show just how dominant Burnes has been so far this year, Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun has released five insane statistics. Burnes is on pace to make major team history in quite a few different categories.

Corbin Burnes is on pace for:

-Best ERA by an Orioles SP since 1972 (Palmer)
-Best WHIP by an O’s SP since 1968 (McNally)
-Best FIP by an O’s SP since 2007 (Bedard)
-Best GB% by an O’s SP since 2004 (Ponson)
-Best LD% by an O’s SP since 2010 (Guthrie)

— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) June 11, 2024

Being able to have the kind of season that Burnes is having in all five of those categories is impressive, to say the least. He has truly been an unstoppable force for the Orioles.

Throughout the 2024 MLB season thus far, Burnes has started 14 games for Baltimore. He has compiled a 7-2 record to go along with a 2.08 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, and 82 strikeouts as opposed to just 22 walks.

Those numbers certainly place Burnes in the running for the American League Cy Young award. If he keeps pitching at the level he has so far, it seems likely that he'll be a favorite for the prestigious award.

At just 29 years old, Burnes is in the prime of his career and has plenty of good years ahead of him. He is under contract for just the rest of this season though, which is something the Orioles will need to address. A long-term deal seems likely between the two sides.

All of that being said, it will be interesting to see if Burnes can continue pitching at the level he has through his first 14 starts. He's on a historical pace and hopefully for Baltimore's sake he can keep it up.

The Orioles appear to have a legitimate World Series chance this season and a good chunk of those chances rely on the arm of Burnes.