For all of the quirks and oddities of 2020, maybe we should’ve seen one coming: how much (and how well) the Orioles bunt. The Orioles did not have a great offense last season, but by the second half, they did grow into an above average power-hitting team. They ran quite a bit, to augment the fact that they hardly walked, and bunted more than all but one American League team. Meanwhile, bunting continued to plummet across baseball as teams prioritized three true outcomes, with sacrifices in particular reaching an all-time low league-wide.\n\nBy and large, those trends have only proliferated in 2020. Teams are sacrificing at half the rate they did last year, with the designated hitter now present in both leagues. The Orioles are simply the exception. They bunt more than anyone. They bunt when they’re ahead, when they’re behind and when the score is tied. They have players who bunt more than entire teams.\n\n• Box score\n\nAt no point has their dominance in this department been more apparent than in Tuesday’s 9-5 win over the Mets at Camden Yards. Feasting off New York pitching for their largest offensive output in nearly three weeks, Baltimore used bunts to spark and set up half of those runs, including key rallies in the first, second and sixth innings. Homers from
Behind those blasts were rallies begun and made better by bunts. Two came from
How novel is seeing a team bunt like the Orioles do in 2020? Watching them live for the first time since 2018, the Mets' broadcasters were enamored by Baltimore’s intent and execution when squaring up on Tuesday. Veteran play-by-play man Gary Cohen called Mullins the best bunter since long-time Marlins speedster Juan Pierre, who retired in 2013. When
Of course, those types of throwback fundamentals worked in large part because the Orioles executed behind them. Seven of the first 11 Orioles registered hits off the righty Jurado, whom they tagged for five runs in four innings in his Mets debut. They then tagged rookie righty Franklyn Kilone for four more to support starter