1. Power surge

The O's have lived and died by the home run. At the end of September, they were second in all of Major League Baseball with 211 homers as a team, trailing only the New York Yankees with 236.
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But this last month has seen a bit of a power surge, with the Orioles behind only the Washington Nationals in homers and slugging percentage. While it's no surprise to see Chris Davis smash five bombs in four games, as he did recently, the power has been coming from some unexpected places, too, such as rookie third baseman Manny Machado (above; three dingers in four games), Nate McLouth (five of his seven homers have come in September) and Ryan Flaherty (.773 slugging percentage in 22 September at bats).
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If the regular mashers keep launching the ball, and the homers and extra-base hits continue to come from other regulars, the Orioles could be dangerous.

bal-12-reasons-why-the-orioles-might-actually--011

( Getty / September 29, 2012 )

The O's have lived and died by the home run. At the end of September, they were second in all of Major League Baseball with 211 homers as a team, trailing only the New York Yankees with 236.

But this last month has seen a bit of a power surge, with the Orioles behind only the Washington Nationals in homers and slugging percentage. While it's no surprise to see Chris Davis smash five bombs in four games, as he did recently, the power has been coming from some unexpected places, too, such as rookie third baseman Manny Machado (above; three dingers in four games), Nate McLouth (five of his seven homers have come in September) and Ryan Flaherty (.773 slugging percentage in 22 September at bats).

If the regular mashers keep launching the ball, and the homers and extra-base hits continue to come from other regulars, the Orioles could be dangerous.

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