This Statistic Has Been Powering the Baltimore Orioles to Success

One of the main reasons why the Baltimore Orioles have succeeded this season is because of their prominence in this one statistical category.

Sep 4, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2) celebrates with designated hitter Adley Rutschman (35) after hitting a first inning home run against the Chicago White Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

What the Baltimore Orioles have done after dealing with their plethora of injury issues has been nothing short of incredible.

It's known they are without three of their Opening Day starting pitchers for the rest of the season, have another starter on the injured list currently, and don't have their All-Star third baseman, but they will also be without their superutilityman Jorge Mateo for the remainder of this campaign, and are waiting for two key relievers to make their returns.

Normally, sustaining that many injuries to this number important players would derail a team.

That hasn't happened for the Orioles.

Entering Saturday, they are a half-game ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East and have the best record in the American League.

So how has Baltimore been able to win games while dealing with all these absences?

One key statistical category has allowed their offense to flourish.

When taking a look at the best stat for each team across the league, The Athletic staff highlighted the Orioles' Major League-leading slugging percentage (.442) as the reason why they have been able to continue winning despite their injury issues.

"The Orioles do not have anyone who’s individually in the top 10 in slugging, but they have nine players with double-digit home runs. Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander lead the way, but basically everyone in their regular lineup has at least a little bit of pop (Jackson Holliday has slugged better than .400 since his return to the big leagues)," write Chad Jennings and Stephen J. Nesbitt.

That's really the scary thing about this lineup.

They have star players littered across their batting order, and even though there isn't one singular person consistently carrying this offense, they have collectively been able to lead all teams in slugging percentage,

When everyone is clicking, this can be a dominant group, something they have shown at different times throughout the year.

There are clear positives to that, with anyone being able to pop an extra-base hit or long ball, but that also opens them up to some quiet nights if the lineup is having a hard time producing all at once.

The Orioles have been able to avoid that for the most part and are using their star-studded lineup to cover for their other absences, giving themselves a real shot of beating anyone in a short playoff series if everyone in the lineup is hitting at the same time.