The Baltimore Orioles finished tied for the best record in all of baseball for July, going 17-9, tieing with the Seattle Mariners for the best record. With the July the Orioles had, they took the lead in the American League East, and at the end of July, they led the Tampa Bay Rays in the division by 1.5 games. This Orioles team is legit and has shown that last season was not a fluke and this team is for real. The July that the Orioles had can’t go unnoticed. It was due to their closer Felix Bautista, who has made a big name for himself and was named an All-Star, and he also won American League Reliever of the Month for July. This season Bautista has pitched in 47 games, going 6-1 with a 0.87 ERA, he has 29 saves this season and posts a 1.45 FIP, a 0.85 WHIP, a 3.7 BB/9, and a 17.6 K/9. The Orioles have one of the best bullpens in baseball, and in July, they continued that by posting the eighth-best K/9 with a 9.81, the eighth-best ERA with a 3.59, the eighth-best FIP with a 3.61, and the 15th-best WHIP with a 1.30. Bautista in July appeared in 11 games, going 3-0 with eight saves, a 0.00 ERA, a 0.77 FIP, a 0.50 WHIP, a 16.07 K/9, and a 2.57 BB/9. So where did that rank among the league? Bautista ranked tied for first in wins for a reliever, fourth in saves, first in ERA, 12th in FIP, 15th in WHIP, and 17th in K/9. The Orioles will try to hold onto their division lead in the American League East and win their first division title since 2014 and return to the postseason for the first time since 2016; for them to accomplish that, they will need their bullpen to perform as they have to this point in the 2023 season.
