Every month, we look and see who had the best performance from that 30-day period.
While players like Manny Machado and Chris Davis had great months over and over again, I dove in and found five players who had fantastic months who are barely talked about when talking Orioles history. We are a little over a month into the 2024 season, after all.
I put these in a very specific order based off who the player is and how well known their season was for the Orioles. So without further ado, here are the five players who had great singular months.
Ryan Mountcastle: August 2023
The most recent of the five, Ryan Mountcastle’s month of August during the 2023 season was somehow under the radar, mostly because it is remembered the most by his 472-foot home run against Houston. But, that entire month consisted of him being an absolute star for the Orioles’ offense.
Mountcastle played in 27 games that month and slashed .360/.444/.540 with an OPS of .984. He tallied 36 hits with eight of them being extra-base hits, five home runs, 19 RBIs and walked 15 times. He also scored 17 times.
Looking even deeper into it, Mountcastle had a .437 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) that month, which was third on the team but first out of players who played more than 20 games.
Mountcastle’s 2023 season was solid overall, despite missing games due to vertigo. However, when looking at Mountcastle’s splits, his August was downright one of the best months in recent Orioles’ history.
Cedric Mullins: June 2021
The year 2021 was special to Orioles fans for two reasons. One, Jackson Holliday was drafted, and two, fans got to see the first ever 30/30 player in Orioles’ history. But hands down, Cedric Mullins’ month of June during that season was nothing short of legendary.
Mullins had a OPS of 1.172 in 26 games while having a batting average of .380. He also had 38 hits, 17 extra-base hits, 11 walks and went 7-for-7 on stolen bases.
Mullins’ month was so extraordinary that he was top five in the league in the following categories: Hits (T4), stolen bases (T4), batting average (2nd), on-base percentage (4th), slugging (4th) and OPS (4th). Mullins showcased why he was deserving of being an All-Star starter after taking over in the month of June.
J.J. Hardy: June 2011
We now turn the clock back to a semi-dark time in recent Orioles history. Obviously, during the early 2010s, there was not much success to start, but we did get to see some breakout performances, like J.J. Hardy and his immaculate month of June in 2011.
Hardy’s June consisted of a slash line of .362/.409/.686 with an OPS of 1.095. The fan-favorite shortstop collected 38 hits, nine home runs and 18 RBIs on the month. Hardy also had a ISO of .324, which measures the pure power of the hitter.
Hardy made a huge impact with the Orioles in his first season with the team. He wasted no time to show that he was the shortstop for the near future. Hardy would go on to have seven great years with the Orioles before retiring after the 2017 season.
Wilson Betemit: June 2012
Does anyone remember the Wilson Betemit days? The Orioles signed Betemit in January of 2012, and it only took a few months into the season when Betemit really made his mark.
Betemit’s June during the 2012 season was spectacular. In 21 games, he had a slash line of .382/.427/.588 with a 1.015 OPS. Betemit earned 26 hits, five doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs and also pick up six walks and eleven runs.
Betemit’s 2012 season would technically be his only season for the Orioles, if you don’t count the six games in 2013 when he went hitless in 10 at-bats. Betemit would retire after the 2014 season, when he played in the Tampa Bay Rays’ minor league system.
Tim Beckham: August 2017
The month of Tim Beckham. I never thought I would type those words, that was until I remembered about his random stellar month in 2017.
August 2017 was not only maybe the best statistical month for the Orioles with a total of eight players hitting over .300. It was quite possibly the best month of Tim Beckham’s big league career.
After being acquired by the O’s at the trade deadline, Beckham played in 29 games and tallied a total of 50 hits. He collected 10 doubles, two triples, six home runs and 19 RBIs while having a .394 average and a 1.063 OPS.
He was absolutely the best hitter in August of that year, leading the league in hits and finishing top-10 in doubles. His teammate Manny Machado would actually win Player of the Month for August of 2017, ironically enough.
Obviously, other players have had great months or a couple of great months in orange and black. However, showcasing these five months goes to show that any crazy month can happen by a player and really impact a team’s success. In Part two of this two-part series, I will showcase the five best pitching months since 2010 for the Orioles, so stay tuned.
Which crazy month stood out to you the most? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
Like Zack’s content? Follow him on X – @Zackattack8211 and @OsMilbUpdates for all the latest news and updates on the O’s farm system! Also, check out the latest episodes of The First Flight podcast!
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