A few weeks back, I wrote about three players that surprised us in a good way with their play during the 2023 season. It was easy to note Ryan O'Hearn and Yennier Cano, both were huge surprises and so big for the 2023 Birds.

I added Kyle Bradish and not that we didn't think he could be a good pitcher. But maybe not that good. But he was and he wound up fourth in the Cy Young Award voting.

Here is that earlier blog here. 

Here are a few more surprises from the season. 

Outfielder Aaron Hicks: On the same day the Orioles put Cedric Mullins on the injured list for the first time - May 30 - they signed Aaron Hicks. A few days before that he had been designated for assignment by the Yankees and later released.

The Orioles averaged 4.98 runs per game in the 2023 season to rank fourth in the American League and seventh-best in the majors among the 30 teams. 

Only six teams this year averaged 5.00 runs per game or better for the full year. The Orioles came up just short of that scoring 807. That was seventh-most in team history and the most since the 2004 O's team scored 842.

Here are the six teams that outscored the Orioles this year.

5.85 - Atlanta
5.59 - Los Angeles Dodgers
5.44 - Texas
5.31 - Tampa Bay
5.10 - Houston
5.06 - Chicago Cubs

The Orioles were keeping pretty good company being among this group. Had they scored just three more runs to finish with 810, they would have averaged exactly 5.00 runs per game.

BOSTON – Ryan O’Hearn wouldn’t get lured out of his baseball comfort zone. The dangling carrot was swatted like a pesky fly. Or a grooved fastball that wraps around the Pesky Pole.

Asked about the significance of the Orioles winning the division and leaving wild card aspirations in the dust, O’Hearn was willing to confirm that the American League East title is “very important.” But don’t press it.

“To me, the No. 1 goal is to make the playoffs, but you’re not going to get me to predict the future or get too far ahead of ourselves,” he said, smiling.

“We focus on every day, same thing we’ve been saying. One game at a time, trying to win a ballgame, and that’s it. If we do that, that’ll take us where we want to go.”

Trust the process, a slogan the Orioles can carry from rebuild to contender. It doesn’t get stale.

OAKLAND – The Orioles couldn’t wait any longer for outfielder Aaron Hicks.

Hicks was placed on the 10-day injured list this morning with a lower-back strain, the move retroactive to Wednesday. Outfielder Ryan McKenna was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk.

Hicks is making his second trip to the IL. He missed three weeks with a left hamstring strain, returned Monday in San Diego and lasted seven innings before leaving with the back discomfort.

“It’s kind of hit or miss right now,” Hicks said yesterday. “What I’m really trying to get over the hump with is hitting. I wake up, I have good mobility, and as soon as I start hitting it kind of starts to flare up a little bit. It’s what I’m dealing with.

“It’s just annoying. Walking around I feel fine, doing little things feel fine, rotation feels fine. And then as soon as I start to try to fire it up and get moving as fast as possible is when it starts wanting to shut down.”

OAKLAND – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde posted another lineup yesterday that didn’t include Aaron Hicks.

Hyde isn’t playing matchups.

He can’t play Hicks.

The veteran outfielder retained his day-to-day status with discomfort in his back. He exited Monday night’s game in San Diego in the eighth inning after singling twice, with Austin Hays replacing him in left field.

Hyde won’t broadcast his players’ availability to the opposing manager, but Hicks didn’t appear in the next two games of the series and followed Thursday’s off-day by sitting again last night.