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Zach Britton (1987-) Baltimore Orioles Relief Pitcher, and AL Record Holder for Consecutive Saves


DonRocks

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I suspect many of our readers have never heard of Zach Britton, despite him pitching up I-95 for the Baltimore Orioles.

An equal number of readers may be wondering why I'm starting a thread on him.

As it turns out, Britton is the owner of some fairly impressive feats:

* He was an All-Star in 2015 and 2016

* He was the American League Saves leader in 2016, with 47.

Upping the "Impressive" factor ...

* He is the all-time American League record holder in Consecutive Saves with 60.

Apr 15, 2017 - "Britton Ties AL Record with 54 Consecutive Saves" by Dhiren Mahiben on mlb.com

* He is the only American League pitcher to hit a home run this decade. [Oops, I'm wrong about that]:

Jul 21, 2015 - "Nathan Karns Hits First HR by American League Pitcher in 4 Years" by Eric Stephen on sbnation.com

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The issue with Britton is that he was injured much of last year.   When he returned he was less effective.  He may not pitch this year till July or late if at all(more serious injuries).  Before he was injured he was the heart and soul of Baltimore’s mediocre pitching staff, being used as the saver on games with leads and being stupendous.  

He can be a free agent at the end of this season but he might not pitch during the year.    High risk career.

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42 minutes ago, DaveO said:

The issue with Britton is that he was injured much of last year.   When he returned he was less effective.  He may not pitch this year till July or late if at all(more serious injuries).  Before he was injured he was the heart and soul of Baltimore’s mediocre pitching staff, being used as the saver on games with leads and being stupendous.  

He can be a free agent at the end of this season but he might not pitch during the year.    High risk career.

Uhhh, he's throwing live BP now, and will throw a simulated game early this week. Forget about late July or not at all, he will pitch in June - potentially early-mid June. SMH.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bs-sp-orioles-notes-20180519-story.html

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26 minutes ago, Keithstg said:

Uhhh, he's throwing live BP now, and will throw a simulated game early this week. Forget about late July or not at all, he will pitch in June - potentially early-mid June. SMH.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bs-sp-orioles-notes-20180519-story.html

Good.   Good luck on his recovery.   Unless they start playing better they won’t have many opportunities for saves but if he recovers he’ll get his innings.

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On 5/20/2018 at 9:51 PM, DaveO said:

Good.   Good luck on his recovery.   Unless they start playing better they won’t have many opportunities for saves but if he recovers he’ll get his innings.

I’m betting Britton gets traded at the deadline if he comes back and plays well. No sense in the O’s having a great closer at this point. Of course, this assumes that the O’s are competently run, so...

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On 5/22/2018 at 9:30 AM, Keithstg said:

I’m betting Britton gets traded at the deadline if he comes back and plays well. No sense in the O’s having a great closer at this point. Of course, this assumes that the O’s are competently run, so...

You were correct

2 hours ago, Keithstg said:

So much for Britton not pitching again last year (or at all)...

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/01/yankees-zach-britton-progressing-toward-agreement.html

My instant gut reaction is that I hope he doesn’t pitch as well as he did during his career years for the Birds....(shrugs)

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