MLB The Show 19: Baltimore Orioles Player Ratings, Roster, Lineups, & Farm System

First established in 1901 as the Milwaukee Brewers, the franchise quickly moved to St. Louis and was renamed the Browns before moving to Baltimore and becoming the Orioles in 1954. The team won their first AL Pennant in 1944 but came up short in the World Series. Their second pennant would come in 1966 and was accompanied by their first World Series victory, a 4-0 sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. This marked the start of a golden era for the Orioles.

They would claim AL Pennants in 1969, '70, and '71, turning those into one World Series title. They made the ALCS in both '73 & '74, and then made the World Series again in '79 only to lose in game 7. They'd return to the World Series in 1983 and claim a third title, but it would be their last triumph. The Orioles have won the division just twice since then and haven't come close to winning another Pennant. In 2018 the team entered full rebuild mode as they lost a massive 115 games.

Can you take over the reins and restore this team to the postseason and bring a fourth World Series title to Baltimore?

*All stats correct at time of writing

Team Rating

MLB The Show 19 doesn’t give teams an OVR rating like other sports games, instead they get a ranking from 1st to 30th, and then sub-rankings for different aspects of the game. This is useful to see how one team measures up compared to the league but it can be tough to gauge the gap between teams with this method.

The Orioles enter franchise mode ranked dead last at 30th. Their one strength is solid team speed, ranking 16th there. Otherwise, the team is a disaster. They rank last in contact and defense, 29th in pitching, and 28th in power. 

From a financial point of view the Orioles are not in the healthiest of positions. Their $113.5 million team budget is well behind most of the American League and especially their divisional rivals in Boston and New York. That means any investment will have to be carefully considered. Who are the pieces on the current roster you might look to build around?

Jonathan Villar, Second Base (88 OVR)

Age: 27

Throws/Bats: R/S

Contract: 1 year/$4.8 million + 1 year arbitration

Secondary Position: 1B, 3B, SS, CF

Hitter Tendency: Extreme Opposite

Best Stats: Stealing (91), Baserunning Aggressiveness (89), Durability (86), Speed (85), Clutch (77), Reaction (77), Discipline (70)

Jonathan Villar signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an international free agent but before the 2011 season was traded to Houston as part of the deal for Roy Oswalt. He made his MLB debut for the Astros in 2013, playing 58 games with a .243 average and 18 stolen bases. He was never an everyday player for Houston and in 2016 he moved to Milwaukee where he was unleashed on the basepaths. He played 156 games that year for the Brewers and stole an MLB-high 62 bases with a .285 average and 19 homers. in 2018 he was traded to Baltimore.

In The Show 19 Villar is a fast player (stealing 91, speed 85) with good durability (86). He has nice reactions (77) in the field and a solid glove (68). He brings ok contact skill (66/69) to the plate along with good discipline (70) but there isn't much power (50/56).

Mychal Givens, Closing Pitcher (82 OVR)

Age: 28

Throws/Bats: R/R

Contract: 1 year/$2.2 million + 2 years arbitration

Pitches: 4-Seam Fastball, Slider, Changeup, 2-Seam Fastball

Best Stats: Velocity (85), Break (84), H/9 (83), K/9 (83), Clutch (73), HR/9 (71)

Mychal Givens was a second-round pick in 2009 for the Orioles and got his MLB debut with them in 2015, pitching 30 innings with 38 strikeouts and a 1.80 ERA. In 2016 he became a big part of the Orioles bullpen, pitching 74.2 innings with 96 strikeouts. He entered the 2019 season as the closer for Baltimore, with a career 3.12 ERA and 1.131 WHIP.

In The Show 19 Givens has nice velocity (85) and break (84) to make all four of his pitches effective. He is solid in the clutch (73) and does very well at controlling hits (83) and racking up strikeouts (83). The only downside is a relative lack of control (47).

Alex Cobb, Starting Pitcher (76 OVR)

Age: 31

Throws/Bats: R/R

Contract: 3 years/$42.9 million

Pitches: 4-Seam Fastball, Splitter, Knuckle Curve, 2-Seam Fastball

Best Stats: Stamina (83), BB/9 (74), Velocity (71), Break (68), Control (59), Clutch (58)

Alex Cobb was a fourth-round pick for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006 and he got his MLB debut with them in 2011, making 9 starts with a 3.42 ERA. In 2012 Cobb became a part of the rotation, making 23 starts with a 4.03 ERA and 106 strikeouts. Injury put Cobb on the shelf for the 2015 season and most of the 2016 season too. He made 29 starts in 2017 though, posting a 3.66 ERA with 128 strikeouts before joining Baltimore in 2018.

In The Show 19 Cobb is solid but unspectacular. He has solid stamina (83) and ok velocity (71) but he isn't blowing anyone away. His break (68) is not great either meaning that generating swings-and-misses will be tough. His control (59) is fine and he does at least limit walks (74).

Baltimore Orioles MLB Roster

There can be some small fluctuations in OVR in The Show 19 from save to save, however the underlying stats are always consistent and that is the most important thing. We’ll start our look at the Orioles MLB roster with the position players and then look at the starting rotation and bullpen.

The Orioles MLB roster consists of 13 position players and 12 pitchers. That is your 9-man starting lineup and a 4-man bench, along with your 5-man starting lineup and a 7-man bullpen including your closer.

There is not much offense at all in the Orioles roster. What you do get is likely to come from Jonathan Villar (clutch 77, contact L 69), Joey Rickard (contact L 72, vision 62), and Chris Davis (discipline 82, power R 79).

Around them the likes of Alcides Escobar (vision 82, contact R 60), Trey Mancini (power R 68, contact R 65), and Mark Trumbo (power R 77, power L 77) will also provide some support.

The starting rotation is something of a horror show in Baltimore. Dylan Bundy (break 85, control 75) is the #1 arm and he is solid, but behind him there isn't much. Nate Karns (velocity 75, stamina 70) and Alex Cobb (stamina 83, BB/9 74) can eat up innings but they won't limit opposition lineups very regularly. Andrew Cashner (stamina 79, velocity 71) is very much a contact pitcher which is a worry and Yefry Ramirez (velocity 72, K/9 66) takes the #5 spot with little upside.

The Orioles bullpen is a rosier picture though. Mychal Givens (velocity 85, break 84) is a strong option at closer while Gregory Infante (velocity 83, H/9 76) and Tanner Scott (velocity 99, break 93) have the chance to be very good setup men. Behind that trio Sean Gilmartin (break 76, K.9 71) is solid arm, as is Richard Bleier (BB/9 90, control 77). Paul Fry (HR/9 80, velocity 66) can eat some innings and David Hess (stamina 73, velocity 62) is a reasonable long man.

Lineups

MLB The Show 19 has four lineups for you to set. These are against right-handed starters with and without the DH and against left-handed starters with and without the DH. As the Orioles are in the American League you will be using the lineups with the DH for most of your games.

Against righties The Show 19 puts SS Alcides Escobar at the top of the order, followed by CF Cedric Mullins and 2B Jonathan Villar. DH Mark Trumbo hits #4 and LF Trey Mancini is #5. RF DJ Stewart is next followed by 1B Chris Davis, 3B Renato Nunez, and C Jesus Sucre. Without the DH Chris Davis drops to the bench for Mark Trumbo to play 1B.

Against lefties The Show 19 leaves Escobar in the lead off spot, but Joey Rickard comes into #2 and plays RF. Villar is still #3 and Trumbo #4 but at 1B. Mancini hits #5 with DH DJ Stewart next followed by Nunez & Sucre, Mullins plays CF and hits #9. Without the DH Stewart plays CF and Mullins drops to the bench.

These lineups are ok, but we can extract some more runs from this team if we play with the lineups a little.

the first thing we have done is push Jonathan Villar to the lead off spot in all situations to take advantage of his solid contact skills and his speed. We have also improved the teams defense by putting Joey Rickard in against righties as well as lefties.

Against righties Villar leads off with Alcides Escobar now #2. Mark Trumbo is promoted to #3 and Trey Mancini to #4. DH Stewart hits #5 followed by Chris Davis, Renato Nunez, Rickard, and Jesus Sucre. Without the DH Davis drops to the bench.

Against lefties Villar is followed by Rickard. The heart of the lineup is the same with Trumbo, Mancini, and Stewart. Escobar hits #6 followed by Davis, Nunez, and Sucre. Again without the DH Davis is benched.

Farm System

The farm system in MLB The Show 19 can be inconsistent. The fluctuations in OVR and potential can change an exciting prospect into a disappointing one and there is a lack of some real life prospects meaning you can’t just pull up a prospects list and pick out your favorite scouts top players. However, there are still some intriguing prospects in every farm system. Who are the key ones in Baltimore’s minor league teams?

Russell Hitchcock, First Base (66 OVR)

Age: 21

Potential: B

Throws/Bats: R/R

Secondary Position: LF

Hitter Tendency: Pull Hitter

Best Stats: Contact vs L (77), Arm Stength (70), Vision (69), Arm Accuracy (61), Contact vs R (60), Discipline (60)

Baltimore's offense is not in a good place, but Russell Hitchcock could produce some runs soon. He has good contact skill (60/77) already and nice vision (69) and discipline (60) for a young player. He had a good arm (strength 70, accuracy 61) but no durability (21).

Miguel Castro, Relief Pitcher (63 OVR)

Age: 24

Potential: B

Throws/Bats: R/R

Pitches: Sinker, Slider, Changeup, 4-Seam Fastball

Best Stats: Velocity (99), Break (83), H/9 (71), Arm Strength (66), HR/9 (62)

While the Orioles bullpen is pretty strong that can change quickly, especially if you decide to trade some of those arms off. Miguel Castro already has elite velocity (99) and very good break (83). He has ok performance in the clutch (52) and control (51). He can also limit hits pretty well (71).

Juan Mota, Starting Pitcher (62 OVR)

Age: 19

Potential: C

Throws/Bats: R/R

Pitches: 4-Seam Fastball, Vulcanchange, Slider, Sweeping Curve

Best Stats: Stamina (92), Arm Accuracy (73), Velocity (68), Break (68), Clutch (65), BB/9 (56)

The Orioles starting rotation needs help, and Juan Mota might be able to provide that soon. He already has elite stamina (92) and has solid velocity (68) and break (68). Both should improve with time, as will his control (46). He's already ok in the clutch (65) too.

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