The Braves may be the best team in baseball, and the Dodgers may be the most star-studded, but the Orioles are the team of the moment. No team better represents how baseball sharply turned an aesthetic corner this year than Baltimore.
The Orioles are the sixth-highest scoring team in baseball, and yet they are 17th in home runs. How do they do it? With a style of play that was near extinction during the launch-angle revolution: They are second in the majors at taking the extra base (behind Atlanta) and second at hitting with runners in scoring position (behind Tampa Bay).
The obvious benefit to the new MLB rules (pitch timer, limit on pickoffs, no shifts) is that games are 25 minutes faster. Just as importantly, the style of play is faster. Nobody does it better than Baltimore, which has the sixth-youngest group of position players. You see it every night. The Orioles are like an up-tempo basketball team; they can run you off the court.
