BALTIMORE — One of the most frustrating of the many uncontrollable variables in the 162-game odyssey that is baseball’s regular season is health. Injuries can derail even the most promising ball clubs, and have done so for years.
When the Baltimore Orioles lost a third of their starting lineup — stalwart catcher Matt Wieters and wunderkind Gold Glove third baseman Manny Machado to surgery, reigning home run champ Chris Davis to suspension — their season could have easily been derailed. But instead of making a high-cost trade to try to replace those players, they turned to the available options in-house, giving journeyman bench players the opportunity to step into everyday roles. None of those replacements has been as successful, or as instrumental to getting Baltimore to where it is Thursday, hosting the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS, as Steve Pearce.
Pearce is anything but a household name and has traveled a long, arduous rode. The 31-year-old is the classic example of a player who, for whatever reason, simply never got his chance. He swatted 31 home runs across three levels of the Pirates’ minor league system in 2007, the year he made his major league debut, but struggled to break in with Pittsburgh.
After five partial seasons with the Pirates, Pearce became a free agent heading into 2012. He was signed by the Minnesota Twins, but released before the end of spring training. From there, Pearce was signed by the New York Yankees, then sold to the Orioles midseason. Seven weeks later, he was designated for assignment and picked up by the Houston Astros. A month later, again discarded, the Yankees again purchased his contract. Right at the end of the season, dumped for a second time by the Bombers, he was once again acquired by the O’s.
In 2013, he battled injuries and played in just 44 big league games. This year, the Orioles brought him back, only to release him again in late April. But an oblique strain to first baseman Davis the same day left Baltimore scrambling, and two days later, they re-signed Pearce. It might be the biggest move the team has made all year.
So why would Pearce come back to the team that had twice cast him aside? He loved Baltimore.
“From my teammates, to the coaching staff, to the front office, to the video guys, to the trainers,” he said Wednesday in the open workout before the ALDS. “It’s just a great atmosphere for baseball. It was an easy decision for me to stay.”
In his seven seasons, Pearce has never had more than 200 plate appearances, posting just a .238 batting average and a .695 OPS — not exactly the kind of numbers teams look for from traditionally offense-heavy such as corner outfielders or first basemen.
But when he returned to the Orioles, and finally started seeing regular at-bats, something clicked. Pearce has not simply been the best version of himself this season; he’s been the best hitter on the Orioles, a team full of good ones.
Pearce hit .293 with a .373 on-base percentage and .556 slugging percentage. Not only are those each career bests; they are each the best mark among all Baltimore regulars. He’s swatted 26 doubles and 21 home runs in what amounts to about two-thirds of a season’s worth of at-bats. Over 150 or more games, that extrapolates out to a 40-double, 30-home run season. No major leaguer achieved that this year, the closest being Mike Trout, who came up a two-bagger shy.
Pearce has produced 60 percent more offense (160 OPS+) than the average big leaguer per at-bat. And despite playing just 102 games, mostly at first base, Pearce has been a 6.0 bWAR player, a top-10 mark in the American League.
The biggest component that he has replaced, though, is Davis’ prodigious power. A year removed from a 53-home run campaign that led the major leagues, Davis was popped for a 25-game PED suspension for testing positive for Adderall. It happened at an awful time for the Orioles, the suspension carrying through the end of the regular season and eight games into the playoffs.
But Pearce has replaced Davis’ power, all while providing better numbers across the board. For all Davis’ power, he’s batted just .196 with a .300 on-base percentage this year.
“He’s been unbelievable,” said Orioles outfielder Adam Jones of Pearce. “I look at in a positive way. You add his 21 home runs to [Davis’] 26, and you’ve got 47. CD had 53 last year. It’s two different people accumulating it for you but it’s the same accumulation, the same production in my eye.”
Pearce’s home run per fly ball rate of 17.5 percent would rank 16th in the majors if he had enough at-bats to qualify. Davis ranked third this year and Cruz fifth, but Pearce still hits more of his fly balls over the wall than the likes of Adam LaRoche (20th), Victor Martinez (22nd), Miguel Cabrera (32nd) and Albert Pujols (34th). And, yes, more than his complementary teammate, Jones (23rd).
“[Nelson] Cruz is our team MVP, but Pearce is the guy who’s the unsung hero here,” said Jones. “Everything he’s been through, he’s never complained about it, and he’s just come out there and raked for us this year. He’s a big reason we’re in this position.”
While he may be known among his teammates, Pearce nevertheless enters a series full of brand-name stars as a virtual unknown. If he continues to produce the way he has all season, that won’t be true for long.
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