The Orioles’ defense hasn’t been what it was in 2022. They believe that’s starting to change.

The 2022 Orioles were a winning team because of their defense. The 2023 Orioles, so far, have won in spite of their defense.

A year after ranking in the top 10 in several defensive metrics, Baltimore ranks in the bottom 10 in many of them through their first 37 games of this season.

Those numbers, however, have been improving in recent weeks, and it’s not just the spreadsheets that suggest the Orioles’ defense is finding its footing. Manager Brandon Hyde and some of the club’s most important defenders believe they’re turning a corner after a rough start.

“I feel like we’re getting our feet up under us,” infielder Gunnar Henderson said. “We’re starting to see it come around and we’re seeing us making the plays that you see us normally make.”

The Orioles (24-13) ended April with a minus-12 figure, according to FanGraphs, for defensive runs saved, which rates individual players as above or below average on defense. Nine games into May, they’ve jumped to 21st at minus-7.

For Baltimore’s defense, the April showers have brought May flowers.

“We’re a better defensive club than we showed early,” Hyde said.

In 2022, the Orioles ranked ninth in the majors in defensive runs saved and fifth in ultimate zone rating, which quantifies a player’s entire defensive performance by attempting to measure how many runs a defender saved. Third baseman Ramón Urías won a Gold Glove Award, shortstop Jorge Mateo was a Fielding Bible honoree and center fielder Cedric Mullins was a Gold Glove finalist.

It was, in theory, supposed to be even better in 2023 with the Orioles getting full seasons from catcher Adley Rutschman and Henderson and the club adding second baseman Adam Frazier and catcher James McCann to replace below-average defenders Rougned Odor and Robinson Chirinos, respectively.

But the success didn’t carry over to begin this season, which started with what will likely be the Orioles’ worst defensive series of the year. Dealing with early-season rust, frigid temperatures and late-afternoon glare from the sun in Boston, Baltimore’s outfielders struggled mightily. Ryan McKenna’s dropped fly ball that led to a loss in the second game of the year was the most egregious example, but Mullins, Austin Hays and the rest of the outfielders also had their fair share of struggles.

Mullins, who has made several highlight-reel catches in the past week, said his participation in the World Baseball Classic for Team USA might have played a part in his slow start with the glove.

“The Boston series is the one that sticks out the most because it was the first one of the year. Guys were coming back from WBC. Me and [Anthony Santander], we didn’t get as many reps,” Mullins said. “I was playing left field [at the WBC] and wasn’t getting reps in center. I came back a week before opening day, and I wasn’t playing every day at that point either. I was still trying to get my legs up under me.”

It wasn’t just Boston, though. The defensive blunders continued through the first homestand. The worst was a high, shallow fly ball from New York Yankees slugger Anthony Rizzo that fell between Hays and Henderson — a batted ball that Statcast gave an expected batting average of .000.

“That’s been bothering me,” Hyde said in mid-April about his team’s defense. “We played great defense last year, and we’ve got to get back to that. … For us to be successful, we’re gonna have to play really good defense.”

Through April, the Orioles ranked 29th in the majors with minus-13 outs above average, which Statcast uses to measure the cumulative effect of all individual plays a fielder has been credited or debited with. In May, the Orioles have been league-average at minus-1.

The starkest improvement defensively has been from Henderson, whose minus-5 outs above average through April ranked worst on the Orioles and second worst among all major league players. The 21-year-old former top prospect was seen as a plus defender coming up through the minors, but he struggled early as he bounced between shortstop and third base, mostly with his throwing accuracy. He made four errors in his first 13 games, but he hasn’t committed one since April 18. In May, he’s at plus-1 outs above average.

Henderson played shortstop growing up and spent more time there in the minors than at third, a position he said he’s still learning the intricacies of.

“I’m just trying not to rush everything,” Henderson said. “At third, you have a little bit more time. Just getting that experience, I’m getting used to it. Each level you go up, the balls get a little bit harder. Everything wants to speed you up, but if you just take a breath and let your instincts take over, it’ll all work out.

“I’m putting the right work in, and I’m feeling really comfortable over there now.”

Playing sound defense is important for any team, but it might be more so for the Orioles. While the bullpen has high-strikeout pitchers such as Félix Bautista (15.9 strikeouts per nine innings), Danny Coulombe (12.8) and Bryan Baker (11.2), the starting rotation is mostly filled with pitch-to-contact arms, not including top prospect Grayson Rodriguez (11.0). Kyle Gibson, Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells and Kyle Bradish all have strikeout rates in the bottom 40% of qualified pitchers, and Baltimore’s starters as a whole rank 26th in the majors with 7.78 strikeouts per nine.

“We don’t have, especially rotation-wise, a ton of strikeout guys,” Hyde said. “So we’re gonna have to be able to catch the baseball and play really well defensively the rest of the way.”

That’s been the case for the past six games against the MLB-best Rays and National League-leading Atlanta Braves, and it’s coincided with an excellent stretch from the Orioles’ starters, who combined to allow nine runs in 33 2/3 innings in the two series.

One way Baltimore’s infield has been aiding its pitching staff is through its deftness at turning double plays.

Led by the rangy Mateo at shortstop, the Orioles have turned the most double plays in the majors with 42, and the importance of those players was on display in the club’s wins over the Rays on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We’ve got really good infielders. We had them last year, and we’re doing it again this year,” Hyde said. “Love the infield defense we’re playing and a huge help for our pitching staff.”

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