Can the Orioles keep pitching well with such low strikeout rates?

The modern game has taught us that strikeouts are king in baseball. The Orioles' relative pitching improvement this year has occurred

Something strange is happening with the Orioles’ pitching staff, and it’s not just that they’re often keeping the team in games.

That’s a bit out of character in recent years too, of course, with a staff that on a league-adjusted basis is right around average this year representing a massive improvement from one that has set records for its ineffectiveness and inability to keep the ball in the park over the last few full seasons.

This year’s group, through 30 games, had a 3.85 FIP and 3.89 xFIP backing up a 3.59 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. Impressive even without the league-wide decline in offense factored in. But curiously, they’re doing it without striking batters out at high rates, an anomaly in the modern game that brings into question how this is working and whether it’s sustainable.