Orioles’ spring training observations

SARASOTA—The final days of spring training are here. The Orioles will play 10 games in the last nine days in Florida, with a split-squad on March 19^th. One Oriole team will play the New York Yankees in Tampa at 1:05 p.m.; the other will play Pittsburgh at home at 6:05 p.m.

The team’s final game in Florida is on March 21^st at 1:05 p.m. against Philadelphia, and two games in Baltimore and Washington against the Nationals are on March 22^nd and 23^rd.

Here are things that have stood out during the first month of spring training:

Starters look strong

The Orioles came up empty when they looked for a free-agent ace. All the big names signed elsewhere while the Orioles settled for depth signings.

Besides adding Shane Baz in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Orioles re-signed Zach Eflin and early in spring training signed veteran Chris Bassitt.

Bassitt has been a huge addition in the Orioles’ clubhouse. He regularly leads discussions with pitchers, and has been upholding his reputation as a mentor.

On Wednesday, he was part of a spring training rarity when Bassitt worked the final four innings of a game that Kyle Bradish started and pitched five.

Using just two starters in a Grapefruit League game was unusual and impressive.

Most impressive was Bradish’s one-hit, five-inning start against the Pirates.

Manager Craig Albernaz hasn’t named an Opening Day starter, but it would be a surprise if it weren’t Bradish.

Trevor Rogers, who’ll start Saturday against Pittsburgh in Bradenton, looked sharp in two Grapefruit League starts, pitching five scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing two hits.

He didn’t look sharp against Team Netherlands on March 3^rd, but that shouldn’t bother anyone.

Bassitt has pitched well, and so have Shane Baz and Zach Eflin in limited exposure.

Dean Kremer had a fine outing for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic and threw four scoreless innings behind Rogers against Team Netherlands.

Albernaz hasn’t hinted at the composition or order of his starting staff, whether he’ll go with five starters or six, but it seems like his choices are appetizing ones.

Hard to make judgments on the infield

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson had just 17 at-bats before leaving for the World Baseball Classic on March 1^st, and he’s shown off a robust bat playing for Team USA.

It’s not Henderson’s bat that’s been missing the last 10 days. It’s his infield leadership.

The Orioles will begin the season without second baseman Jackson Holliday, who’s recovering from surgery to remove his hamate bone from his right wrist, and third baseman Jordan Westburg, who had a platelet-rich-plasma injection in his right elbow.

Coby Mayo looks like he’ll be starting at third while Blaze Alexander will play second.

Albernaz has used a variety of players at shortstop, but it would be best for Mayo and Alexander if they got more time with Henderson.

If Team USA makes it to the WBC final on March 17^th, Henderson will be available for only a few final Grapefruit League games.

Kids are fun to watch

Spring training in 2022 and 2023 were fun to watch because the Orioles had players likely to be playing in Baltimore soon.

Henderson, Holliday, Westburg, Colton Cowser and Adley Rutschman got time in Grapefruit League games.

This spring, the Orioles have shown off some promising young starters — Nestor German, Trey Gibson, Luis De Léon and Levi Wells.

They’ve also played some interesting position players who won’t be playing in Baltimore this year — Nate George, Vance Honeycutt and Ike Irish.

George, who hit .337 with an .896 OPS and won the organization’s minor league player of the year, Honeycutt and Irish, the two most recent No. 1 draft picks, all should play in the annual Spring Breakout game against Boston Red Sox prospects on March 20^th.

Honeycutt excited fans with four home runs in his first four-at bats and then hitting a single in his fifth. Irish is 4-for-4 in late-inning appearances while George is hitless in five at-bats.

Last season, Honeycutt struggled through an awful first full professional season, hitting .178 and striking out 171 times while hitting only five homers in 101 games for High-A Aberdeen. Honeycutt played a strong center field in last year’s Spring Breakout with Enrique Bradfield, the 2023 top draft pick, playing left.

An outfield of Bradfield, George and Honeycutt could be fun to watch next Friday.

Irish, who played in only 20 games for Single-A Delmarva, hasn’t caught in Grapefruit League games, though he has played the outfield.

Last Saturday, Wehiwa Aloy, who was the No. 31 overall pick last year and a teammate of Irish, started at shortstop and played well.

Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers, MLB Pipeline’s top two Oriole prospects, won’t be playing in Spring Breakout, but George, De Léon, Gibson, Irish and Aloy, ranked third through seventh, should all be on display.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles’ questions most weekdays. Please submit yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.