LAKELAND, Florida—What’s happening? There are only five days left for spring training in Florida. After two nights of rain and two canceled games, the Orioles played in unseasonably cold weather on Tuesday.
They faced future Hall of Fame starter Justin Verlander and a possible Hall of Fame closer, Kenley Jansen, in a 1-1 tie with the Detroit Tigers before 7,249 at Joker Marchant Stadium. Verlander allowed a home run to his final batter, Bryan Ramos, with two outs in the fifth. Ramos, who played second base for the first time, had three hits.
At 43, Verlander is the oldest player in the majors and among the players he faced was 21-year-old Samuel Basallo, who hit a double.
“Verlander is still Verlander.” manager Craig Albernaz said. “He was throwing 96 today. He was sitting around 94. The pitchability is a real thing with Verlander … It’s good for our guys to face guys like that.”
The Orioles started their oldest player, 37-year-old Chris Bassitt
Bassitt threw 89 pitches in 5 1/3 scoreless innings, the longest by an Oriole starter this spring. He allowed three hits, striking out six without walking a batter and has a 2.51 ERA in 14 2/3 innings.
Shortstop Gunnar Henderson will return to the Orioles after Tuesday night’s World Baseball Classic final between Team USA and Venezuela. Albernaz is going to lean on Henderson to determine how much he’ll play in the final few games of spring training.
“We want to check in with him, see how he’s feeling, see what he needs,” Albernaz said. “That’s going to be a great conversation to have.”
The Orioles announced that on Tuesday and Wednesday fans can purchase single-game tickets to all regular-season home games, excluding Opening Day, without added fees. The offer is valid for all single-game tickets for all home games, with a limit of 14 tickets per order. All per-ticket order fees are waived during this limited time offer. Maryland State Admission taxes and fees will still apply. The offer ends at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18th.
What happened? Bassitt won’t get another start in Florida.
“You know when the season’s coming,” Bassitt said. “All you can do is tell yourself when it’s coming. When we get on the plane, that’s when I kind of know.”
Albernaz was satisfied with what he saw from Bassitt.
“I would say he’s on track for the season,” he said. “I would say that’s a great workload. Efficiency, that’s the biggest thing we keep talking about. He just loves to pitch. We had to get him off the mound.”
Bassitt has watched Verlander pitch for years and admires his stamina.
“I grew up kind of coming up watching him,” Bassitt said. “For him to still do it at such a high level, super impressive. I have a lot of admiration for him and the [Max] Scherzers and those guys that have been around the block a long time. It’s impressive how consistent they are every single year and how good they are.”
Basallo and Bassitt are establishing a good rapport.
“I thought he was incredible,” Basallo said through a team translator. “It’s been a really good relationship working with him so far.”
Basallo’s double against Verlander was a big thrill.
“When I got that hit and made it to second, he looked over and said, ‘Nice hit.’ Hearing something like that is really special,” Basallo said.
Cody Mayo, who hadn’t played since March 10th, was 0-for-2 with a walk. Ryan Mountcastle, who left the March 11th game after he was hit by a pitch on the right hand, was 1-for-4.
Rico Garcia, in his first appearance since pitching for Team Puerto Rico, threw a spotless seventh. Jose Espada, who also pitched for Puerto Rico, gave up the tying run, which was unearned on a passed ball by Basallo and a wild pitch.
What’s up with Leody Taveras? The 27-year-old switch-hitting outfielder was signed as a free agent on November 6th.
Taveras, who was the starting centerfielder for the Texas Rangers when they swept the Orioles in the American League Division Series in 2023, hit a combined .205 last season with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 58 games for the Rangers and Seattle.
He’s confident he can rebound.
“That’s in the past,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do for that. I’ve just got to keep working this year and look forward to having a great year.”
Taveras struck out in each of his three at-bats on Tuesday and is hitting .207.
What’s what? On St. Patrick’s Day, both the Orioles and Tigers wore orange uniform tops with green caps. The Orioles wore gray pants while the Tiger wore white.
What’s the word? “You don’t face many guys like that in the minor leagues.”-Albernaz on Basallo facing Verlander
What’s the number? 56. After many days of extremely warm temperatures, Monday night’s rain brought the temperature down; it was just 56 degrees at game time.
What’s the record? 8-11-3. The Orioles will play the Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida at 1:07 p.m. on Wednesday. Albert Suárez will start against Josh Fleming. Suárez has allowed eight earned runs on 13 hits in 6 2/3 innings for a 10.80 ERA.
Ben Wagner and Ryan Ripken will broadcast the game on MASN.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: [email protected]