SARASOTA, Fla.-What’s happening?-The Orioles might decide today if Alex Cobb can make his Opening Day start Thursday after leaving Saturday’s game because of soreness in his right groin. Manager Brandon Hyde said Cobb felt better on Sunday.
“We’re not going to take any chances with the start of the year,” Hyde said. “Cold weather, a lot of factors. We’ll need to see how he feels physically [today].”
Mark Trumbo will begin the season on the injured list. His surgically repaired right knee hasn’t healed sufficiently enough to allow him to play.
Trumbo will remain in Sarasota to continue his rehab, and it appears his return could take some time.
“I like this plan,” Trumbo said. “We’ve put a lot of thought into it.”
Trumbo had the surgery last September and was told healing could take 9-to-12 months.
Trumbo will back off baseball activities for now. He said that he would assess his condition weekly.
Dylan Bundy starts against the New York Mets in the Orioles’ final Grapefruit League game today. He’s scheduled to be followed by David Hess, John Means, Pedro Araujo, Jimmy Yacabonis and Richard Bleier.
The Orioles made a number of roster cuts on Sunday. The most noted were the optioning of catcher Chance Sisco and left-handed pitcher Tanner Scott to Triple-A Norfolk.
Sisco, who went 3-for-3 on Sunday against Pittsburgh, had a .382 spring average with four home runs and 11 RBIs. Scott, who pitched a scoreless inning, had an 8.00 ERA.
Left-handed pitcher Josh Rogers, who had a 4.24 ERA, was also optioned to the Tides. Catchers Carlos Perez and Andrew Susac were assigned to minor league camp.
Earlier Sunday, right-hander Evan Phillips, who pitched 9 2/3 scoreless innings, was optioned to Norfolk, and infielder/outfielder Jace Peterson was reassigned to minor league camp.
Phillips allowed nine hits and walked three. He struck out 10. Peterson hit .297 with a home run and five RBIs.
The Orioles have to drop a player from the 40-man roster to add Jesus Sucre, who along with newcomer Pedro Severino, appear to be the team’s catchers for Opening Day.
Catcher Austin Wynns and Cobb could join Trumbo on the injured list to begin the season.
Infielder Hanser Alberto remains in camp along with pitchers Pedro Araujo, John Means and Jimmy Yacabonis.
Last-minute waiver claims are also a possibility.
Sucre must be officially told today if the Orioles are adding him to the 40-man roster. Sucre said Hyde told him he wanted him on the team.
If Sucre isn’t added to the 40-man roster, he’ll be a free agent.
Outfielder Austin Hays had an MRI on his left thumb, which he injured sliding into a base.
What’s happened?— Andrew Cashner allowed a run on two hits in two innings as the Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates played to a 1-1 tie in Sarasota.
Cashner’s outing was abbreviated in case he’s needed to start Thursday’s opener at Yankee Stadium.
“You still prepare the same,” Cashner said. “It’s just another game…[but] Opening Day is definitely different.”
Cashner hasn’t been given the word that he’ll start in place of Cobb.
“Sad for him. He’s one of my best friends on the team,” Cashner said. “It’s definitely special. I want him to get that day. I had an Opening Day before, and he hasn’t, so I definitely want him to have that.”
Cashner sounds as if he’s preparing for the possible start.
“It’s a really cool day,” Cashner said. “The energy in the ballpark, baseball’s kind of kicking off. Never opened up in cold weather…It’ll be fun. We’ll see whether Cobb’s ready to go or whether it’s me.”
While the Orioles and Pirates tied in Sarasota, the other half of the split-squad lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-4, in Clearwater.
Paul Fry opened for the Orioles and allowed two runs, both unearned, on four hits in 1 2/3 innings. Gabriel Ynoa gave up six runs on nine hits in 2 1/3 innings.
What’s up with? Pedro Severino. Severino reported to camp a day after he was claimed on waivers from the Washington Nationals.
The 25-year-old catcher has played five games against the Orioles in his career. He did not play Sunday.
“On this team, I know a couple of guys, we played together in the minor leagues,” Severino said.
What’s what? If Trumbo played, he’d be the full-time designated hitter. Without Trumbo, Hyde won’t use a single DH.
“I think I’ll be creative with it,” Hyde said. “Depending on the starting pitcher that particular night. I think we have a lot of moveable pieces.”
What’s the word? “The stats look good and everything. I don’t think I had a clean [outing] all spring. There are things I can work on. I can go down and develop my other pitches.”-Phillips on his demotion
What’s the number? March 30, 2014. That’s the date of Cashner’s previous Opening Day start for the San Diego Padres. He allowed a run on four hits in six innings in a no-decision against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
What’s the record? 12-16-3. The Orioles play the New York Mets in their final Grapefruit League game at Ed Smith Stadium today at 1:05 p.m.
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Interesting pattern: Elias is sending down the young players who have come through the O’s farm system (Hays, Sisco, Scott, et al.), while keeping Martin, Jackson, and possibly Ruiz, all of whom went through other clubs’ player development programs. I realize the Rule V requirements have a lot to do with this, but it’s still an interesting look.
Interesting take Fareastern89. Keeping others outside O's development,dropping those developed by O's. Hmmm
The only guy we kept from outside the system is maybe Ruiz. Who has played in the majors before. Elias was part of the FO that drafted him as well so I imagine there’s something he likes there. The two rule 5 guys were necessities. Hays hasn’t played in AAA and we gain another year of control by keeping him down a few months. I think you might be reading too deep into that. Scott sucked again. The sisco move bothers me though. Don’t think he has much to prove in AAA again.
Martin and Jackson are “necessities” only if you think they’re worth keeping — that is, better than the alternatives developed in the O’s system. And Sisco certainly could use further work defensively. Since the pressure of learning at the major league level seemed to bother him last year, better to continue his development at Norfolk.
We don’t have any middle infielders developed in our system on the 40 man right now. Alberto, Jackson, and Martin are all from outside the .org. I’d say at least 1 of Martin or Jackson is a necessity at this point. Wilkerson was just DFA’d but he’s not a SS. It was two of those guys or Alcides Escobar so I don’t really see that as an outside v inside issue. Since they were all outsiders and it’s definitely preferable to have a backup who is SS capable.
Triple A has more talent than the major league roster.
Ditto that Brooks. You beat me to the punch.
Our Triple A team could be quite a powerful team given the talent that the big club has sent them. It might be good for those guys to play winning ball even if it is only for a short while.
Agree
Norfolk has a more exciting team then Baltimore. We kept two catchers who cannot hit. Some pitchers like Wright and others who cannot pitch and many rule five players who other clubs discarded. I rather have ugly with excitement and promise then ugly with dullness is what we go up north with.
you are correct.....
Is there any way to convince MASN to cover the Tides this year in lieu of the O's? They seem to have more young talent.
Its understandably frustrating to Orioles fans that several of the best performing players in Spring Training are starting the season in the minors. But Elias' goal is not to maximize the number of wins in 2019 - whether the Orioles win 60 games this season, or win 65, really doesn't matter much. The goal is to eventually field a competitive team capable of making a run at the playoffs, and that isn't going to happen for at least 2-3 years. At this point, I am deferring to Elias' judgement, and hoping for the best.
Did you defer to Dan and Buck's judgement? Or did you criticize one or both of them?
It is pretty obvious Elias is TANKING this season. I wonder how many hundred O's fans will be attending the games while the "Process" goes on.
Yes, like most fans, I did eventually become critical of Dan and Buck, but it wasn't before they had even finished their first spring training with the the team. Of course, everyone is free to express their opinion about Elias' moves. But Elias was hired because he is widely considered one of the smartest young executives in baseball, and I'm willing to trust his judgement for now.
2-3 is pretty optimistic in my opinion. It usually takes 4-5 for a full scale rebuild and we pretty much started at the bottom. All these guys we draft will need time to go through the minor league system. Can’t see it happening that fast. The Jays have a couple of potential star prospects making their way to the bigs sometime this year too. It’s going to be an uphill battle with the strength of our division.
Agree Victoree
After opening day the stands will have more ushers than fans... just sayin...
Not sure myself of what is going on,especially with Sisco.Tanner Scott seems to be more hype than performance so far so that I can understand.One possibility is hanging on to these fine defensive catchers may help get another player in exchange (via trade) down the line while at the same time providing excellent defense for a young team.The rule 5 guys throwing a wrench into some of this for sure and have not outperformed some of the ones sent down.I do believe there will be a big transformation of this team all year long so the starting team on Thursday will not be the norm.
I assumed Sisco was a lock to make the major league roster given our lack of players at the position and his hot spring. I guess they must really want the best defensive catcher to help out the rotation
I’m surprised the analytically based FO is allowing Mancini to play LF. I know we don’t care about winning this year but you’d think we might want to play people in a position where they might stick. DH is wide open for at least 2
Months and I don’t think anyone would be sad to see Mancini play a good amount of 1B over Davis. But We’ve pretty much sent down pretty much every OF who could fill in there at this point.
Agree makes sense
No concerns with them sending anyone down based off of spring training numbers. Those numbers are never legit - they're playing against B-squad wanna-be's and A-squad who are tweaking things. Let's give Sisco a few months to earn his way back up and see what he can do by the All-Star break. Ditto Hays. though I doubt Diaz and Montcastle come up since they're not on the 40.
If Trumbo goes on the 60-day DL, I'm betting there's no chance they get anything of value for him in a trade, especially with the new trade deadline hard stop on July 31.
Wow Sisco must be super raw as a catcher to be demoted after this spring. Originally I thought Elias' use of the Rule 5 was done properly for the first time in recent O's history but now I wonder if it's left them with too much inexperience in the infield. With Trumbo on the IL please get Mancini out of LF and put him at DH. Why do I have this eery feeling that Nunez will DH and Mancini will sill be in LF?
If the strategy is to completely distance themselves from the past, they’re well on the way! The big question is what is their fixation with Wright? He should’ve been gone two years ago.