What’s happening? – Dean Kremer will make his third start of the spring against the Detroit Tigers at 1:05 pm on Sunday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. The Tigers will start Spencer Turnbull.
Kremer pitched three scoreless innings, allowing a hit, a walk and striking out three, against Minnesota on Tuesday.
The bullpen competition is heating up, and Dillon Tate is part of it. Tate has allowed four runs in three innings,
“With the guys in camp, it’s going to be really competitive,” Tate said. “At the same time, it’s more of a me-versus-me deal, so I feel like this is something where I’m just focusing on what it is that I have to do, and things that I have to get better at in order to make myself … better than I was the previous year.”
Hunter Harvey, who injured his oblique muscle on Friday, could be replaced by another short reliever or a multi-inning pitcher when the Orioles head north to start the 2021 season.
“We’ll address the pitching situation when it comes closer to when we break [camp],” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We could see another short-inning bullpen guy or a guy who could give us length out of the ‘pen. It opens up a spot on our pitching staff, so it could be a Rule 5 guy. It could be somebody else.”
Tanner Scott is concerned about Harvey, whose potential has been derailed by injuries throughout his career.
“It’s definitely tough to see,” Scott said. “A teammate and a friend. He’s got unbelievable stuff. He’s a great person. He’s a really good pitcher, and I’m hoping he’s back as soon as possible. Everyone does.”
Harvey was scheduled to be re-evaluated on Saturday.
DJ Stewart, who injured his left hamstring on March 5th, might be able to return late next week. Chris Davis continues to get treatment for a lower-back injury.
What happened? Adley Rutschman’s seventh-inning double was the Orioles’ only hit as they lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-0, on Saturday in Dunedin, Florida.
“Certain guys are swinging the bats better than others,” Hyde said. “We’ve talked a lot about our approach. Our hitting guys have talked to the guys about their approaches the last few days because we feel like they’re really overswinging, not making a whole lot of adjustments throughout an at-bat, not committing to a two-strike approach. That’s just something we’ve got to get better at as a club.
“It’s not everybody. I still think Cedric Mullins is taking good at-bats. Austin Hays is taking good at-bats, [Pedro] Severino is not getting results, but he’s taking good at-bats. We’re not scoring a whole lot of runs right now. We’ve just got to have a little better ‘keep the lines moving’ mentality.”
Severino was hitless in three at-bats and is 1-for-16 (.063) this spring.
“I think we have a lot of guys that are trying way too hard and swinging way too hard,” Hyde said. “No matter the count, they’re trying to put their ‘A’ swing, trying to hit the ball as hard as they can instead of managing an at-bat, a middle-of-the-field approach, and then a battle mode with two strikes. We’re just swinging hard, and a lot. I do think that’s inexperience and youth, especially with our younger guys.”
Hyde is trying to be patient, even though the team is hitting .202.
“We’ve got over two weeks to go,” he said. “We’re addressing different things every day with our club, especially when we’re home, and it’s got to get better.”
Rutschman’s hit came on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.
“Deep count, took some really good swings,” Hyde said. “Fouled some balls back, fouled some tough pitches off, found something he could handle and put a good swing on it. We’ve got to do more of that collectively.”
Starter Wade LeBlanc allowed two runs on two hits in three innings. He walked three and struck out three. He worked his way out of a third-inning jam.
“Those kind of situations are where pitchers earn their money,” LeBlanc said. “It’s good to get some of those in, feel that adrenaline spike and learn how to deal with that because once you’re going through an offseason with a lot of downtime, you kind of lose that feeling, and it’s good to get it back.”
For the second straight year, LeBlanc is in camp on a minor league deal. He thinks the 2021 pitching staff is better.
“You watch some of these young guys throw, and the kind of arms we have in this camp, it’s different than it was last year, for sure,” LeBlanc said. “If you’re an Orioles fan, there’s a lot to be excited about moving forward. The competition is definitely a little bit stiffer. You’ve got to be on your game every time you’re out there.”
What’s up with? Eric Hanhold threw a scoreless seventh, striking out one. In five innings this spring, he’s allowed one earned run on three hits, striking out four and walking one.
“It’s about command with Eric,” Hyde said. “He’s got a really live fastball that darts all over the place. He threw a great changeup for a punchout today. He’s got a really good slider.”
Hanhold is in camp on a minor league contract for the second straight year.
“He’s got an upper-90s fastball that moves, sinks. He’s a really tough at-bat,” Hyde said.
What’s what? The four pitchers sent to Triple-A Norfolk on Friday — Mike Baumann, Zac Lowther, Isaac Mattson and Alexander Wells — threw little in games. All four were added to the 40-man roster in November.
“They threw a lot on the back fields,” Hyde said. “They just didn’t throw a lot in games because the shorter games, the lack of the split-squad. All the guys that went down either needed to get stretched out or needed to face hitters in a different environment.
“Right now, we’re limited innings-wise because we’re stretching out so many starters and so many people that we’re just running out of innings in games. This is an opportunity to get them more work and more game action down there.”
What’s the word? “I’m going to go out there and do whatever is best for the team. If the team, says, ‘we want you to go out there for multiple innings,’ it’s multiple innings. If it’s one inning, then it’s one inning. Ultimately, I’m going to do what I’m asked.”-Tate on whether he’d like to pitch more than one inning.
What’s the number? .202, .599. After 13 spring training games, the Orioles rank last in the majors in batting average and OPS.
What’s the record? 3-9-1. The Orioles play the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland at 1:05 pm Sunday. The game is available on MLB.TV on Detroit’s stream. It can also be heard on Tigers radio.
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Severino 1 for 16 but he’s taking good at bats. Adley the best catcher on the team
and possibly player but he won’t start the season here. That about sums up everything
Totally agree, the new “Oriole Way”...go O’s...
Rutschman has very good batting stats this spring over 12 plate appearances. In 2019 at A Delmarva, he slashed .154/.261/.333 (OPS .594) over 12 games and 49 PAs. Might be a good idea to give him some time at AA and AAA levels first IMHO.
Team BA of .202 for Spring against many Minor League pitchers. That’s some Chris Davis numbers there!
There are 2 things I find concerning in this article about Hyde’s comments. First the excuse that guys don’t know how to approach hitting with 2 strikes and are over-swinging, he chalked up to being young and inexperienced. How about the O’s teach hitters how to hit in A, AA and AAA so when they get a chance to play with the big league team they’re ready. Seems like an easy fix and I don’t want to hear that there was no minors last year, this has been an issue for years.
Secondly, he said that the pitchers sent to AAA were throwing a lot of innings on the back fields because they were limited innings wise due to shortened games this spring aka the 7 inning games. It was my understanding that both managers had to agree to shorten games or else they would go the full 9. Seems like Hyde brought this problem on himself. Why not say “no we’re playing 9 because I’ve got 4-5 arms I want to see in game situations”? I get that they play back field games but it’s against lesser competitors.
2019 Minor League Stats:
Norfolk Tides struck out the least number of times of all 14 International League teams
Bowie Baysox struck out the least number of times of all 12 Eastern League teams
Delmarva Shorebirds was 8th out of 14 Southern League teams in strike outs for the season
Let’s bring the best players north. Successful teams line the Jays, Yanks and RedSox always seem to push their young stars. Orioles seem to be scared of success.
Hitting is atrocious and pitching is a dumpster fire, bring up the youngsters
Just a short presentation of commenters here so far but I think you can see the frustration some of us fans have at this point.For the most part the team is looking pretty pathetic numbers wise, and that is reflected in their being in last place of all the teams in BA and on base percentage.Pitching is hit and miss and I am being complimentary with that statement.I agree with the 1-16 comment on Severino swinging a good bat.Time for Hyde and the coaching staff to put some pressure on these guys to pick up their game if they want to be major league ball players. We have seen and listened to this stuff for the last 3 years and it seems to be the same old same old. I wonder if they realize how repetitious they sound and look for that matter. Last in this, and last in that, should be unacceptable at this point with the so called talent in camp.I would hope that everybody starts picking up their game ( everybody) and starts performing in a more competitive way. If they are all playing on tippy toes trying to make the team or keep their positions then someone should realize this and change their approach. I realize we are just bystander fans who don’t really have an insight to what is actually going on,but we are judging from results and this team does not look ready for opening day.That is the truth of the matter, and it is time to man up and play the game the way that got you all to this point!
I agree with everything you wrote 100 per cent. Same old stuff and after three years it looks worse this spring. At this point this is a triple A and not major league team. Elias rebuild needs some kind of renovations soon as Hyde can’t complement a 1 for 16 start no matter how desperate he us to say something positive
Ryan Mountcastle is 2-19 in Spring Training. These numbers are irrelevant . What’s important is what happens April 1. Rutschman hasn’t played above low A ball yet. Let’s see what he does at Bowie before handing him the starting job. And let’s have a little patience. Elias has been here 1 year and 60 games. Last year was a waste with no minor leagues. It affected all teams, but the Orioles could have used a full minor league season to develop their prospects. The Orioles were 47-115 in 2018. The Angelos brothers wanted a rebuild that would be sustainable for a long period of time. The 1998-2011 strategy of quick fixes never worked. So let the prospects develop properly so they aren’t riding the Norfolk shuttle. This isn’t the NFL, where your first round pick is starting Game 1 in September
You see ....that comment about Rutschman not playing above A ball yet .... sorry Claydal , but I just don't buy that.
Think about it .... that camp last year has to be at LEAST an AA+ to AAA- level. Condensed, intense and under the control and scrutiny of the organization.
If Rutchsman is incapable of playing major league ball right now ... what's the point of 'grooming' him against inferior competition? The reason they don't bring him up now is the same reason they kept their foot on the speedier promotions of Mountcastle, Hayes, Sisco and Santander. Service time and tanking to the top of next years draft yet again. They simply do not care what the product is they're putting on field for the 3rd year in a row. This stinks.
Thx Boog, sometimes seems like you & I are the only ones that would like to see them play their best players now...go O’s...
Would those of you urging the O's to play their "best players" please reveal the objective criteria by which you judge the "best." Hopefully, performance in college or low-level minor leagues are not your key metrics.
BTW, things are picking up: the team quadrupled the number of hits today over yesterday.
The damned eyeball test is good enough for me. That and some AA numbers is nice.
Of the players I listed above, Hays, Santander, Mountcastle, Sisco ...and yeah I was on the Mullins boat as well ... tell me who else in the organization are better than than those boys?
And if high level college ball is to be ignored ... why give Rutchsman that $$? Besides .. didn't he tear up that camp last year? And hasn't be been ready from day one defensively?
I'm no scout or baseball savant or anything, but c'mon, sometimes a cigar really is a cigar.
They gave Rutschman a lot of money because he was drafted one-one. He was drafted that high because of his huge potential. I will remain out of the Rush Rutschman club until someone convinces me he is now capable of knowing which pitches to call based on the batter, pitcher, and game situation.
And what does a cigar have to do with all this?
This is Hyde's 3rd Sprint Training, not 3rd season and it is not completed yet. Every player at ST believes he should be on the team going North. If they did not believe that, every one of us would be alarmed. I, too, am very put off by O's performance and Hyde's comments. I am not convinced that he is the right guy for this job. Last year's shortened season was a improvement, but should have been at least 5 games better. It should be noted that three of the players who are not hitting, the O's are counting on to perform - Mancini, RM, Anthony S. Once again, Sisco disappoints with his hitting and certainly his catching. A dearth of IFs is most discouraging.
I agree Phil , I’m also disappointed in Sisco. I thought two minor league seasons ago with his sweet swing he would be a player not anymore. Without being repetitive our other catcher is having a worst spring batting clean up and being praised by Hyde for 1 for 16, CD type numbers. That comment really annoys me. I appreciate some other commentators optimism and I really think no one expected things to go so bad so far this spring but when you let go of three of your best hitters and replace them with castoffs and do nothing about third base what do you expect
Not disagreeing with you on Severino, or Hyde. Sisco does not play the position as well as Severino. So he has to hit. RM must hit too. Hard to DH if you don't hit.
That batting average is RIDICULOUS !!!! This group couldn’t win playing in the Eastern League. Why would anybody pay good $$$ to see this batch of wanna-be’s. I didn’t watch last year and, so far, there’s no reason to think I’ll be watching this year, no matter how much “hype” the PR people push out.
Put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig...go O’s...
This team is going to hit. Not worried one bit about that.
Hit the skids?
Agree with hitting, they need to play all the time, I understand the occasional day off, but between changed positions & DHing, in my opinion only a very few can just DH, they need to be in the game & play regularly to get into a flow of things ...just an opinion...pitching, kinda the same thing, just let the youngens throw...go O’s...