TAMPA, Florida-What’s happening?-Tyler Wells will make his second Grapefruit League start on Tuesday when the Orioles host the Tampa Bay Rays at Ed Smith Stadium at 1:05 p.m.
Wells allowed one hit in two innings against Atlanta in North Port in his first start. He’ll be opposed by Taj Bradley.
Centerfielder Cedric Mullins, who left the March 4th game with right hamstring discomfort, is aiming to play on Thursday when the Orioles play Pittsburgh at Bradenton.
“I’m feeling good,” Mullins said. “Progressions have gone really good. I’m running with no problems. I just want to give it a couple of more extra days, give the legs some endurance.”
Mullins has just nine spring training at-bats but is confident he has enough time to be ready for the March 28th opener.
“It’s about the mental prep as well,” Mullins said. “The swing’s feeling, taking some good at-bats leading into the season.”
Manager Brandon Hyde said that he doesn’t pay attention to spring training pitching lines. Two of the Orioles’ veteran relief pitchers, Craig Kimbrel (15.00 ERA) and Cionel Pérez (17.18), have had tough outings.
“I don’t look at their numbers,” Hyde said. “You know that the first five or six innings is going to be majority major league players that are on the other side, have those guys face major league players and see how they stack up … It’s mainly how they’re going to ramp up to the end of the season and how they’re throwing the ball here the last couple of weeks.
“I don’t put a lot of stock into early spring training outings on the mound. I’ve seen guys that’ve had terrible springs and won 20 games. You try to evaluate almost scout-wise with your eyes and look at their metrics and see if they can help you.”
What’s happened—Jackson Holliday had two more hits and drove in a run in the Orioles’ 5-3 loss to the New York Yankees before 9,273 at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Monday.
The 20-year-old Holliday, who’s hitting .323 with a .957 OPS, hit a grand slam on Sunday and played shortstop. Baseball’s top prospect is making his case to begin the season with the Orioles.
After an infield single in the first, he singled to drive in a run in the second, and struck out in the fifth.
Julio Teheran, who pitched three hitless innings in his first two outings, gave up four runs on three hits in 2 1/3 innings. The 33-year-old right-hander walked three and struck out one.
“That’s a tough top of the half of the order there, and it’s a major league top half of the order,” Hyde said. “Pretty good swings against him. Teheran’s got to be on the edges, and I thought maybe he missed location a couple of times. He got over 50 pitches, and I thought he changed speeds OK.”
Teheran walked Trent Grisham with the bases loaded in the first and surrendered a bases-loaded double to Austin Wells in the first.
“I feel like they had a plan for me coming into the game,” Teheran said. “Obviously, I was sticking to my plan, throwing my two-seam, especially to righties. I was throwing it inside, and the way I pitched, I didn’t throw anything on the plate. That way they can’t delete that pitch, and they made me go with different pitches, and I didn’t realize until my last inning that I was like, “Why aren’t they swinging at those pitches?’ They look kind of close.Sometimes you get teams like this that are really great, and they get an approach and make you pitch differently.”
Mike Baumann continued to pitch well, throwing another 1 2/3 hitless innings. Baumann has thrown 4 2/3 innings, striking out five. He walked his first batter of the spring in the fourth.
“It was nice to go out there in the middle of an inning and go back out, sit down, go out there for an inning,” Baumann said.
“The overall stuff has ticked up from last year,” Hyde said. “A little bit more rhythm in his delivery. He’s got a ton of life to his fastball, threw some really good curveballs again today. I love the way he’s throwing the ball right now.”
The Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu, Baumann’s final hitter, lined a ball off the 28-year-old right-hander’s right thigh. Bauman wasn’t hurt and walked off the mound.
In 2023, Baumann, who was converted into a full-time reliever late in spring training, was 10-1 with a 3.76 ERA.
“Since last year, every outing is just learning from each outing, trying to build off each one, whether it be good or bad,” Baumann said.
Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann allowed one run on six hits in three innings, striking out two and walking two.
Samuel Basallo made his Grapefruit League debut as the designated hitter and was 0-for-2. He grounded out to the mound in the eighth and flied to left with the bases loaded to end the game.
“I feel really happy and it felt really nice to be able to go out there and do a couple of swings,” Basallo said through a translator. “The results weren’t what I wanted. It was a really nice experience overall.”
The 19-year-old Basallo, a catcher/first baseman who is the team’s s No. 2 prospect (behind Holliday) and the 17th highest in baseball, hasn’t played in the field because of a stress fracture in his right elbow.
“We obviously have very high hopes for him,” Hyde said. “He’s a big-time talented kid.”
What’s up with?—Chayce McDermott pitched three scoreless innings on Sunday against Toronto in Dunedin, allowing two hits, striking out six and walking one.
“Everything was moving the right way and getting back in the zone,” McDermott said. “It was a good day.”
McDermott, a 25-year-old right-hander, has pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up five hits, striking out 10 and walking three. He was named as the Orioles’ top minor league pitcher last year and has found his time in major league spring training to be profitable.
“Just coming to watch the other guys and see how they operate,” McDermott said. “Watching them if they struggle a little bit, not getting ahead of themselves, staying who they are. That’s been a valuable lesson to watch.”
What’s what?—The Orioles have more than two weeks until they make the final decision on Holliday. He’s not overmatched and seems ready for big league play.
What’s the word? “It’s not always talking to them. It’s kind of just watching them, getting to see what they do is a little bit different than what I do and seeing what works for them.”-McDermott on what’s been most useful in his first major league camp.
What’s the number? 19. Basallo, the youngest player in Orioles’ camp, won’t turn 20 until August 13th.
What’s the record? 14-3-1. The Orioles host the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday at 1:05 p.m.