SARASOTA-What’s happening? Pitcher Chris Bassitt remembers the pain of the Toronto Blue Jays losing in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the spectacular 2025 World Series.
“I’m not over it,” he said. “I think the only way I can possibly get over it is to win one. I don’t think I’ll ever get over that. I still have a lot of pain from it for sure. It’s unfinished business. Being so close and yet still so far away, it sucks. Anything in baseball or anything in life is the failures teach you everything.
“We failed. A lot of people will say, ‘You didn’t really fail. There wasn’t really a loser in that World Series.’ We lost. We failed. We did things the wrong way. The only way to learn and the only way to really get through things is to fail … to answer your question, I’m not over it.”
On Friday, the Orioles announced the signing of the veteran starting pitcher to a one-year, $18.5 million contract. In 11 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland A’s, New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays, Bassitt is 83-65 with a 3.64 ERA. Bassitt, who will turn 37 on February 22nd, has four consecutive seasons of 30-plus starts.
Manager Craig Albernaz said there are many qualities Bassitt brings to the team.
“The veteran leadership. He’s battle tested,” he said. “He’s pitched in some really big games. Postseason and World Series last year. He brings a sense of calmness to the group. He’s been to a ton of spring trainings. He’s been on a ton of different teams.
“He’s going to fit in right away with what I know and heard about him, another person our young pitchers and every player can lean on throughout the season and in spring training.”
Albernaz is pleased that Bassitt is driven to win a World Series.
“That’s awesome, but I also think that [the goal of] every team and every player is to win a World Series when they come to spring training,” Albernaz said. “To have someone say that about us, it means a lot, but it’s just words.
“That’s the biggest thing we’ve been talking about in spring training: Our goal is to win the last game of the year and have an epic parade in Baltimore.”
During Albernaz’s time here, the Orioles have added Bassitt, Shane Baz and Zach Eflin to the starting staff.
“When you add guys, you want to see what they look like, and see how they mesh,” Albernaz said. “I keep on saying it, but ‘I like our guys’ before we got our guys, the other starting pitchers that no one talks about that we talk about here who are really good and have a ton of upside.”
What’s happened? Trevor Rogers, non-roster rookie Nestor German and Yennier Cano threw live batting practice in the stadium on Saturday. Chayce McDermott, Cameron Foster and non-roster invite Richard Guasch were scheduled to throw on the back field.
Rogers was dominant, striking out seven of the 10 batters he faced.
Heston Kjerstad, who hit again at Ed Smith Stadium on Saturday, hit a long home run on Friday.
“He looks like he’s physically in a great spot,” Albernaz said. “You can tell he’s put a ton of work in this offseason. He’s moving so efficiently in the box, and that’s the beauty of baseball. The game’s going to dictate what you need to adjust and change.”
Others to hit included Samuel Basallo, Dylan Beavers, Colton Cowser and Adley Rutschman and non-roster infielders Willy Vasquez and Weston Wilson.
What’s up with Hans Crouse? Crouse signed a minor league contract on January 20th. The 27-year-old right-hander was 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA in two starts with Philadelphia in 2021 and 4-3 with a 2.84 ERA in 25 games with the Los Angeles Angels in 2024.
Last year, Crouse tore his lat after two minor league appearances and was released a day after his injury.
“Ten months of recovery and rehab back home in Southern California,” he said. “This was always a place I was kind of intrigued by and this was also one of the teams that reached out literally within days of me being released by the Angels, too, so I knew they were interested from the get-go, which meant a lot to me.”
Crouse’s days of starting are over.
“I’m a reliever,” he said. “I transitioned into the bullpen going into the 2023 season. I’ve been relieving for three seasons. I feel like my skill set and pitch mix work really good out of the bullpen. Probably most likely for health concerns, the bullpen is where I’m going to stick at.”
What’s what? Bassitt’s arrival brings even more maturity to the Orioles clubhouse. That was something badly missing last season.
What’s the word? “Spring training, everyone’s excited and you want to put up good results and things like that because they’re all over the Internet if you don’t.”-Bassitt downplays the importance of Grapefruit League numbers.
What’s the number? 15. There are 15 players on the Orioles’ 40-man roster older than 30: Bassitt, who’ll turn 37 this month, is the oldest followed by Dietrich Enns, Taylor Ward, Rico Garcia, Yennier Cano, Zach Eflin, Ryan Helsley, Tyler Wells, Pete Alonso, Keegan Akin, Félix Bautista, Tyler O’Neill, Yaramil Hiraldo and Dean Kremer.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: [email protected]