SARASOTA—As Craig Albernaz prepares for his first official day of spring training, the Orioles’ new manager said he didn’t feel nervous about leading a team through six weeks of preparation for the regular season.
“It’s sounds weird to say, not really. It’s a very calming feeling right now,” Albernaz said on Tuesday on an MLB video conference call. “It’s a comfortable place when you have great people around you and you allow them to do their jobs and do them well and just support them. It makes your job a lot easier.”
Albernaz was given unusual latitude on selecting coaches, and that should help keep him grounded.
Of the 11 Oriole coaches, seven are new and five have previous ties with Albernaz — Donnie Ecker (bench), Dustin Lind (hitting), Brady North (assistant hitting), Jason Bourgeois (first base) and Hank Conger (bullpen).
Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias is impressed by his new manager.
“He seems like he’s done this before,” Elias said. “I don’t sense any nervousness or apprehension about this being the first camp with him as a major league manager and with the talented team that [he has] going for it. I think he’s fully ready and prepared for this task. He’s had some really good jobs. What he’d done in Cleveland the last couple of years got him really prepared for this. He’s ready for it, and he’s been really thoughtful about it.
“He and the players are going to click really well; they already have. The communication’s going to be great. It’s just about him learning the players, learning the roster, seeing what happens in camp. I expect he’s going to be a huge positive factor for this club.”
After he got the job, Albernaz called players to introduce himself. He met some at last month’s Birdland Caravan and others in Sarasota.
There are 70 players, and Albernaz has first-hand knowledge about only a few. Pitchers and catchers have already reported, and there will be nine days of workouts before the first Grapefruit League game on February 20th.
Though the first official workout for all players is next Monday, most position players will report before then. The drills might be familiar, but he’s open to adjustments.
“This spring training schedule is not for us,” Albernaz said. “It’s not for me. It’s not for the staff members. It’s for the players. What we do on the field as far as practice environments, drills, that’s not for us as coaches. It’s for the players, so we need their feedback.
“That’s something we’ve been talking to our guys about. No matter what we do on the field, it’s for you. We need your feedback. The players’ feedback is the most valuable piece to that. Whether we need [to] make a drill look differently, run a certain schedule, make some adjustments, if there’s something they really like, and we need to double down on it, and keep rolling with it, we’ll do it.”
Albernaz is not thinking about putting his imprint on the club.
“I don’t know what’s going to stand out,” he said. “I’m going to be who I am and that’s what it is. It’s not a stamp, my stamp. It’s for us as a collective, players, coaches. It’s our collective stamp on there, and that’s what we’ve been preaching to our guys.”
He sees a motivated team that is eager to improve on last year’s 75-87 record.
FanGraphs projected a significant improvement. They forecast the Orioles to win 84 games, the same number as the Boston Red Sox. In their estimation, that would be good enough to qualify for a wild-card spot.
A playoff spot for a first-time manager would be an accomplishment.
“Our guys want to work,” Albernaz said. “They want to get better. They want to be challenged, so that makes your job a lot easier. There is no nervousness or butterflies.”
Since Albernaz was hired last fall, the Orioles completed their $23 million facility, and that energizes him.
“The only butterflies I have are excitement, to show up each day and be here and get to work with these guys,” he said. “That’s the coolest thing. The one thing I am nervous about is that we’ve got this new indoor facility, so I have to make sure our guys get outside and get some Vitamin D because we can stay inside all day and get everything done.”
More fan access: Expanded fan access for workouts will begin Wednesday. Fans can come to the Ed Smith Stadium complex for practices each workout day, and beginning on February 20th, each home and away game day to watch the team work out.
Practices are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Complimentary parking is provided in the East Lot.
This year, fans can watch pitchers throw in the new training facility.
On Sunday, Charm City Eats food truck will be on site from 9-1 to sell crab cakes and other Maryland-centric food items.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: [email protected]