SARASOTA—What’s happening? After two consecutive rainouts, the Orioles will return to action against the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland. Manager Craig Albernaz had Kyle Bradish, who was supposed to start on Monday night against Boston, throw live batting practice on the Ed Smith Stadium Field. The Orioles-Red Sox game was canceled, and Sunday night’s Orioles-Yankees game was washed out in the third inning.
Second baseman Jackson Holliday, who is recovering after surgery to remove the hamate bone from his right wrist, hopes to return to the Orioles by early-to-mid April and play for Triple-A Norfolk in their opener on March 27th.
Third baseman Jordan Westburg, who has a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, still doesn’t have a timetable after receiving a platelet-rich-plasma injection on February 19th. President of baseball operations Mike Elias ruled Westburg out until at least May 1st.
The Orioles continued to trim their roster on Monday, reassigning right-handed pitcher Enoli Paredes and infielder Willy Vasquez to minor league camp.
There are 49 players on the spring training roster, including 13 non-roster invitees and relievers Félix Bautista and Colin Selby, who are on the 60-day injured list.
On Sunday, the Orioles optioned left-hander Cade Povich to minor league camp.
“Getting late in camp, innings are getting scarce,’ manager Craig Albernaz said. “There was no pathway for him breaking with us Opening Day, so the biggest thing for him and for us was to get him into regular game action to make sure he’s getting built up and also you want him to hit the ground running when the season starts.”
What happened? Albernaz and his staff enjoyed watching Gunnar Henderson’s home run in Team USA’s 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic on Sunday night in a World Baseball Classic semifinal.
“When Gunnar hit it, the whole place went nuts,” Albernaz said. “It was awesome to see. We were fired up.”
Henderson has been a standout, batting .429 with six hits in 14 at-bats, including two home runs. Team USA will play Venezuela in the final on Tuesday night.
Rico Garcia, Jose Espada and Luis Vázquez rejoined the Orioles after playing for Team Puerto Rico
Garcia pitched a hitless 1 1/3 innings in two games played in San Juan.
“It was nothing I ever expected,” Garcia said. “It was like a playoff game every game. Just experiencing that was something I’ll never forget.”
What’s up with Dietrich Enns? The 34-year-old left-hander joined the Orioles at the trade deadline last July and was 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA and two saves in 17 games.
“Had some work to do with the changeup. It was hit-or-miss at the start of spring, but it felt pretty good last time out,” Enns said.
He thinks the bullpen is stronger than last year’s.
“We’ve got a lot of good arms,” Enns said. “I’ve been impressed with all the guys I’ve seen throw.”
Enns noted improvements made by another left-hander, Grant Wolfram.
“Wolfie’s had a good camp, just watching the strides he’s made as a player. It’s electric stuff. It’s been fun to watch him, and then a couple of the young guys, [Anthony] Nunez and [Cameron] Foster, they’ve been good, too.”
Enns has allowed eight runs on nine hits in five innings for a 14.40 ERA with two home runs.
What’s what? Garcia had never spent real time in Puerto Rico. His father is Puerto Rican and his mother is Hawaiian.
“It was beautiful, the people, the food there, it was everything I could dream of,” Garcia said.
What’s the word? “He is going to be a valuable piece for us this season and moving forward, so we want to make sure he’s getting the proper work.”-Albernaz on Povich
What’s the number? It depends. Albernaz does not have a specific number of at-bats in mind for each player during Grapefruit League games.
“What they feel like they need,” Albernaz said. “I think that’s why we don’t have a magic number for the guys. I pulled up what the guys did last year.
“For me, it’s the regular playing time that’s the biggest thing, not so much the at-bats … It’s the sheer volume of the workload, not so much the at-bats. That’s why we’ve been trying to manipulate the lineup, moving guys up and down.”
What’s the record? 8-11-2. The Orioles will play the Detroit Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida on Tuesday at 1:05 p.m. Chris Bassitt will start against Justin Verlander. Bassitt has allowed four earned runs on six hits in nine innings with six walks and five strikeouts
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