Taveras, Orioles using bunting as a weapon: ‘Just trying to set the tone for the next guy’

Though the Orioles didn’t attempt a sacrifice in their first two games in Toronto this weekend, they’ve made the bunt a more important weapon in 2026.

In 2025, they sacrificed successfully just four times, fewest in the majors. Entering Saturday’s game, they had already sacrificed 10 times, tied for ninth.

Their leading bunter is Leody Taveras, who leads the American League with six sacrifice bunts. In his six previous major league seasons, he’s never had more than three.

“Hard work pays off,” Taveras said. He’s been working with outfield coach Jason Bourgeois on bunting. “I’m just trying to set the tone for the next guy.”

The six sacrifice bunts are the most by an Oriole since Caleb Joseph and David Lough each had six in 2014. Manny Machado had nine in 2013. Taveras probably isn’t a threat to Mark Belanger’s club record of 23.

“Every time I see an opportunity to bring a man to third with less than two outs, I feel everybody wants to hit with men on third and less than two outs,” Taveras said. “That’s a good situation for us. We just want to score runs and that’s a good [way] to do it.”

The Orioles have won five of the six games in which the 27-year-0ld centerfielder has sacrificed successfully.

As a young player, Taveras didn’t bunt, but when he signed with the Texas Rangers, he did.

“Down there you bunt a lot,” he said. “Lately, I’ve been finding a way to get better at it.”

After a challenging 2025 when Taveras was waived by Texas, claimed by Seattle and sent to the minors in June by Seattle, he worked with his cousin, longtime major leaguer Willy Taveras, and bunting was a focal point.

“If you can run, you don’t get into a slump,” Willy Taveras told his cousin. “Make sure you use your wheels. Put it down and just run.”

Blaze Alexander has two sacrifice bunts. Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers each has one.

“I feel we’re all good bunters,” Taveras said. “We’ve just got to have the confidence to go out there and have the opportunity to go out and do it.”

Taveras said it isn’t easy to bunt against a 98-mile-per-hour fastball.

“It’s all about the work you put in before the game,” he said. “Make sure you get some bunts down against the [pitching] machine. It’s going to be a little big easier. Not easy, but you’re going to have an idea how to handle that.”

As a switch-hitter, Taveras has always felt comfortable bunting from the left side, but said he’s getting more comfortable from the right side. He’s also at ease waiting as long as he can to square, something former Rangers manager Bruce Bochy emphasized.

“He realized that every time I squared too early, I got in trouble,” Taveras says. “Make sure you square a little bit late. It’s going to be a sac bunt, but it’s going to feel like a base hit bunt, a surprise bunt. So every time I go a little later, it feels better for me.”

He’s also bunted four times for hits.

Manager Craig Albernaz has used the bunt more frequently in recent weeks, though he realizes many of his players, who didn’t bunt in high school and college, have little experience.

“It’s very challenging,” Albernaz said. “Bunting is not as easy as everyone thinks it is. Bunting is hard. You can dial up the machine. You can do a bunch of training, but nothing replicates seeing an actual live arm in a game with the defense boring in on you and putting down the perfect bunt.

“For all our guys, getting those reps in the minor leagues are huge. Because you’re hitting third in High-A or Double-A doesn’t mean you’re going to hit third in the big leagues right away.

“The ability to bunt, especially left-on-left, it’s able to survive that matchup and keep you in the game in a big spot. It is challenging, but all of our guys are putting a lot of work in.

“I think we’ve been bunting the ball fairly well, considering we haven’t done it a whole lot. We are trending in the right direction. Our guys are putting a ton of work in and when the situation calls for it, I’m not scared to put it on with our guys.”

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