SARASOTA, Fla. – In the first few innings today, Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez was getting swings and misses, putting up zeros, hitting the high 90s at times and showing why he is one of the best pitching prospects in baseball. But it got away from him a bit in the fourth as Boston scored four runs.

The Orioles ended the day with a win, thanks in large part to Adley Rutschman’s grand slam to left in the last of the fourth. That turned a two-run deficit into a 6-4 Baltimore lead and they won by that score. The Orioles improved to 6-8-2 in front of a sun-splashed crowd of 6,959 at Ed Smith Stadium.

Boston (9-3-3) lost for just the third time in 15 games.

Rodriguez fanned two batters in each of the first three innings. Through three he had faced one batter over the minimum with a shutout on one single allowed. He needed just 26 pitches the first two innings as his fastball touched 97 and 98 mph on the stadium radar gun.

But Boston put the first five batters on against him in the fourth, scoring twice to gain the lead. He left down 2-1 with the bases loaded and no outs. Right-hander Morgan McSweeney inherited the huge jam and two more runs scored on his watch, both charged to Rodriguez.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles announced today the passing of Luis Andrés Ortiz Soriano, a 20-year-old minor league player from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. 

A team statement read: "Our hearts are heavy today as we mourn the passing of minor league pitcher Luis Andrés Ortiz Soriano. Luis was an inspiration to all who knew him, especially as he courageously battled cancer. Our hearts go out to his family and friends."

The young man did not have any stats for the 2022 season. In 2021 in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League he went 1-2 with a 5.52 ERA in 14 2/3 innings.

Manager Brandon Hyde passed along his thoughts to start his pregame press update.

"Want to pass on condolences to the Luis Ortiz family. Sad news last night. From all of us here - our major league staff and players - we want to give our condolences to the Ortiz family," he said. 

SARASOTA, Fla. – When Connor Norby slammed an RBI single to left at 94.1 mph and later Heston Kjerstad smoked an RBI double to center at 105 mph Saturday in Dunedin, those were the two most recent examples of the young kids continuing to swing the bat well and impress at O’s spring camp.

Some of these prospects won’t make the Opening Day roster this time around but they are nonetheless making an impact and starting to make a mark on this team and its future. Yes it’s just spring and a small sample, but some of the OPS figures for this group of talented young players are strong: 

1.447 – Heston Kjerstad
.884 – Jackson Holliday
.857 – Joey Ortiz
.809 – Connor Norby
.793 – Colton Cowser

Norby hit the ball hard twice Saturday, going 2-for-2. He is 7-for-21 this spring with three doubles and two RBIs. He led the O’s minors last year with 29 homers and produced an .886 OPS between High-A Aberdeen, Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk.

“He has swung the bat extremely well (this camp),” manager Brandon Hyde said after the Orioles lost 8-6 in Saturday’s matchup with Toronto. “He’s making strides defensively, but we like the bat a lot. Had a really good minor league year last year at the upper levels and he’s going to have a chance to hit.”

DUNEDIN, Fla. – Sometimes in spring training games a pitcher could be working on something new or trying to add his repertoire. O’s right-hander Austin Voth did that today as the Orioles faced the Toronto Blue Jays.

Toronto hit two-run homers in the sixth and seventh off right-hander Mike Baumann as the Blue Jays beat the Orioles 8-6.

The O's rallied in the ninth on Connor Norby's RBI single and Heston Kjerstad's 105 mph RBI double, but fall to 5-8-2. They host Boston tomorrow with right-hander Grayson Rodriguez on the mound.

Voth, who allowed two runs and three hits in 2 2/3 innings, threw a sweeper for the second time this spring today. It’s a pitch with big movement that often breaks the width of the plate. Per Statcast, his sweeper today sat right between his cutter and curveball in velocity. The sweeper averaged 83.2 mph with his cutter at 89.2 and curve at 77.9 mph.

“This is the second outing that I started throwing a sweeper,” Voth said outside the Baltimore clubhouse. “I want to incorporate that a bit more. I know that is going to be a big pitch for me down the road. And then, backdoor cutters to lefties and also throwing it frontdoor as well. Just trying to get a better feel for my spin right now.”

DUNEDIN, Fla. – The Orioles will be without infield prospect Joey Ortiz for likely a few days at least. Manager Brandon Hyde told reporters here today at TD Ballpark that Ortiz is now in concussion protocol. He took a bad-hop groundball off his head in drills a few days ago and has not yet been cleared to return to the field.

The club’s fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft, Ortiz is 3-for-12 with a double, triple, one run scored and two RBIs in six spring games.

He is ranked as the No. 66 prospect in the FanGraphs.com top 100 list and is also rated No. 71 by ESPN, No. 95 via Baseball America and The Athletic and No. 99 by MLBPipeline.com.

Left-hander Cole Irvin threw to hitters today on an Ed Smith Stadium back-field, Hyde said, but he did not get a chance to see the outing before he headed to today’s game. Nor did he have a report yet on it.

O’s lefty pitching prospect  DL Hall was also scheduled to throw to live hitters for the first time today as well back in Sarasota. Hall keeps progressing toward getting into a spring game after being slow played earlier in camp. He dealt with some lower back discomfort before spring training began but all is fine now. Soon he will get into game action.

DUNEDIN, Fla. - The Orioles headed north today for a game with their American League East rival Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark. The Orioles are 5-7-2 after a 5-5 tie last night with the Minnesota Twins at Ed Smith Stadium.

Terrin Vavra is in the lineup for the second day in a row after missing seven games due to left shoulder soreness. He went 1-for-2 last night with a single and is batting .538 (7-for-13) in five spring games. Vavra is starting today at second base and batting leadoff.

Gunnar Henderson, who is 2-for-17 in spring games, made the trip and is batting second at third base. Colton Cowser will start in center field and right-hander Austin Voth will make his third appearance and gets the start on the mound. He has allowed five runs in five innings this spring. He gave up four runs over three innings in his last outing, March 6 vs. Philadelphia. 

Also scheduled to pitch today for the Orioles are Mike Baumann, Cionel Pérez and Logan Gillaspie. Right-hander Chris Bassitt is set to start for Toronto.

Extra pitchers here today from minor league camp are Ryan Conroy, Blaine Knight, Connor Loeprich, Clayton McGinness, Griffin McLarty and Kevin Smith.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Ryan Mouncastle is not exactly a veteran on the Orioles, although he has been a regular for back-to-back years and played more than half the game in the shortened season in 2020 with the club. But he’s been in enough spring training games to know what he wants to get done to prep for the year under the Florida sun.

Like any player, ending spring healthy is goal No. 1. If he is feeling good about his swing heading into the year, that would be a nice bonus.

But he doesn’t put too much into what the spring stat sheet says about his production in Florida.

“My timing, hitting-wise, if it feels right towards the end of spring (is important). Most of the time – I don’t think I’ve had the best spring training numbers – but I just want to be ready for the season. If I get out of this healthy with some good timing at the plate, that’s all I want.”

After a 2022 season where his homer numbers dropped from a team rookie record 33 in 2021 to 22 last year with the new outfield dimensions at Camden Yards, he took some solace in his expected numbers which showed how hard he hit the ball last season and how often he did that. So, he said, his winter work was along similar lines from past offseasons, just looking to make small improvements anywhere he could.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Maryland Governor Wes Moore tonight said he is very confident the Orioles will soon have a new lease to play well into the future at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He said things “are moving fast” to get that done.

The Governor and Orioles Chairman & CEO John Angelos visited The Battery Atlanta on Thursday, to explore the 365-day entertainment experience around Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves. The Battery Atlanta is a 2,000,000-square-foot mixed-use destination, which offers an unprecedented entertainment experience including shops, restaurants, and a 4,000-seat venue for all genres of live music.

Today the Governor met with team officials and O’s players and threw out the first pitch before tonight’s spring training game at Ed Smith Stadium with Minnesota.

The Orioles current lease expires Dec. 31. Angelos has expressed confidence that a new lease could be completed by the All-Star break.

“I’m very confident that we are moving fast on this," Governor Moore said. "It should not be lost on anybody that the first trip that I took outside of the state was down here. Was to spend time with the Orioles. To make sure they understand how big of a priority this is for me and how big a priority this is for the state. So we feel very confident that we have the same goal. The goal is to make sure there is Orioles baseball in Baltimore for generations to come. I feel very good about our prospects to get this deal done very quickly.”

When I interviewed O’s Hall of Famer Mike Bordick this week to get his take on the club’s talented young infield prospects, he made some interesting points that involve the words "comfort" and "competition." 

The first was used to show that when a club like the Orioles has so many talented young players, those players can see plenty of familiar faces in the clubhouse when they get to the majors. It greatly helps in their move to and transition to the big leagues.

Bordick returned a few days ago from a stint at O’s spring training, where he was a guest instructor for the club.

”Gunnar (Henderson) said it was awesome to come to the majors last year," Bordick noted. "He said there were so many young guys there he had already played with that it gave him some familiarity and the ‘We’re all in this together’ feeling. They are learning from each other and basically knowing there is another group behind them knocking on the door.

“I think there is an overall excitement with the young players that they are going to make an incredible impact on the Orioles, as they already have in kind of elevating the minors to the best in baseball. They want to have the same impact in the majors.

When it comes to getting an opinion on the young Orioles infield prospects that are showing so well at this spring training, we could do a lot worse than Orioles Hall of Famer Mike Bordick.

A 14-year big league veteran who played home games in Baltimore for parts of 1997 through 2002, Bordick was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2011. A 2000 All-Star, he played a major league-record 110 straight errorless games at shortstop during the 2002 season.

He just spent time in Sarasota as a camp instructor for the team and got to see and work directly with top 100 infield prospects who have won much recognition: Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Jordan Westburg, Connor Norby, Joey Ortiz and Coby Mayo.

“The Orioles really have stockpiled some of the best athletes in the country as far as shortstops and guys that can play with versatility in the infield,” Bordick told me in an interview this week. “I got to witness some of that with the young players. And I was blown away on many fronts. First of all, their skill level is at the top. A very exciting group of athletic young players.

“Connor Norby, Mayo, Jackson Holliday, and all of this is kind of spearheaded by Gunnar Henderson. Might be sooner than we think that they will talk about him as an MVP candidate in the American League. Just a skillsy, five-tool player. The speed, the power, the great arm and defensive intelligence.

It started out with a tweet I published following Sunday’s Orioles game, which took just two hours and 16 minutes to play, posing a question. What did fans think of the use of the pitch timer thus far?

Twitter didn’t disappoint in that I received a large amount of responses and I did not count up how many were positive or negative but there were plenty of both. It should come as no surprise that there were responses in the extremes – some that thought it was great and others that felt it was just terrible and ruining the game.

I would guess it’s way too soon to pass any real judgment, but I do thus far like the faster pace of play, quicker pace and shorter time of games.

Through Sunday and their first 10 spring training games, the Orioles had played six games lasting 2:40 or more and four that lasted 2:21 or less.

Through the 10 games, the average time of an O’s spring contest is two hours, 36 minutes. The average time of a game last year in the majors was 3:03 and it was 3:10 in 2021. The last year that a game time averaged under three hours was in 2015 at 2:56. So going with last year’s time and this year’s spring thus far, the O’s games are shorter from last year in MLB by 27 minutes.

In an organization loaded with shortstop prospects – with Gunnar Henderson having signed as a shortstop and others like Joey Ortiz and Jordan Westburg and last year’s overall No. 1 pick Jackson Holliday in the pipeline – a young kid from the Dominican Republic can get overlooked.

But with a smooth-looking left-handed swing that is now producing some impressive stats, and a solid glove, we should not discount Frederick Bencosme from Moca, Dominican Republic.

Bencosme, 20, who could begin this year as starting shortstop at High-A Aberdeen, was indeed a bit overlooked before the Orioles signed him for just $10,000 on Aug. 14, 2020.

But he has put together a batting line of .311/.376/.425/.801 in two seasons on the O’s farm. He played 44 games in the Dominican Summer League in 2021 and 73 last year with two in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League, 59 for low Single-A Delmarva and 12 to end his year with Aberdeen.

Bencosme said he has gained a lot in two years on the Baltimore farm.

Courtesy: Baltimore Orioles

He is now ranked as highly as No. 12 on one Orioles top 30 prospects list, but young O’s catching prospect Samuel Basallo from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is aiming even higher.

“When the list came out, my agent actually sent it to me, so I am aware of the rankings. I feel really proud of that because of all the hard work I have been putting in and you know trying to be the best baseball player that I can be. But to tell you the truth I want to try to finish this year being in the top five of that list,” Basallo told me in an interview last week with the help of Orioles translator Brandon Quinones.

Basallo’s No. 12 ranking is from MLBPipeline.com, which had seven international O’s signees among its latest top 30 that dropped last week. Basallo was the highest-rated among that group. He is also ranked as the club’s No. 14 prospect by FanGraphs.com and No. 15 by Baseball America. And this year he's ranked No. 1 on our second annual MASNSports.com ratings of the Orioles' top 20 international prospects.

At age 18, Basallo is drawing rave reviews for his big power potential and a big right arm. Both get 60 grades from scouts on the 20-80 scouting scale. That means those tools are well above average.

Basallo recalled for me that his involvement with baseball in the Dominican Republic goes back to his very early years.

When we published the Orioles' top 20 international prospects list Saturday with players we have ranked No. 2 through No. 10, there were no pitchers, but several do make this list as we wrap it up today.

Among the final 10 players here are six pitchers, five right-handers and a lefty. Several can bring some heat for such young players but most have to work on deliveries and command to lower walk rates as they move up the minor league ladder.

No. 11 - RHP Luis Sánchez: The Orioles signed Sanchez for $200,000 on Jan. 15, 2019. He turns 20 on March 4. He had some small, nagging injury issues and did not pitch in an official minor league game in 2022 while working on a strengthening program. But he did throw innings against live hitters at instructional league after the season and pitched well and impressed, showing some upper-90s velocity.

From San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, Sánchez brings a fastball that has been up to 99 mph and often sits in the mid-90s. His slider has become a solid secondary, and he throws an average changeup at this point. Between the Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League in 2021, he went 0-4 with a 7.23 ERA. In 37 1/3 innings he walked 29 and fanned 39, allowing a .268 batting average. But the stuff is plus at times and he needs to just harness his command and stay healthy. He could be a starter for low Single-A Delmarva this year. 

No. 12 – Infielder Joshua Liranzo: A right-handed hitter, he was part of the January 2023 signing class and, at $500,000, got the second-highest bonus from the Orioles in this class after Luis Almeyda, who received $2.3 million and is fourth on this list.

Sometimes on the international amateur market, because players sign at such a young age, teams can get a big talent off a small investment. Players who may not command a big signing bonus when the deadline to sign players arrives, but then mature fast or grow into solid players quickly and produce much more than their signing bonuses might indicate.

The Orioles sure seem to have such a player in 20-year-old shortstop Frederick Bencosme, a young man that I found has an engaging personality to match a smooth left-handed swing. Signed for the small sum of $10,000 out of the Dominican Republic on Aug. 14, 2020, Bencosme was among the best hitters for average last summer on the Baltimore farm, which, considering the bats they have, is saying something.

In fact, among O’s farmhands with 250 or more at-bats last year, no one outhit Bencosme’s average of .311 between his 59 games at low Single-A Delmarva, two in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League and 12 to end the year with High-A Aberdeen.

He is our No. 2-ranked O’s international prospect as today I unveil more of our top 20 international prospects rankings.

Bencosme has a sweet-looking left-handed swing and some solid contact skills. His strikeout rate was just 11.4 in 2021, when he hit .310 in the Dominican Summer League. It was just 12.4 with a 10.8 walk rate during an impressive 59-game run with the Shorebirds last year. With Delmarva he hit .336/.410/.432/.842. He moved to Aberdeen on Aug. 27. And while he only hit .154 in 12 games with the IronBirds, he would show off that smooth and polished swing in the playoffs, where he had a three-hit game. He projects to start this year as the shortstop at Aberdeen and also mix in some games at second and third base.

It was last August on a back field at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. O’s top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez was going to throw a couple innings of live batting practice in working his way back on rehab toward his September minor league return from a lat issue.

One of the hitters he faced that day was from the O’s Rookie-level Florida Complex League roster, a lefty-hitting catcher named Samuel Basallo. He is a touted young Dominican-born prospect who was signed in January 2021 for $1.3 million, the highest bonus for the club in that international class.

Basallo, now 18, had obviously already grabbed the Orioles' attention with his big power potential and strong right arm. And then he garnered more attention that afternoon when he took the stud pitching prospect opposite field for a big fly.

At Ed Smith Stadium a few days ago, Rodriguez, ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the sport by Baseball America, recalled that one at-bat against Basallo.

“Some of the staff in Florida, I was asking about some of the kids I would face that day and they mentioned Basallo," Rodriguez said. "They were joking around with me. They said, ‘You better not throw him fastballs.’ I went out that day - and I think it was an FCL off-day - and I only got to face two hitters. He was one.

When Baseball America recently released a new top 100 prospects lists, the Orioles had eight players ranked, with three among the top 15. That included the No. 1-ranked prospect in baseball: Gunnar Henderson, who for now still holds prospect eligibility.

On the strength of those rankings, and with a farm showing strong depth as well, Baseball America now ranks the Orioles as having the top-ranked farm system in the major leagues. The Orioles are No. 1, followed by Arizona, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland and the New York Mets.

The next-highest-rated American League East team is Tampa Bay at No. 6. Boston is No. 10 with New York at No. 15 and Toronto No. 17.

According to Baseball America, since 2005, 17 of the 18 teams to have the No. 1 farm system made the playoffs within two years. The only team that took longer, the 2011 Kansas City Royals, made back-to-back World Series appearances in years three and four, winning the Fall Classic in 2015. Five of the last 15 No. 1 farms saw their major league organization win the World Series in the near future after their No. 1 ranking, and there were a total of 13 World Series appearances over the following five seasons between the 15 selections.

With Henderson at No. 1 on the Baseball America top 100, the O’s also have Grayson Rodriguez at No. 6, Jackson Holliday No. 15, Colton Cowser at No. 41, DL Hall No. 75, Jordan Westburg No. 76, Connor Norby at No. 93 and Joey Ortiz ranked No. 95.

He is still officially a rookie, but a versatile one with the glove and a player that had some nice moments during his Orioles' debut in 2022.

That might give Terrin Vavra a leg up on his chance to grab a bench role on the 2023 Orioles. They need a player that can play multiple positions and Vavra spent all winter working on that after he started 11 games last year at second base and 10 in the outfield – nine in left and one in right field.

Already this spring he made a start at third base, entered the opening game at second base and yesterday in Bradenton got the start in left field and batted leadoff.

He knows there is plenty of good competition and some of the highly-ranked prospect young bucks are close to getting to Baltimore.

“You can’t shy away from it (competition), you have to embrace it and attack it head on,” he told us during Birdland Caravan.

Last year the Orioles had one veteran pitcher in their rotation for most of the year, a guy to try and give them some quality innings while also helping the numerous young pitchers around him on the staff. That was Jordan Lyles, who was very well respected in the Baltimore clubhouse.

This year they feel they have two pitchers like that in lefty Cole Irvin, acquired in a trade from Oakland and right-hander Kyle Gibson, signed to a one-year deal in free agency.

Irvin went 9-13 with a career-best 3.98 ERA last year over 181 innings. Had he remained with Oakland he may have been the A’s Opening Day starter. He recorded strong numbers in WHIP (1.160) and walk rate (1.8) while making 15 quality starts. He produced 1.4 fWAR to rank second among A’s pitchers.

He does that with a lower velocity fastball, one that averages 90.7 mph on his four-seamer. But he is pitch efficient and his 14.4 pitches per inning were the second fewest in the American League, while his 1.79 BB/9 ratio ranked sixth-best among qualified AL hurlers.

When I interviewed O’s assistant pitching coach Darren Holmes Thursday on WBAL Radio, the Hot Stove show, he said his early impressions of Irvin were very good.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and his staff have several decisions coming when spring training nears the end and the regular season is about to begin.

Not only do they have to set the 26-man roster for the big league squad but also for Triple-A where they get callups and reinforcements throughout the year. And the Norfolk team should see numerous top 100 prospects on its roster through the season. Players like Colton Cowser, Joey Ortiz, Connor Norby and Jordan Westburg could be there and others could find their way later in the year such as Heston Kjerstad and Coby Mayo.

The top young prospects will need to get their at-bats, so where does that leave roster room at Norfolk for veteran non-roster players in camp, who might also go there as injury insurance and to provide more depth. A list that could include a Nomar Mazara, or Daz Cameron, Josh Lester or Lewin Díaz for instance. Can the club try to keep the vets too or will some leave via opt outs or other avenues if they don’t make the Opening Day roster.

“It really depends on a case-by-case basis,” Elias said during Saturday's live broadcast on the Orioles Radio Network, heard in Baltimore via WBAL and 98 Rock. “Some of them do not have any type of opt out. Others, by virtue of their service time, have opt outs, several of them that are mandated by the collective bargaining agreement. Some of them are at the end of camp, some in May, some in June. Mazara fits that bill. And there are others that have negotiated a couple of opt outs or what are called assignment clauses. Which is, sort of, a step down from an opt out.

“That is going to impact some of these guys staying in the organization, if they don’t make the team. We recognize that not all of them are going to make it out of the chute, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”