As spring games get set to start, we find out if there will be roster surprises

If the question is can someone surprise us and make the Orioles’ Opening Day roster, no doubt that answer is yes. Nothing is completely set and we haven’t seen one pitch thrown in a spring game yet. Jobs can be won, even by non-roster players and we can and may well see surprises.

This leads to another question – how important will spring training stats and performances be?

In the past my impression has been that the O’s front office doesn’t put much stock in spring stats. No one is likely to win a job based for the most part on spring numbers. But as always in spring, the numbers mean more to fringe players and that those out to win jobs. If Anthony Santander bats .150 this spring or Ryan Mountcastle goes without a homer or is not driving the ball as Opening Day approaches, their spot in the Game 1 lineup is likely pretty secure at that point.

Even newcomers like Adam Frazier and James McCann have track records the team already likes to have acquired them in the first place. They seem to have, in my humble opinion, little to prove or show in spring games.

The other aspect that is always tricky about spring training is who were the stats acquired against. Did a pitcher roll through the Rays B team for three innings or did he roll through a couple of innings against mostly starters in a road game? Some veteran players may be working on certain pitches or certain hitting approaches that could lead to poor stats but lead them to learn about tweaks or adjustments they will need when the season starts.

I often refer at this time of year to a conversation I had years ago when Will Clark played for the Orioles during the 1999 and 2000 seasons. It was one of those springs when he told me he wanted to work on hitting with two strikes in spring games. I asked if that meant he would take a pitch down the middle on his way to working toward trying to get into two-strike counts. He said yes he would. Had never heard that one, but it was his approach that spring.

Obviously non-roster players will look to produce good stats and make the best impression as possible. But fans and media need to understand the coaches are seeing them beyond the games. Pitches especially are throwing bullpens that are heavily monitored and producing data that teams can examine to see if there pitches or aspects they really like. The body of work will involve more than just spring games for all.

Hearing from John Angelos: I was not there to take part in the interview but read with interest like many of you the writeup/recap here from Roch Kubatko of the spring training interview Sunday with Orioles chairman and CEO John Angelos.

At one point, while he didn’t offer specific details, he seemed to indicate his manager Brandon Hyde and general manager Mike Elias are working under long-term contracts. 

Angelos said: "A lot of companies don’t talk about their human resources issues and their employment contracts. I will tell you guys this: I’m here for the long haul, Mike is here for the long haul, Brandon is here for the long haul. We are all fully vested. We’re not going anywhere and nobody’s a short-timer, nobody is expiring in a year or two years or anything like that.

“I hope you guys respect that, it’s just not great policy for me to talk about people’s personnel relationships, but we’re all here under contract long term.”

All here long term.

That should be welcome news around Birdland. The duo of Elias/Hyde and countless others in the front office and in the majors and minors, have led this team from the 47 wins of 2018 and just 52 in 2021 to the 83 from last year. The Orioles were the winningest non-playoff team in the league. At a time when many of our readers here felt certain the club was still miles away from contention, they were not.

Now that duo and many others, hopefully will be here and it sounds like they will, to see this through to the end. The end hopefully being a World Series title - the first for the Orioles since 1983.

The organization turned a corner last year. Whether you consider them now on the 20 or 10-yard line, or however you see it or characterize it, knowing those that got them to this point will see it through the next steps, should be reassuring.