The first lineup of 2021 spring training will be posted later this morning, with Trey Mancini the only confirmed player in it. Manager Brandon Hyde said that Mancini will be the first baseman.
The rest can be speculated.
The Orioles are home, which usually puts more starters on the field. They had Hanser Alberto leading off and playing second base last year in the first game at Ed Smith Stadium. Mancini was in right field, Chris Davis at first base, Pedro Severino behind the plate, Dwight Smith...
The first exhibition lineup posted Sunday morning by Orioles manager Brandon Hyde will include Trey Mancini at first base.
The comeback has reached another important stage.
Mancini missed the entire 2020 season after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy treatments for Stage 3 colon cancer. His final at-bats came on March 2 before he left the team. He went 4-for-14 with two RBIs in five games.
"I'm going to play him at first, DH him some, especially the first couple weeks," Hyde said. "I talk...
Through it all - the injuries, strikeouts, intense criticism from fans and media, reminders of a contract he couldn't live up to - Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has worked to maintain his perspective and count his blessings.
They begin at home with wife Jill and daughters Ella and twins Evie and Grace. They include the people on the professional side of his life. Who prop him up when he's at his lowest.
The pandemic and the isolation caused by it have tested everyone. Recent stories about...
Reluctant to make any real changes to his approach at the plate while his production tumbled and the criticism rose, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis decided to bring a different look to spring training in 2021. And it has nothing to do with muscle.
Exactly how drastic won't be known until the exhibition games begin, with the opener on Sunday against the Pirates in Sarasota, Fla.
Workouts are closed to the media and Davis remained coy today while talking about it with the media on a Zoom...
The reformatted 2021 spring training camp in Sarasota, Fla. has spread out some players to the Twin Lakes side in order for the Orioles to follow health and safety protocols. To avoid overcrowding at the Ed Smith Stadium complex.
This is a deviation from the usual minor league setup with the reduction in bodies.
Players at Twin Lakes can be summoned to the major league complex. The traffic moves in both directions, but proper spacing will remain the priority. Nothing that's...
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has chosen Thomas Eshelman to start Sunday afternoon's exhibition opener against the Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium.
Hyde wanted to get through a handful of full-squad workouts before making his decision.
Eshelman rejoined the Orioles on a minor league deal last month. He made 12 appearances in 2020, including four starts, and tied Travis Lakins Sr. for the team lead with three wins. He also registered a 3.89 ERA and 1.240 WHIP in 34 2/3 innings.
The Orioles...
Making it through spring training healthy is a priority for the Orioles, but so is keeping players away from the injured list through the regular season.
Breaking camp with them is important. So is avoiding shutdowns and extended absences later.
Reliever Hunter Harvey talks about it every spring. Outfielder Anthony Santander came to the Orioles as a Rule 5 pick recovering from shoulder surgery and his last two seasons have been cut short, most recently due to the oblique strain in September...
Jahmai Jones is getting most of his reps in Orioles camp at second base, with the occasional shifts coming to the outfield.
Jones, the former second-round draft pick acquired from the Angels in the Alex Cobb trade, brings a healthy level of experience at both positions and doesn't care where he settles. He isn't worried about the possibility of wearing a utility label.
Being a major leaguer is the identity that he craves. And like everything else in today's Zoom conference call, he can...
The initial attempts to fix Matt Harvey couldn't begin until the people running the facility in Pleasantville, N.J., trusted that he was willing to surrender to their methods. To the technology that he hadn't been exposed to and didn't really need in his dominant years.
Ed Charlton and Mike Adams, co-owners of Baseball Performance Center, didn't need much convincing. Any doubts about Harvey's commitment evaporated in one brief exchange.
"He came in and we didn't really know what to...
There are no hard feelings weighing down Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander in camp.
He wasn't bothered by the trade rumors this winter. He wasn't bitter after going through the arbitration process and emerging on the losing side.
Let's start with the interest from other teams, with a source confirming talks between the Orioles and Marlins.
Santander didn't become preoccupied with the reports or speculate whether he might never make it to Sarasota, Fla.
"I heard rumors, but that didn't...
How the rotation and bullpen are finalized before opening day garners much of the media attention in spring training. However, there's also a competition brewing in center field.
Can't miss it.
Manager Brandon Hyde doesn't know on this date whether Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins are vying for the bulk of the playing time or headed toward shared duties. Whether there's going to be one definitive starter or a platoon arrangement.
Hays has been viewed as the eventual center fielder and leadoff...
Trey Mancini has been at the spring training complex since the beginning of February, but today felt real. The first full-squad workout for the Orioles. Further confirmation that he's past his colon cancer diagnosis, surgery and the many doubts about whether he'd play baseball again.
Mancini feels the same as he did prior to last March. Perhaps the most taxing activity for him now is convincing everyone who keeps checking on him.
"I know everybody's been asking me a lot, and I'm not lying...
Less than a week into workouts, which officially include position players this morning, the veteran and younger arms in camp seem to be making a nice impression.
Of course, you have to take the word of the people who are able to watch. Or to catch.
"Everybody looks great over here, everybody looks in shape," said Pedro Severino. "The first couple bullpens everybody threw, they looked really great, like they're ready to go, and I'm excited to see what they've got."
You can use the logic...
More solid evidence that the Orioles have entered the modern age of pitching technology leads directly to veteran starter Matt Harvey, who chose them as a free agent based on their approach and the people put in charge.
What he believes is what they believe. What he did in the offseason, training at Baseball Performance Center in New Jersey, is what they endorse.
Meeting with the media this afternoon in a Zoom conference call, Harvey laid out the reasons why the Orioles were the right team at...
The evolution of the Orioles bullpen over the years has stripped away the veterans and increased option flexibility.
More importance is placed on the freedom to shuttle relievers back and forth and to get multiple innings out of them. Less baton-passing. Less stress trying to cover for starters running short on innings.
This is amplified in pandemic seasons and with pitchers coming off a 60-game schedule.
"Guys being able to throw multiple innings are going to be really valuable," said...
We're entering the fourth day of workouts for Orioles pitchers and catchers, along with a handful of position players who reported early. What stands out for me as I sit in front of my laptop and attend the daily Zooms?
No matter how much I crank up the heat in my house, it can't duplicate the Florida sun. But let's stay on topic.
None of the pitchers and catchers reported late due to work visa or health issues, and that's as unusual as me being home while there's snow and ice on my...
The third day of Orioles workouts in Sarasota, Fla., included the initial appearance of veteran pitcher Matt Harvey. His physical is complete and he's allowed on the field.
Harvey stretched and played catch.
"We're going to ramp him up when he's ready," manager Brandon Hyde said during his Zoom conference call with the media. "It was good to see him. I've seen him on the other side of the field, but never met him. It was nice to meet him and looking forward to watching him pitch this...
The injury concerns will hover above Orioles reliever Hunter Harvey until he's able to shoo them away. Until he can give the team a full, uninterrupted season and become the dominant high-leverage pitcher they've been envisioning since his transition from starter.
Harvey couldn't avoid the injured list in 2020, failing to latch onto the opening day roster with muscular tightness in his right elbow. The journey from Tommy John surgery in 2016 has been fraught with detours and...
A spring training camp with a roster that's grown to 73 players is bound to have a lot of moving parts.
Fold in the influences of a pandemic that's turned the sport on its ear, and those parts can leave a vapor trail.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde knows that he's allowed to construct a 26-man roster, but he's open to any ideas.
One of them is breaking camp with six starters. Hyde confirmed on Wednesday's Zoom conference call that it's a viable option.
"I think anything's possible this...
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