SARASOTA, Fla. - Richie Martin is blocked at shortstop and unsure whether he can claim second base or a utility job.
He's no longer hearing how he should focus only on his defense at short and not worry about what he offers at the plate. Hold the gravy.
Spring training 2020 certainly has a different feel and sound for Martin, the former Rule 5 pick who came within a home run yesterday of the cycle.
Martin was allowed back at his old position while José Iglesias stayed in Sarasota for...
BRADENTON, Fla. - Austin Hays didn't have a seat on the team bus this morning, his workout schedule keeping him back in Sarasota while the Orioles made the 20-minute trek to play the Pirates.
Ryan Mountcastle peeled away from his friend and handled first base and cleanup duties at LECOM Park.
They both cleaned up yesterday at Ed Smith Stadium. Hays doubled twice and had two RBIs, made two diving catches and was on the front end of an 8-4-2 putout. Mountcastle doubled twice, hit a long home...
BRADENTON, Fla. - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde broke out a sheet of paper this morning with the list of players who are recovering from injuries and illnesses and the next stages of their individual progressions.
Too many names and tasks to memorize with so many other activities happening at the complex.
Hunter Harvey, who's been able to shake his flu-like symptoms, threw a simulated game today in Sarasota.
Kohl Stewart (biceps) and Alex Wells (oblique) are throwing in the bullpen Saturday....
SARASOTA, Fla. - As the Orioles' player representative, Chris Davis is ready to offer an opinion on the Astros cheating scandal, the punishments handed down and how opponents might deal with it.
"I think the discipline that the players are going to get this year is going to be very interesting, and I say that meaning that a lot of that is going to be handed out between the lines," Davis said.
"Obviously, what went on was awful for the game, for the fans, just for everybody involved. But it...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Rule 5 pick Brandon Bailey gets his first start today, as the Orioles travel to Bradenton to play the Pirates in a 1:05 p.m. game.
Bailey pitched in relief in Sunday's home opener against the Red Sox and allowed one run and three hits with no walks and two strikeouts over two innings.
Yusniel Diaz makes his spring debut today as the designated hitter. Dwight Smith Jr. is leading off, followed by Hanser Alberto.
Ryan Mountcastle moves to first base after playing left field in...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Yusniel Diaz arrived in Orioles camp with the other position players and had his mind set on making the opening day roster. Making the jump from Double-A and sticking the landing.
The sticking point, however, has been another health issue that's delayed his first appearance in an exhibition game.
Diaz noticed some discomfort in his left shoulder while taking batting practice a few days before the opener. Nothing to concern Diaz or the organization, but also nothing that a...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Tommy Milone is new to the Orioles after agreeing to a minor league deal earlier this month. He's learning about his teammates, and his comfort zone has been expanded in workouts and clubhouse conversations.
Today's start enabled Milone to confirm what he already knew about Austin Hays.
Anything hit in his general vicinity is likely to be caught. And the kid can hit, too.
Milone retired the Pirates in order in the top of the first inning because Hays raced into right-center...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Anthony Santander continues to be used as the Orioles' designated hitter until manager Brandon Hyde feels comfortable easing him into the outfield.
The spot waiting for him is becoming more clear.
Hyde confirmed this morning that Santander is likely to play left field at Camden Yards while Trey Mancini returns to right, but they could reverse positions at select road venues.
Mancini starts in left field at Fenway Park, entrusted to slay the Green Monster.
"I think similar to...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Kohl Stewart's bid to win a spot in the Orioles rotation should get underway within the next few days.
Stewart has been sidelined with a sore right biceps muscle, but he played catch yesterday and will repeat the activity this morning. He's scheduled for a bullpen session on Friday while the team is in Bradenton to play the Pirates.
The exhibition debut could happen by Sunday or Monday.
"I feel really good. They were just extra cautious, honestly," Stewart said.
"It...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Austin Hays is leading off again today and Ryan Mountcastle is back in left field as the Orioles host the Pirates in a 1:05 p.m. game.
Anthony Santander is the designated hitter again. He had a sore shoulder last September and manager Brandon Hyde remains cautious with him.
Renato Núñez gets another start at third base, Chris Davis returns to the lineup at first and Bryan Holaday is behind the plate for left-hander Tommy Milone.
Milone is scheduled to go two innings in...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles reliever Evan Phillips tossed a scoreless inning yesterday against the Braves at Ed Smith Stadium to lower his spring ERA to 16.20.
He didn't pass out cupcakes to celebrate it, but the outing was a vast improvement over Sunday's debut, when he recorded only two outs in the ninth inning and was charged with three runs. He kept going to three-ball counts and reached his pitch limit.
Phillips walked the leadoff batter yesterday but also recorded a strikeout and got away...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Bruce Zimmermann used to dream about slipping on an Orioles uniform while growing up in Baltimore.
The fantasy didn't include a first-pitch home run, but it's spring training and wouldn't kill the moment.
Zimmermann replaced starter Asher Wojciechowski today in the top of the third inning on an overcast and windy day at Ed Smith Stadium. Bryce Ball, sitting at the bottom of the Braves' lineup, greeted him with a shot to deep left-center field.
Baseball can be heart-warming...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Minor league left-hander Alex Wells hasn't been cleared to pitch this spring due to a sore right oblique muscle, according to manager Brandon Hyde. There's no timetable for getting him on the mound.
Wells is a non-roster invitee to camp who's likely to begin the 2020 season at Triple-A Norfolk. He posted a 2.95 ERA and 1.07 WHIP last summer in 24 starts with Double-A Bowie.
"We're just being cautious with him," Hyde said.
Kohl Stewart and Brady Rodgers, who are recovering...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The major league education of Adley Rutschman involves more than his at-bats and reps behind the plate.
One of baseball's top prospects, the first overall selection in the 2019 First-Year Player Draft, has to take some teasing when he isn't behind the dish.
(Dish it out, take it. That's where I was going.)
As a small cluster of media members waited this morning to speak with Rutschman at his locker, a veteran teammate asked whether he got a hit yesterday. Someone else...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles are sitting a few of their regulars today for a home game against the Braves, the bench crew including first baseman Chris Davis, shortstop José Iglesias and outfielders Austin Hays, Trey Mancini and Anthony Santander.
Ryan McKenna is patrolling center field, with Dwight Smith Jr. in left and Dilson Herrera in right. Herrera played first base yesterday.
Andrew Velazquez is making his first start at shortstop. Stevie Wilkerson has been used in center field, but...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Trying to detect patterns and search for clues in spring training lineups can be an exercise in futility. Roster crunches of a different sort. Calisthenics that still leave you clueless.
Working up a sweat for a bigger waste.
You get the picture, but maybe not the pitcher.
Manager Brandon Hyde keeps batting Austin Hays in the leadoff spot, but isn't necessarily showing his hand.
Hanser Alberto batted leadoff again yesterday in the other split-squad game. It's now happened...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said earlier today that he wanted two innings from John Means and for the left-hander to come out of the game "feeling good." Simple goals for the first start.
"That's it," he said.
He got one out of two. The most important component.
Means was removed after 1 1/3 innings with his pitch count at 39. Jay Flaa inherited two Tampa Bay runners and let one score on Michael Brosseau's RBI single for a 2-0 lead.
A wind-blown triple by Brandon Lowe...
SARASOTA, Fla. - With the blister on his right middle finger healed, Orioles pitcher Asher Wojciechowski will start Wednesday afternoon's game against the Braves in Sarasota rather than be confined to simulated action on a back field.
The live hitters will play for an actual opponent.
Wojciechowski arrived at the complex this morning expecting to have his debut start pushed back, but manager Brandon Hyde announced a change in plans.
"That was just in the last hour," said manager Brandon...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Asher Wojciechowski is being withheld from exhibition games due to a blister on his right middle finger. However, it isn't keeping him off the mound.
Wojciechowski will throw a simulated game Wednesday morning on one of the back fields. The Orioles want him to work two innings.
"It's all good. They're just being cautious," he said.
"They want me to pitch in a controlled environment with the blister that popped up last week, but it's healed completely. We're just making...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Hanser Alberto is leading off and playing second base again today for the Orioles' split-squad game against the Rays in Sarasota, and Austin Hays is leading off again and playing center field versus the Red Sox in Fort Myers.
Ryan Mountcastle remains in left field against the Red Sox. Chance Sisco is catching Tom Eshelman.
Non-roster catcher Bryan Holaday is behind the plate for John Means. Stevie Wilkerson is playing center field.
Renato Núñez gets another look at third...