Kirby on Santander: "He shouldn't be nervous playing the outfield"

Orioles first base coach Wayne Kirby sat down next to Anthony Santander this afternoon to talk about playing the outfield at Camden Yards, which the Rule 5 pick will do tonight in his major league debut.

Santander was limited to hitting in spring training because of a sore elbow. He's been on the disabled list all season with a strained right forearm, finally able to don the outfielder's glove during his injury rehab assignment.

"I'm just worrying about basically him playing straight-up, where to play in the gap and paying attention to me on the bench. That's all I'm worrying about," Kirby said.

"He shouldn't be nervous playing the outfield. He's been playing it his whole life. He's probably going to make a hard adjustment paying attention to how the defense moves. That's probably the hardest thing. Everybody's got to go through it. Even (Craig) Gentry. He was coming from a Sabermetric-type thing where you play here the whole time, but we don't do that. It's a little adjustment they've got to make."

Manager Buck Showalter didn't intend to start Santander right away, but was left with no choice. Chris Davis and Welington Castillo are sick and may not be available. Another Rule 5 pick is thrown into the fire - just later than usual.

"They're going to play," Showalter said. "Something happens every day. You walk in here and two guys are sick. You're one of 25. Jason Garcia's going to pitch, Ryan Flaherty's going to play, T.J. McFarland's going to pitch. You can't just carry them. They're going to play. I was hoping we could kind of ease him into it, but this is fine, too. Sometimes, it works better this way.

"There's some positives out of it. He had 30-plus plate appearances in the spring. It's not like he hasn't been around the team and players. He was going around introducing himself, which was impressive. Anthony, you'd like to make his path easier and somehow ease him into it, but sometimes it's OK just to run him out there."

Showalter was asked whether he liked having a Rule 5 pick on his roster or if it created challenges.

"Yes and yes," he replied. "They're going to play. You can't hide them. And I don't think Anthony is somebody you want to hide. We'll see. He's had very few at-bats above the Single-A level, but he's done well.

"He's worked out here. He's been here the last two days working out, so he's been around here. Give him a chance to get moved in and acclimated. It's not like he just showed up on a plane. But it's some unique challenges. But I look at it as a lot of faith they have in the coaching staff and another way to acquire players."

Santander will retain Rule 5 status next season, though his consecutive days on the active roster this year carry over to 2018. The Orioles always make selection in the Rule 5 draft, and they may be inclined to do so again in December despite Santander's presence.

"I'm OK with it if they think that these guys are worthy," Showalter said.

"I know Santander's well thought of, especially when he's healthy. There are so many things you don't know. The ball gets to you faster, runners are faster, the ball has more topspin, pitchers have better secondary pitches. There are a lot of things, but I'd be surprised if he doesn't do OK.

"Certainly looks the part, doesn't he? That's a good-looking kid. His mannerisms are a lot like Victor Martinez. Had to be his hero growing up."

The Orioles are dedicating the weekend to celebrating the 25th anniversary of Camden Yards. Showalter remembers the first time he entered the ballpark and the thoughts the crossed his mind.

"What a great job they did of, in a new facility, embracing kind of a retro look," he said. "As soon as you walked in you felt like it would stand the test of time, that it would age really well, and I see all the work they do in the offseason. The city, the state, the organization, to improve something and get ahead of things and be proactive with the stadium instead of reactive. Just how nothing felt like it was stuck there to create a nuance. And it blended so well with downtown.

"Had air conditioning in the visiting clubhouse. The other place didn't, for those of us who have been at Memorial Stadium. It didn't have that old gymnasium smell, either. Dirty socks. Remember how that smelled? I thought, 'Man, this is the big leagues?'"

Flaherty is back on the active roster, his right shoulder finally healed.

"It's nice to be back around the guys. Obviously, it was a long time and I'm excited to get back," he said.

"If you had told me it was going to be this long at the beginning, I would have told you that you were crazy, but it's just one of those weird injuries and I'm happy to put it behind me."

The extended rehab assignment was necessary to assure that the discomfort didn't return to his shoulder/lat area and perhaps lead to surgery.

"It was needed," he said. "Obviously, that's the way it went and I'm just happy to be back here now and help the team win."