Notes on Orioles first full-squad workout, Holliday, Bautista and more

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles moved to the next phase of spring training today with the first full-squad workout. Drills of every kind, with players grouped by position. Live batting practice sessions on multiple fields, including inside Ed Smith Stadium.

“I feel like we’ve been out here a couple weeks,” manager Brandon Hyde said with a laugh.

“Guys are really excited. Really love the talent here. It’s a great character group. Just walking around, talking to guys this morning, they’re excited to get going. Saturday’s going to come quick, so we’ve got to get ready to go.”

Hyde gathered everyone in the clubhouse before the workout began for the traditional talk, covering how the team exceeded expectations last summer and what he expects from it in 2023.

“Honestly, just want us to build off last year,” he said. “We have a (large) core group of guys, they got a lot of confidence from last year. It’s pretty much just building off a season where nobody expected us to do anything.

“I wanted our guys to be aware that we haven’t done anything yet, either. We have a long way to go but what we did last year, we put ourselves on the map and we’ve just got to keep going.”

Left-handed pitching prospect Cade Povich struck out Jorge Mateo on the Camden Yards field. His stuff has looked nasty in multiple BP sessions and he’s only 22.

The real action, however, unfolded inside the ballpark. Kyle Gibson, Dean Kremer, Cole Irvin and Austin Voth on the mound, the competition in the box including Adley Rutschman, Anthony Santander, Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays, Adam Frazier and James McCann. Hyde and executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias watched from the stands.

Mullins was pretty much on everything, hitting a long home run to right field against Irvin in a left-on-left matchup and driving other pitches to the base of the fence or on a line to the outfield. He certainly looks ready for the World Baseball Classic.

As Mullins’ ball sailed over the right field fence, Santander yelled “Oh my God” from the dugout. Irvin shrugged it off and struck out Austin Hays.

With McCann behind the plate, Gibson struck out Rutschman and broke Santander’s bat during one “inning.”

“He’s got six pitches, man. You don’t know what’s coming,” Santander said. “He’s going to help.”

Kremer came back out for another inning as he readies for the WBC. Voth followed with an impressive showing. Reliever Bryan Baker also got in some work against hitters.

* Shortstop Jackson Holliday, the first overall pick in the 2022 draft who turned 19 in December, completed another day of workouts. He isn’t here to make the team, of course. It’s more about the exposure.

“Cool experience for him,” Hyde said. “He’s really talented. I’ve been so impressed watching him. Doesn’t look like a kid who was just in high school a year ago. It’s special ability and he’s really talented. I’ll try to get him in some games early, get him a little bit of experience. But we’re really enjoying having him and we just want him to soak in his first big league camp.

“Obviously, we think really highly of his future, so we want him to be around our major league players and major league coaches right now, and it’s only going to benefit him.”

Holliday played eight games in the Florida Complex League and 12 with Single-A Delmarva, batting a combined .297/.489/.422 in 90 plate appearances. He’s ranked as the No. 12 prospect in baseball by MLP Pipeline and 14^th by Baseball America.

Age didn’t matter to the Orioles when they extended camp invites. And he's easily the youngest.

“I was hoping for one, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if I didn’t,” he said. “I’m very glad that I did and I’m looking to make the most of it.”

Holliday described the experience as being “awesome.” He used that word multiple times.

“It’s been great to be around all the young guys,” he said, “and get to be around them every day, it’s been very sweet.”

Holliday said he hasn’t experienced a “wow” moment, probably because he attended every spring training with his father, seven-time All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday. Maybe he's a bit desensitized.

“It’s been a blessing to be raised in baseball, and kind of know what to expect coming into your first spring training,” he said. “It’s been very helpful to just know what I’m getting myself into and being around a lot of guys that I watched play on TV and grew up seeing on the field, so it’s pretty neat.

“He didn’t really have to tell me much. Just have fun with it and work hard and get to know these guys, because you’ll be around for quite a long time.”

No wonder being inside a major league clubhouse doesn’t intimidate him.

“The cool part about this organization so far has just been all the young guys and being able to be around them. You look around and there’s first-round picks all over the place, so I think that’s been another cool part,” he said.

“It’s been awesome to be around them and learn from them and get to compete with them, and it’s been pretty awesome every single day to come in and know who you’re competing with and against.”

Those competitions tend to stray from the baseball side.

“Well, we’ve been playing a lot of ping pong and putt-putt and bowling,” he said, “and then get on the field and at the end of each round is a competition. It’s been great.”

Holliday got engaged to girlfriend Chloe during the offseason. She attended his press conference at Camden Yards after he signed his contract.

“It was pretty neat,” he said. “We got to go to Mexico with my family. Me and Chloe have been together for quite a while now, it’s something that I wanted to do when I was younger, and I knew she was the person I wanted to be with. So, I’m glad that I got the opportunity to do that.”

* Félix Bautista threw another bullpen session today without any setbacks. The knee and shoulder feel good.

Bautista is hoping to appear in his first game by mid-March, accumulate four or five innings and be cleared to break camp with the team.

* Hyde said infielder Jordan Westburg, the 30^th overall pick in the 2020 draft, will play shortstop, second base and third base in camp.

“I’m going to move him around,” Hyde said.