Sugano in total control of today's first bullpen session

SARASOTA, Fla. – Tomoyuki Sugano can work through a lineup and jet lag with similar ease.

The first bullpen session for Sugano this morning lived up to the tremendous hype. He threw 35 pitches and exhibited his usual pinpoint control. Only the slider was omitted from a repertoire that consisted of a four-seam fastball, cutter, splitter, sinker and curveball.

“It’s everything that was advertised when we started vetting him in free agency,” said pitching coach Drew French. “That’s what our scouts said and our org loves... We think at times it’s going to be 80 command. It’s really, really good. Definitely sides of the plate, he understands horizontal game, and how he mixed his pitches. It was just nice to finally be in person and see him do his work.”

Sugano was late to camp while obtaining his visa in Tokyo, his arrival delayed until Saturday, and he requested that his debut in the 'pen be pushed back from yesterday. He was totally worth the wait.

“I was happy to have good command in today’s session, so that was good,” he said via interpreter Yuto Sakurai.

Asked if it felt weird after 12 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants to be wearing an Orioles jersey and whether he had some nerves, Sugano smiled and said, “Obviously, I can’t see myself in the uniform, but I’m a part of the Orioles organization and I’m just excited for that.”

Sugano signaled what pitch he was throwing but also where he thought veteran catcher Gary Sánchez should set up. Having control isn't just about where the ball goes.

Sánchez blurted out “woah” a few times and also nodded his head or pointed at Sugano. The fastball stayed down in the zone and the break on other pitches seemed to amaze him. They hugged and chatted with French between the mound and plate, but the reviews already were in and the translation was obvious.

“Perfect,” Sanchez said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Everything was easy. Threw a lot of strikes, which is typical for a lot of Japanese pitchers, and he looked great.

“I felt like I could do that (say ‘woah’) with every pitch. Specifically with the fastball down in the zone. I felt like I could close my eyes and the ball would land in my mitt. Obviously, the command and the way he controlled his pitches was really impressive.”

Imagine how good Sugano will be when he has proper rest.

“Yeah, he’s a pro through and through,” French said. “An 18-hour flight, that’s something I’ve never experienced before. I can’t try to parallel any similar feelings, but try to get into the routine. Honestly, there’s so many adjustments that he’s gonna have to make with the clubhouse and with the environment and with the weather and all those things, that he’s handled himself really well. But I think a couple days of acclimation and he should be good to go.”

Relationships are built in camp just like innings. Sánchez has caught other Japanese pitchers, including Masahiro Tanaka and Yu Darvish, which might give him an advantage.

Locating a comfort zone also should be easy.

“The good part about guys like Gary who has caught Japanese pitchers before, they understand what Japanese pitchers are like and what they throw,” Sugano said.

“It’s going really well right now,” Sánchez said. “We haven’t had as much time to talk as we would like, just with us being at different places here in spring right now, but I imagine we’ll have plenty of time to chat.”

Some of it could be in Sugano’s native language, and some of it won’t be suitable for print.

“Well, I know a few Japanese words just because I spent some time with other Japanese pitchers,” Sánchez said with a chuckle. “They’re bad words.”

French, manager Brandon Hyde, bench coach Robinson Chirinos and camp instructors Scott McGregor, Ben McDonald and Zack Britton were counted among the observers. The line of media stretched along the fence.

Sugano, who signed a $13 million contract, is handling the attention with an impressive sense of calm, like he’s so used to it that you can’t faze him. The clusters of Japanese media at his locker when he’s done nothing except play catch. The iPhones and cameras pointed at him while he stretches and engages in his bullpen session. The demands for his attention.

The crowd is much larger for Sugano than Koji Uehara, Tsuyoshi Wada and Shintaro Fujinami when they pitched for the Orioles.

“I think it’s gone extremely well,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “Getting to know him and his team, fantastic guys. He came off a long flight. Just want him to get comfortable. He’s just kind of getting acclimated right now.”

The Orioles won’t handle Sugano like he’s a rookie. He’s 35 years old and with 12 seasons pitching in Japan. He’s an accomplished veteran. However, the Orioles also understand the adjustment period for a player who’s never performed in the U.S.

“He’s a guy who’s accomplished great things in Japan with an unbelievable track record, with a ton of experience, but this is his first time being over here and I know he’s really excited to get going,” Hyde said. “But we’re going to treat him as a guy who’s pitched a lot of innings of high-level baseball for a long time and been really, really good at it.

“We’re treating him like a veteran.”

Hyde said that Sugano has earned the privilege of dictating his preparation, of getting space to do his own routine.

“No doubt, yeah,” Hyde said. “We’re there for him whatever he needs.”

Hyde also said the Orioles won’t rush to judgment early with Sugano, who’s projected to occupy a spot at the back end of the rotation.

“Spring training is spring training for a reason,” Hyde said. “Honestly, just for him to get comfortable over here. Get to know our team, get to know our catchers. We had a Zoom call with our pitching coaches, Gary and Adley (Rutschman), and Tomo, and that was just a get-to-know period. But now we’re live and on the field and I think that relationship is just starting and it’s going to continue to grow.”

So will the expectations for Sugano.

"I think it's going to be an adjustment for him, but ultimately he's been super receptive to the information that we've given him and the conversations that we've had," French said. "He knows that he's walking into a different baseball league and he knows there's adjustments that need to be made, and he's executing those things today, so it's nice to see."

“I think he’s gonna adjust very well,” Sánchez said. “He’s a veteran pitcher, very experienced, so I think he’s gonna do just fine. Obviously, we have a lot of good people here, really good pitching coaches. We’re gonna do everything in our power to help him get there.”