Can Joey Rickard produce what the Orioles need? (Plus a look at homegrown pitchers)

If Joey Rickard gets the chance to start in left field for the Orioles, he could bring the team two very needed elements - speed and on-base capability.

This spring, through Thursday's games, Rickard was batting .387 to rank seventh among all American League players during spring training. He ranked third with a .465 OBP and was 22nd in slugging at .565. Rickard also has played solid defense.

Ironically, Rickard could bring some things to the table the Orioles thought they were getting when they pursued free agent oufielder Dexter Fowler.

Last year for the Chicago Cubs, Fowler hit .250/.346/.411 with 29 doubles, eight triples, 17 homers (a career high), 46 RBIs, 20 steals and 102 runs. His OPS was .757.

His career slash line is .267/.363/.418 with an OPS of .781. Fowler could have moved right in at right field and batted leadoff. He was expected to add much needed on-base capabilities to a lineup that ranked 12th in the league in OBP last year at .307.

Now could Rickard's play this year turn out to be Fowler-like? A lot to ask but if he could bring some of those skills to the lineup, it could be big for the Orioles.

Between three minor league teams last year, Rickard hit .321/.427/.447 with 28 doubles, eight triples, two homers and 55 RBIs. He stole 23 bases and scored 62 runs. The Rays selected Rickard, a Las Vegas native, in the ninth round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Arizona.

Rickard began the 2015 season in high Single-A ball, moved to Double-A and ended in Triple-A. In those 29 games with Triple-A Durham, Rickard hit .360/.437/.472 and he hit .413 against right-handed pitching. He has a career .283 average and .390 OBP.

The Orioles selected him in the Rule 5 draft with the No. 15 pick last December. Before the O's selected Rickard, seven other teams made Rule 5 picks and seven other teams either passed on taking a player or could not take a player because they had a full 40-man roster at the time of the draft.

* The Orioles could start the year with at least five homegrown pitchers on their pitching staff. Zach Britton was selected in Round 3 in 2006. Mychal Givens was a second-round pick in 2009. Dylan Bundy was taken in Round 1 in 2011, Mike Wright in Round 3 in 2011 and Tyler Wilson was selected in Round 10 of 2011.

They could add two others to the list when first-round picks Kevin Gausman and Brian Matusz come off the disabled lists.

Podcast with a pastor: For the third time, it was my pleasure to join Greg Dutcher, the pastor at Christ Fellowship Church in Fallston, on his "These Go To 11" podcast. It's long, but the pastor, my good friend and fellow 1978 Perry Hall Gator Scott Perry and I talked a lot of baseball. Click here if you want to give it a listen.