Hearing from Hyde and LeBlanc on first day of summer training camp

The oddity of holding a summer training camp in July at Camden Yards showed itself this afternoon in a variety of ways. More than just the month and location.

Starting up again after the coronavirus pandemic shut down baseball in March, the Orioles held their first workout today with Tommy Milone and Thomas Eshelman facing hitters while executive vice president Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde watched from the stands behind home plate. Separated by the tunnel that leads onto the field.

Infielders took ground balls and outfielders shagged fly balls later in the day. The cage was rolled onto the field for batting practice.

Pitchers dressed in the visiting clubhouse and position players were housed on the home side. Food was to-go only and the couches and tables were removed.

Socializing is frowned upon.

Do your work and get out.

"It's pretty weird, to say the least," said pitcher Wade LeBlanc, who was made available to the media in a Zoom conference call.

"Today we went out, stretched, played catch, I threw a bullpen today. Get ready for a sim game in a couple days. Washed my hands before and after I was in the bullpen, which was kind of strange. We did some conditioning, took care of some arm exercises and all that kind of stuff."

LeBlanc also watched Eshelman and Milone throw from the main mound. Both pitchers struck out Chris Davis, who later drove a ball to the base of the center field fence.

Renato Núñez slugged at least three home runs, launching a Milone offering into the home bullpen.

Rio Ruiz, José Iglesias and Chance Sisco also took their turns in the box while the media was granted its two-hour access - the view restricted to the press box.

Paul Fry warmed in the bullpen and also faced hitters.

Manager Brandon Hyde said via Zoom that everyone reported who was expected today except for Dominican players who had to undergo testing for COVID-19. Apparently, no one has opted out at this point.

"The majority of guys are here," Hyde said, declining to specify whether any players tested positive.

All of the coaches are in camp and intend to work the season.

"With so many unknowns there's always going to be some reservations here and there, but outside of that you understand you have a job to do and for the last 13-14 years this is kind of all I've known," LeBlanc said. "It's wanting to get back to normal for the most part. Normal as much as possible. It's something that, as baseball players we want to get out there and play baseball, so that's what we're hoping to do.

"It's hard to anticipate getting ourselves ready in any other way than we've always done. You still throw bullpens, you still work out, you still get your running in. Outside of wearing a mask inside the clubhouse and staying away from people, getting ready is pretty much the same as it's always been. That's the goal right now, is to continue that the next 20 days and get ready the best you can to go out there and play some baseball."

"We've had a lot of conversations about staying safe and taking care of ourselves for the duration of summer training and the next couple months of the season," Hyde said. "We've had a lot of conversations as a team, as a coaching staff, to really be smart on and off the field and follow the guidelines, handle all the protocols and do everything that is asked. And so far today we've done all those things and feel good about it going forward."

The standings look a lot better to the Orioles this month than they did last summer.

"We're going to be in first place in late July. That's really exciting for us," Hyde said.

"It's new for everybody and not just for us, but the other 29 teams. It's obviously different to hold a three-week summer camp before a sprint season of 60 games. I just feel good about the communication that we've had as an organization and as a team, the coaching staff, these past few months. I think we've dealt with it as well as we possibly could have and I'm really looking forward to watching our guys play. Our guys are really anxious to get out on the field today. They're already talking about the 24th. We're just looking forward to competing and seeing what happens in August and September.

"These next few weeks are an important time to really evaluate where we are physically, get our guys in game shape as fast as possible, which is unique and something that we haven't ever done before. So really need to listen to the players and see how they're feeling on a daily basis and check in with guys every single day. And hopefully we're ready to go on the 24th."

The camp roster increased to 45 players with reliever Evan Phillips placed on it today. He's recovered from a March elbow injury and is slated to throw live batting practice in a few days.

Phillips is just "a little bit of a tick behind," Hyde said.

Meanwhile, outfielder DJ Stewart is full-go after October surgery on his right knee.

I'll have more coming later today from the first summer training camp, including comments from Davis.