Holliday's night at shortstop, Bautista's uptick in velocity, Basallo's bomb and more from Orioles-Pirates (O's win 6-3)

BRADENTON, Fla. – The Orioles remain hopeful that Gunnar Henderson is on their Opening Day roster, but they know the importance of a good contingency plan.

Jackson Holliday made his first spring start at shortstop tonight against the Pirates, hitting a double and single to left field and committing an error on his first and only chance.

“With Gunnar out right now, unsure of the timetable, but he’s doing really well,” manager Brandon Hyde said this afternoon. “He’s progressing well, but we’re not sure when we can get him back into game action. Jackson’s going to be playing shortstop here periodically the rest of camp.”

Henderson’s strained rib cage muscle led the Orioles down an alternate path with Holliday. They wanted him to get more comfortable at second base. Guest instructor Brian Roberts corrected his footwork, trying to strip him of a shortstop’s approach to fielding the ball and making feeds. But he could do more switching to the left side.

“It’s definitely different,” Holliday said. “It’s one thing to practice it, but to play it in a game and read the ball off the bat, kind of the angle that it comes in, it’s obviously very different, but I should make that play every single time. But hopefully I don’t have to play both. Hopefully, Gunnar gets healthy real quick and I can just stick over at second until they tell me they need me. But if that is the case, I’m up to the challenge.”

Hyde admitted to some concerns about Holliday bouncing back and forth.

“I am a little bit because we’re feeling really good with where he is at second base, but shortstop’s his natural position, so it’s more of just getting him refamiliarized,” Hyde said. “I’m gonna move him around to both spots. He’s gonna play majority of second base, but we need to get him looks at shortstop, also.”

Holliday charged Andrew McCutchen’s grounder leading off the second inning, and his throw veered left and pulled first baseman Ryan O’Hearn off the bag. He didn’t have another ball hit to him.

“I think I got a little sped up,” he said. “Obviously, playing shortstop for the first time in a while, you’d like a lot of action just to get your feet under you. I mean, it’s fine. You’re not going to be perfect over there, but I’d like to make the play for sure. I’d have liked a busier night, but hey, just to get out there is good enough for me.”

The camp roster holds a batch of shortstop options, with Hyde mentioning Liván Soto and Luis Vázquez and also noting that Jordan Westburg played the position in college and made one start with the Orioles.

“Kind of keeping our options open there,” Hyde said. “Even if (Henderson) does break, is he going to be able to play the first … we have five games before an off-day and four on turf, so we’re looking at everything right now.”

Holliday’s two hits made him 8-for-27 (.296) this spring.

“I feel like lately I’ve been taking really good at-bats since I kind of made a little hand adjustment,” he said.

“The check-swing double, I’ll take it. The single was nice to be able to hit a heater, and to hit it the other way is always good for me as far as my approach and kind of where I’m at, so I’m happy with that.”

* Félix Bautista made his third spring training appearance and allowed two runs in the third inning with three hits and a pair of strikeouts. He threw 24 pitches, 12 for strikes.

The Pirates made hard contact, beginning with Jared Triolo’s one-out triple and followed by Jack Suwinski’s RBI double and Bryan Reynolds’ RBI single. But Bautista’s sinker topped at 98.5 mph and he also hit 98 mph.

“It felt good to see that,” he said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “I feel like every outing I continue to get better and better. I’m feeling better, my arm’s feeling well, so it’s just about continuing to pitch well and wanting to continue feeling better as we go.”

Other readings on his fastball included 97.7 mph, 97.6, 97.3 and 97.2. Statcast also recorded a splitter and slider, and Bautista said he threw two cutters – a pitch not normally in his repertoire.

Bautista said where his velocity stands is about the same as any other camp.

“In spring training’s past I would progressively throw harder and harder leading up to Opening Day, and I feel like that’s what’s happening now,” he said. “And once I got to Opening Day, I felt like the adrenaline would kick in and that’s when I would reach those high velos. So I’m hoping now that that will continue to be the same.

“It can be difficult. I feel like I’m still finding myself in some ways, working through it and trying to get to full form and trying to reach that form for Opening Day. So it’s just a matter of working through all of those things and make sure I’m ready.”

Bautista retired the side in order in his debut and allowed a run and two hits with a walk and strikeout Friday night in Lakeland. He remains as confident as ever that he’ll be ready for Opening Day.

“Yes, of course,” he said.

The Orioles are locked into wait-and-see mode with Bautista’s status. They want to get him into three or four more games.

“He has responded really well physically the first two, so I cross my fingers that the rest of them go as smoothly,” Hyde said earlier. “How he feels after, it’s important. We’re not going to break with him if we have doubts of if he’s able to … I’m trying to put him to have success and to help us, so we’ll see how it goes at the end.”

* Bautista liked throwing to 20-year-old Samuel Basallo.

“It was great,” he said. “Really big strike zone.”

Basallo also swings a big bat, and he can flip it, too.

The organization’s No. 1 prospect demolished a slider from former Orioles reliever Isaac Mattson with two runners on base in the fifth inning. Basallo watched it sail to right-center field, past the boardwalk, and chucked the lumber.

Statcast registered the ball at 111.3 mph and had it traveling 403 feet. It seemed longer – like in the general vicinity of Sarasota.

“I was watching it from the dugout and I’ve seen that many times, but that one was extremely far,” Holliday said. “I don’t know if they have the metrics, but I guarantee you they’re not right with the distance and the wind.”

Told that Basallo was credited with 403 feet, Holliday said, “I’m not buying that. No chance.”

* Jorge Mateo had a full workout back at the complex. He could get into some games late in camp, and he’s never surrendered the idea of making the Opening Day roster.

The Orioles haven’t struck the same optimistic tone thus far. However, Mateo is making progress after undergoing reconstructive-elbow surgery in August. The brace came off a long time ago and he’s immersed in baseball activities.

“He went full day with us today,” Hyde said. “We were in the stadium taking ground balls. He’s doing stuff in the cage. He’s swinging the bat.

“Game-wise, though, he’s still a ways away, but watched him take ground balls at shortstop today, he looked great.”

* Matt Bowman struck out the side on 16 pitches in the first inning, getting Suwinski on a cutter, Reynolds with a sinker and Oneil Cruz with a cutter. He allowed one hit and struck out four, including former Oriole DJ Stewart on a sinker, in 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Bowman surrendered two runs in one inning in his spring debut against the Pirates, but he’s look good in his next three appearances. He’s allowed only an unearned run and two hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Most impressive are the seven strikeouts in that span, giving him nine in 4 2/3 innings.

The Orioles re-signed Bowman to a minor league contract in December after outrighting him. He posted a 3.45 ERA in 15 games.

* Heston Kjerstad led off the second with a walk against Mitch Keller and raced to third base on Ramón Urías’ double to right-center. They scored on Daz Cameron’s single. Urías also singled in the fifth.  … Westburg lined a slider into right-center field for a double in the first inning and had an RBI single off reliever Jack Carey in the second. … Kjerstad walked twice.

* The Orioles won 6-3, their first victory over the Pirates in five tries.

Hyde on Basallo:
“That ball was absolutely crushed. I thought he caught well, too. This is a great experience for him.”

Hyde on Bautista:
“I thought he got a little bit better as the inning went along. Still kind of feeling his way through for me. It’s his third outing, year-plus. We’re watching him closely. The velo ticked up a little bit as the inning went along. It’s spring training. I know he felt great coming off the mound and that’s all that matters right now.

“Tomorrow is a big day, see how he feels tomorrow. Really happy with Félix, though, and how everything’s progressed. The work that he’s put in has been unbelievable. He’s got an incredible attitude. He’s got a lot of confidence, so just keep throwing him out there.”