Hyde on Severino and catching situation (Cobb update)

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde isn't able to provide much clarity to the catching situation following the Pedro Severino waiver claim earlier this afternoon.

Chance Sisco is starting tonight and the club is discussing whether he'd benefit from another stint at Triple-A Norfolk. Jesús Sucre still hasn't been told whether he's made the club. And it's possible that the Orioles attempt to pass Severino through waivers after the Nationals failed, a move former executive Dan Duquette made with some previous claims.

So how does Severino impact the catching picture in Sarasota?

Hyde isn't ready to provide an answer.

"I think we're still sorting that out," he said. "We like all the guys in camp and guys have done a really good job. This just happened this afternoon so I'm kind of letting the front office figure out a lot of things, but obviously it does impact it. He's out of options, so we have some decisions to make."

The exhibition schedule is down to three games after tonight, including split-squads on Sunday. Any looks at Severino would be brief.

"Because he's out of options there's really little time, but I'm really going to rely heavily in Mike (Elias) and the guys upstairs to walk us through these next couple of days, with input from me on what our catching situation should look like," Hyde said.

"It's pretty late, but he's a talented guy and our goal, like Mike's been really transparent about, is to get as much talent as we can in this organization. Pedro's obviously an extremely talented guy, he was available and so we're going to take a look."

Hyde's knowledge of Severino is admittedly light.

"I've seen Severino play a few times playing against him," Hyde said. "What I remember from him is he was a prospect at that time with a big arm, a lot of tools defensively and that's really all I remember about him. I remember he was well-thought of by the Nationals at that time."

Sisco has pieced together his second impressive camp in a row, slashing .300/.475/.700 with four home runs and 11 RBIs in 13 games, but his defense receives the most scrutiny and the Orioles were hoping to avoid the same slippage that marred his rookie season.

"I think I've seen a lot of improvement," Hyde said. "I'm really happy with how Chance has progressed from middle of February until now. I think, one, his work has been exceptional, and he's really gained strides and gotten a lot better in a lot of areas defensively.

"Not knowing him very well and just watching him a little bit early, I thought there's a lot of things to work with and there is and he's gotten a lot better. He's had a great camp. We're going to see how this goes."

Asked if the 24-year-old Sisco could benefit from more seasoning, Hyde said, "I think that's what we're going to decide is if we feel like it's better for him to start in Triple-A.

"He doesn't have a ton of Triple-A at-bats. He's still a young guy, so there's still some things ... Everybody has things they can work on. I talked to him this afternoon. He's had a really good camp and he should be proud of the camp he's had and be proud of progress he's made and I just want him to continue and keep it going."

Sisco broke camp with the Orioles last year after batting .429/.474/.800 in 18 games and was demoted twice, but Hyde isn't letting the past dictate which direction is taken in 2019.

"I'm not putting a lot of stock in it," Hyde said. "It's a new year, it's a new staff. I like what I've seen. I think wherever he goes he's going to continue getting better. He's a young guy that has got a chance to swing the bat, be a left-handed hitting catcher for a long time and he's still young. I think there's still development that can happen. But I've just been really impressed by how he's gone about this camp and how much he's improved the last month."

The Orioles don't want Sisco on the bench. The at-bats and game calling are happening, whether in the majors or minors.

"Chance needs to play," Hyde said. "You're not going to develop by sitting, so if he was in the big leagues he's going to play, if he's in Triple-A he's going to play. Wherever he goes he's going to play and we feel like that's important."

Sucre has come as advertised behind the plate and Hyde doesn't want to give the impression that the Orioles soured on the veteran based on Severino being in the organization.

"I still haven't talked to him," Hyde said. "We've had a lot of things happen in the picture the last 24 hours an there's a lot of things Mike and the guys are working on. I'm leaving it up to them to kind of figure things out from that standpoint. The Severino thing just happened.

"Nothing has changed in our eyes with Jesús Sucre. I love Sucre. He's a big league catcher and he can really catch and throw and he's going to provide great leadership on the field, he's going to give you a grind at-bats. He's had a great camp, so nothing's changed from our end with him.

"Adding Severino, now Mike and the guys are just figuring out the roster."

Hyde was asked whether, to his knowledge, there was a need for another catcher in the organization - which leads to the possibility of Severino being placed on waivers.

"I think there's a need to get talent in the system," Hyde replied. "We're just trying to get as much talent as possible, whatever position that is. So when Severino becomes available and we have first option to claim him, he's a really talented kid and we did it. If that backlogs some things, that's kind of the way it goes right now, I think, but we're just trying to get as many good players in here as possible."

Meanwhile, left-hander Paul Fry is downplaying the importance of Sunday's start against the Phillies in Clearwater beyond the normal desire to get outs and solidify his placement on the 25-man roster.

Fry, who's made 10 starts in the minors, learned a few days ago that he'd be used as the "opener." He isn't reading too much into it.

"I was surprised, but I knew we were going to experiment with it a little bit, so not too surprised, I guess," he said.

"I made spot starts in my minor league career, so this isn't anything new and I'm not going to treat it like anything new, either. I'm an opener, so not a starter.

"I'm just trying to go out there and get outs, whether it's in the first two innings or the last two innings. Same mindset, same approach. Just got to throw strikes and get outs."

Hyde and Fry are on the same page here.

"Don't put too much stock in the opener being tomorrow," Hyde said. "I think that's just, we have a split-squad and so Paul Fry's going to throw a couple innings to start the game and then we just kind of run some bullpen guys from there.

"That's not like we're experimenting with an opener. That's more of we have two games and (Andrew) Cashner is throwing the other one and we have some guys who are going to get some innings in both places."

Gabriel Ynoa had been listed as the starter in Clearwater before Fry replaced him. Ynoa will work in relief.

"Ynoa's not in major league camp," Hyde said, "so we wanted Fry to go out and pitch clean innings and go pitch a couple innings to start the game."

Update: Alex Cobb left the game after one inning due to right groin soreness. He retired the side in order in the first on 13 pitches.