In crowded O's outfield, Ryan McKenna tries to make his mark

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

March 12, 2021, 12:13pm

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He was a fixture at the top of the lineup and in center field for the 2019 Double-A Bowie Baysox team that played for the Eastern League championship. He was back at Bowie last year as part of the alternate site camp.

But outfielder Ryan McKenna's first major league shot is getting closer. And his rise from high school fourth-round draft pick in 2015 to the big leagues is almost complete.

For those Baysox in 2019, over 135 games, McKenna, 24, batted .232/.321/.365/.686 with 26 doubles, six triples, nine homers, 25 steals, 78 runs and 54 RBIs. He ranked tied for first in the league in runs, tied for fourth in triples and tied for eighth in steals. He hit .308 in the postseason.

McKenna is a plus runner and defender, and those tools helped him get on the O's 40-man roster after that season. Now he's at his third big league spring training.

Like everyone at that Bowie camp last summer, he tried to get better without minor league games to play.

"The experience was good," McKenna said this week via Zoom. "Obviously, a lot of people, a lot of players lost a full year. The group there was awesome, a bunch of elite players. Just being able to see that and face those ABs, that you could learn something from and just progress as a player was definitely a huge part of it. And then just having the opportunity to get called up was another big thing. Just good learning, another learning year. Getting in what you can. Not letting your body go and not taking anytime off. Yeah, it was good."

McKenna is likely to begin this season in center field for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides but he'll be a phone call away from making his major league debut. He also happens to play a position of depth in the organization - outfield.

If he starts the year on the farm, he could be playing alongside Yusniel Diaz, who also has yet to make his major league debut. McKenna can appreciate the outfield depth and the challenge to get to the big leagues with plenty of talent at his position.

"I can't control anything any other player does," he said. "My game is the only thing that I can focus on. And taking it day by day and being in the moment for what I need to do to get better is the only way that I'm going to help myself succeed and the team. So, just going forward, that is what I've been thinking and that's what I'm going to be continuing to think."

While McKenna has hit just .234 with an OPS of .684 in 195 games at the Double-A level, he remains one of the club's top 30 prospects. He was No. 16 via MLBPipeline.com after the 2019 season and No. 17 on Baseball America. He currently is No. 22 on MLBPipeline.com and No. 23 on the Baseball America list.

He felt he made some strides forward in his game at the Bowie camp last season.

"I think whether it's the season or (playing at) the alternate site, besides the defensive aspect, we didn't have enough position players to play a full nine on defense," he said. "But we were getting four or five ABs pretty much every day. We had a lot of guys throwing, keeping their arms fresh. I don't think it would have been any different if it was a normal season for me. Learning about swings and just trying to get those reps in."

McKenna began the 2018 year with a red-hot bat. He hit .377 in 67 games with Single-A Frederick before he moved to Double-A and his first crack at that level. He ended that 2018 season batting .344/.474/.590 in 17 games with Glendale in the Arizona Fall League.

The Orioles obviously like his skill set and ability to bat near the top of the order and play center field. With two players that can play center already on the roster, that depth makes it tougher for McKenna to make the majors.

But in his third spring with the club, and second as a 40-man roster player, he feels a move to the majors will be in his near future.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "I would be lying if I said I don't think about it. But I think my mentality is, control what I can. You know, get better every day. My plan is not just to make it. I want to stay. I want to help this team win a World Series. That's my ultimate goal and it's become more and more of a reality for me. Just progressing and getting better and knowing what I need to do to help this team win."

A blow for the bullpen: Friday was not a great day for the Orioles bullpen. Hunter Harvey threw one pitch in the eighth inning and exited with an oblique injury. Manager Brandon Hyde, while not providing a timetable that the doesn't yet have on the injury, noted someone has to step up. It seems likely that Harvey will not be on the opening day roster and a spot just opened for someone else.

While lefty John Means had his best outing of spring, allowing one run over four innings, 'pen southpaw Paul Fry struggled for his third outing in a row. He's allowed three, three and five runs in three outings and his ERA is 24.55.

But Hyde is not passing much judgment on three spring games for a pitcher that last year went 1-0 with a career-low 2.45 ERA and a career-best 11.9 strikeout rate.

"I'm not worried about Paul Fry," Hyde said. "I know he's not getting the results that he's wanting. He got ambushed a little again today, but he's throwing 93-94 (mph), the slider's good. I think he's just having a couple spring training outings. I have a lot of confidence in Paul. He's coming off a good year, his stuff looks good, it's just not working right now in spring training. But it's mainly about him throwing strikes and the shape of his pitches, which are good, and I think we'll see him pitch well going forward."

Means talked about his day in this entry. The O's have just four outings from their starting pitchers in 12 games, where they have allowed one or zero runs.

Have a happy retirement!: Former Oriole Nick Markakis has retired. He earned so much respect in Baltimore from teammates, fans and reporters. He was a great Oriole that was classy, humble, a quiet leader, a gamer, a clutch player and so much more.

He played nine years with the Orioles and 15 overall. He ends with 2,388 career hits and 1,046 RBIs. On the O's all-time lists, he ranks sixth in doubles, seventh in total bases and hits, eighth in extra-base hits, ninth in runs and 10th in RBIs.

One of my favorite stories that I wrote about him was probably the last one. In July 2018 at Nationals Park, he played in his only All-Star Game. He was surrounded that day by his kids and it was such a special day for him to be surrounded by family.

Here is the story from that afternoon in Washington.

ðŸŽµJohn Means, John Means, John Means, John MeeEEEaans.

I'm begging of you please don't K my manðŸŽµ pic.twitter.com/IlctzgLuIF
-- Baltimore Orioles ðŸ˜· (@Orioles) March 12, 2021