Kjerstad's big chance, O'Neill's modified workouts, Eflin and Sugano control artists, more from Chirinos

SARASOTA, Fla. – Heston Kjerstad sat quietly at his locker yesterday morning, staring at his phone with legs stretched out and empty chairs on both sides of him. An isolated figure. Pretty much how he likes it.

Kjerstad isn’t anti-social. He just doesn’t command a lot of attention in a clubhouse with some extremely high-profile young players.

The bat, however, can get loud.

The Orioles want to hear it a lot this season. No more breakdowns in his quest to become a regular contributor at the major league level. No injuries or illnesses. No interruptions and options. It’s time to find out what they have in Kjerstad beyond sick power and potential.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias told the media last week that this is a “big opportunity” for Kjerstad and the second-overall pick in the 2020 draft “earned the right to get a lot of at-bats in the corner outfield and in the DH spot, specifically against right-handed pitching.”

Manager Brandon Hyde doubled down on it by saying that Kjerstad will get “a ton of at-bats here in spring” and “we’ll give him every opportunity.”

Kjerstad slipped on his headphones while checking his phone. What he’s hearing from the Orioles must be music to his ears.

“For sure,” he said. “Any time you show up to camp, probably in the best position I’ve been in so far over the last few years. But it’s just like any team, you’ve got to earn your spot, you’ve got to keep your spot even once you’re in it. It’s one of those things, I’m going to control what I can control and just keep working on my craft and be ready to go and do whatever role my team needs me to do this year.”

Kjerstad wasn’t the same after his concussion, batting .314 with a .946 OPS in 21 games in the first half and .188 with a .528 OPS in 18 games after the break. He didn’t do anything out of the ordinary in the offseason, calling it “typical.”

“I got a good trainer back home who always makes sure that I’m physically ready, and kind of at this point know where I need to be heading into spring training in February,” he said. “Came into camp in a really good spot.”

The goal now is to hold onto it. This is a crucial year for Kjerstad after he turned 26 on Wednesday. He doesn’t qualify as a prospect anymore and he isn’t a kid except for a mere 52 games in the majors. Let him play.

“The sooner you can become established in the big leagues, the better for your career,” Kjerstad said. “That’s what you want to do. You want to be there as long as you can and be there as soon as you can, and that’s everybody’s goal.”

Confidence swelled in Kjerstad with his impressive first half. Sending him back to Triple-A makes no sense. The Orioles can work him into a platoon of sorts with Tyler O’Neill in right field or let him rake as the designated hitter. Let him try.

“The first half proved to me that, OK, I can obviously perform at this level,” he said. “It’s just a matter of doing it consistently and that’s the name of the game. So definitely know I’m capable of it and want to be able to do that for a full season.”

* O’Neill always looks like he just walked out of the weight room. It doesn’t happen quite as often at spring training, with the outfielder explaining yesterday that he modifies his routine.

This is baseball, after all, and not bodybuilding.

“January’s much more strength focused,” he said. “I’m in there at a much higher volume than I’ll be doing right now. And I’m in a bit of a transition phase to find out where I need to be and what makes me feel good and what gets me into a spot I need to be. And just the whole ramp up process, it’s a transition right now.

“Just continue to focus on good warmups, mobility. Anything that I can lift on top of that is pretty much a bonus right now. I feel like I’m in a good spot physically. So it’s a continuous process.”

Hyde joked about O’Neill’s physique while meeting yesterday with the media.

“I’m a little concerned about his diet,” Hyde said with a grin. “I think there’s a little too much carbs.

“No, I saw him with some cutoff sleeves yesterday and I’m happy to report he’s in good shape coming into camp.”

* How appropriate that Zach Eflin and Tomoyuki Sugano arrived in camp yesterday, though for vastly different reasons. Eflin was spending time with his baby boy, Hayden. Sugano was in Tokyo obtaining his work visa.

They don’t seem to have much in common beyond their professions and team, but they’re two of the better strike-throwers in baseball. Eflin averages 1.9 walks per nine innings in the majors and Sugano averaged 1.7 with the Yomiuri Giants, including 0.9 last season.

“I think that’s one of our strengths, and when we were doing our free agency stuff this offseason, (we were) stressing to potential guys who would come here how well we play defensively and how athletic we are and how versatile we are defensively,” Hyde said. “So to add Tomo, (and) we had Ef already. We saw what Ef can do for us last year. The second half, he was unbelievable.

“We feel like the strength of our team is our defense, and so adding Tomo is a huge get for us and we’re going to play good defense behind him.”

* The baseball world can be small. Robinson Chirinos went from Orioles starting catcher to backup in 2022 after Adley Rutschman’s long-awaited promotion, and now he’s the new bench coach and eager to work with his friend and former teammate as part of his duties.

And not just Rutschman.

“I can see a different Rutschman right now to what I saw back in ‘22,” Chirinos said. “My job is to work with every player in this organization. My whole job is to be able to help this team have more wins and also help this team win a championship. That’s my whole goal and that’s why I’m here.

“I’m praying that we have a healthy season. I think we have a great team and it’s gonna be a fun year for us.”

Chirinos began to more seriously consider a coaching career as his playing time dwindled. He’d sit on the bench and wonder, “What is the next move, what can I do here?”

“It’s something natural that every catcher does,” he said.

This is Chirinos' first coaching gig but he reminded the media that he managed a team last year in a new Venezuelan league.

"I was able to manage in 50 games down in Venezuela," he said, "so that kind of helped a lot seeing the other side of coaching and putting things together and communicate."