Looking back at Opening Day roster and impactful exclusions

The evolution of a baseball season touches a team’s roster, and the Orioles underwent some interesting and important changes in 2023.

James McCann was on the injured list Opening Day with a strained oblique, but he served as a trusted backup to All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman and a veteran leader in the clubhouse. A media favorite for his availability and thoughtful responses, for being a standup guy even while seated at his locker. A manager favorite for his toughness.

The kind of positive influence that organizations appreciate.

Other exclusions from the Opening Day roster had nothing to do with injuries and might be forgotten, considering their impact on the first division title since 2014.

Reliever Yennier Cano appeared in three games in 2022, allowed nine runs and nine hits with five walks in 4 1/3 innings and didn’t make the club out of spring training this year. He allowed four runs over seven exhibition innings, but walked only one batter and struck out 10 after tweaking his delivery and discovering how to repeat his arm slot.

The sinkerballer’s career was on the rise.

The Orioles promoted Cano on April 14 to replace Keegan Akin, who went on the paternity list, and he tied Fred Holdsworth’s club record in 1976 by retiring the first 24 batters he faced to start the season. He also set the record with 32 hitless at-bats to begin a season and earned selection to the American League’s All-Star team.

The guy who couldn’t find home plate produced a streak of 20 games in a row without a walk to start the season, the second-longest in Orioles history behind Jamie Walker’s 22 in 2009. Cano faced 84 batters before issuing his first free pass.

Cano’s 72 appearances were the most by an Orioles rookie in franchise history. It’s easy to forget that his first three games in 2023 were played with Triple-A Norfolk.

Who knows what would have happened with Cano if Akin adhered to baseball’s baby calendar and didn’t need to leave the team?

Opportunity is found in many places. For Cano, it was in a sonogram.

Ryan O’Hearn was a finalist for Comeback Player of the Year in the American League after batting .289/.322/.480 in 112 games with 22 doubles, a triple, 14 home runs, 60 RBIs and a 1.4 fWAR. His two-out, game-tying three-run homer in the eighth inning on May 20 in Toronto rates as one of the season’s biggest moments.

Rewind to January and see the Orioles purchasing his contract from the Royals and designating him for assignment two days later. See him clear waivers and fight to regain his spot on the 40-man roster, which happened on April 13.

The Opening Day roster included six infielders: Ryan Mountcastle, Adam Frazier, Gunnar Henderson, Jorge Mateo, Ramón Urías and Terrin Vavra. No O’Hearn.

Grayson Rodriguez was a late and surprising camp cut who made his major league debut April 5 in Texas because Kyle Bradish went on the disabled list after being hit by a liner on the right foot. The Orioles optioned Rodriguez after he allowed eight earned runs (nine total) in 3 1/3 innings against the Rangers on May 26, but his ace-like stuff shined upon his return in July.

Rodriguez was so good, he started Game 2 of the Division Series against, of course, the Rangers. He posted a 2.58 ERA and 1.096 WHIP in the second half and opponents batted .227 with a .590 OPS.

The only way that Rodriguez isn’t on the team Opening Day is if he’s hurt or unable to retire a batter. Something really weird and unexpected.

The following 13 pitchers broke camp with the team: starters Bradish, Kyle Gibson, Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells and Cole Irvin, and relievers Akin, Félix Bautista, Cionel Pérez, Danny Coulombe, Bryan Baker, Mike Baumann, Austin Voth and Logan Gillaspie. Gibson signed with the Cardinals as a free agent. The Padres claimed Gillaspie on waivers last month. Voth is a free agent.

Bautista will begin 2024 on the 60-day injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Frazier is a free agent and unlikely to return with those innings at second base made available to younger players. Vavra was outrighted to Triple-A last month after sustaining a shoulder injury over the summer.

Outfielder Kyle Stowers went 2-for-30 with the Orioles, landed on the Triple-A injured list with right shoulder inflammation and a fractured nose and will be challenged to head north again after Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad made their debuts.

Note: Bautista and Rutschman were chosen to the All-MLB first team last night, and Bradish was chosen to the second team.

MLB managed to squeeze out one more awards show, a two-hour event in Las Vegas that aired on MLB Network.

Bautista reportedly told the media through an interpreter that his recovery from Tommy John surgery is going well and he's working hard to get back to 100 percent. Nothing newsy here. Obvious on both counts. But he hadn't spoken to reporters since his injury in August.