Mitch Horacek will start Keys' opener, other media day notes from Frederick

FREDERICK, Md. - Left-hander Mitch Horacek will be on the mound Thursday night when the Single-A Frederick Keys open their Carolina League season against Winston-Salem. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium.

Horacek, the Orioles' ninth-round pick in 2013 out of Dartmouth, went 6-10 with a 3.80 ERA in 137 1/3 innings last season for Single-A Delmarva.

He will be followed in the Keys rotation by David Hess, Luis Gonzalez, Jim Miller and Sebastian Vader.

Orlando Gomez is back in Frederick as the Keys manager with Kennie Steenstra returning as pitching coach and Paco Figueroa joining the team as hitting coach.

Gomez, 68, begins his 51st season in professional baseball and his 11th with the Orioles organization. He is starting his second tour of duty in Frederick, after leading the Keys from 2010-12 with a 214-204 record and winning the 2011 Carolina League championship.

"I love being back," Gomez said. "This is my city, too, and I love being back here. I think we have a pretty good club. We should catch the ball well and we have some speed. A lot of the pitching staff I didn't see as much during the spring, so hard to judge them yet."

The batting order is not set for Thursday's opener, but the Keys are expected to start like this:

C Chance Sisco
1B Trey Mancini
2B Jeff Kemp
SS Adrian Marin
3B Drew Dosch
LF Greg Lorenzo
CF Josh Hart
RF Johnny Ruettiger

Dosch, the Orioles' No. 15 prospect, finished seventh in the South Atlantic League in batting last year at .314 with five homers, 50 RBIs and a .379 OBP.

He was a contender for the batting title through the year, but Sisco, his teammate both last year and this season, hit .340 to lead the league.

"It was a great competitive atmosphere," Dosch said. "Enjoyed being on a team with other great players. To see him go out every night and get three hits, I knew I better do something that night.

"I think I just developed consistency last year, just playing third every day and trying to help my team win. Find a way to scratch out a hit, find a way to move the runners. That helps you stay positive in your mind, even if you do something that doesn't show up on the stat sheet."

The Keys will not necessarily have pitchers designated as a closer or to pitch certain late innings, but they want to have several of their relievers work two-inning outings. This is a directive from Baltimore to develop some bullpen guys capable of pitching longer and getting more than three outs.

The Keys begin the year with a seven-game homestand before their first road trip begins April 16 at Wilmington. For ticket information, call 301-815-9939.

Pitchers: Luis Gonzalez, David Hess, Mitch Horacek, Jon Keller, Williams Louico, Jarrett Miller, Ronan Pacheco, Dylan Rheault, Dennis Torres, Austin Urban, Sebastian Vader, Brady Wager, Jimmy Yacabonis

Catchers: Chance Sisco, Austin Wynns

Infielders: Anthony Caronia, Drew Dosch, Jeff Kemp, Trey Mancini, Adrian Marin, Tucker Nathans

Outfielders: Josh Hart, Greg Lorenzo, Johnny Ruettiger, Brenden Webb