Mountcastle making impression at plate (O's win 10-8)

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles made three roster cuts yesterday and infielder Ryan Mountcastle remained in camp, his locker set up across the hall in the auxiliary clubhouse and his swing still producing loud noises.

One of the top position prospects in the organization is 5-for-16 with three doubles and a home run this spring. The ball makes a certain sound when it leaves the bat, the kind that turns heads and the wind.

"I think it's kind of affirmation of what everybody has told me and thought," said manager Buck Showalter. "Some guys in all sports seem to be able to handle the level, the better the competition. You'll find some golfers that if they're playing with me they can't score. If they're playing with somebody really good, they play well.

"I think he's going to be a guy who's able to match up with the competition he faces offensively and that's kind of been the affirmation of what all our minor league people thought."

Questions about Mountcastle's ability to hit haven't dogged him. He was batting .314/.343/.542 last summer with 35 doubles and 15 home runs in 88 games at Single-A Frederick before the Orioles promoted him to Double-A Bowie and switched him from shortstop to third base. And he continues to rake down in Florida.

"It's been awesome," he said. "Just playing in front of a big crowd, playing on TV, it's pretty cool just before you even start actual games. It's a good way to get more comfortable.

"I've come over a couple times when I was on the minor league side with big eyes, open jaw, but now you sort of get used to it after a while. You feel better and more comfortable around the guys."

Easy to blend with the crowd?

"I think so," he said. "Sometimes, you keep your head low being a non-roster guy."

Mountcastle, 21, won't be able to hide if he keeps launching baseballs 400-plus feet. He crushed one to left-center field Wednesday against Cardinals reliever John Gant, who's appeared in 17 major league games. It disappeared over the wooden camera platform beside the batter's eye.

"I mean, I just got a good pitch to hit," said Mountcastle, who homered last spring after being summoned from Twin Lakes Park. "Pretty cool to get one out in big league spring training game, for sure. It's one hit, one at-bat. Got to move on."

OK, let's talk about defense, the area of Mountcastle's game that needs to catch up. The Orioles are trying to determine whether he can handle third base, where he's committed a fielding error in the intrasquad game and a throwing error in a Grapefruit League game. He's been shagging fly balls on one of the practice fields, but the Orioles are committed to giving him more time at third.

"I definitely feel more comfortable," he said. "Especially going to the fall league, playing those extra games and now working with (Bobby) Dickerson, I'm starting to feel a lot better.

"It's just a little bit quicker. That's all I've noticed, the ball gets to you a little bit quicker, but you've have more time to throw it and field it and I'm getting more comfortable with that."

The Orioles must see improvement from Mountcastle in the field, but he understands that he can't neglect his work inside the batter's box. Stop hitting and he stops being a prospect.

"It's both. It's a two-way street," he said. "You've got to field, throw it over, and you've got to be able to hit the ball, and I'm starting to feel like I'm getting into my own here and feel more comfortable every day."

There's no shortage of veterans willing to assist him, including Tim Beckham, who's also moving from shortstop to third base. He also can get advice from Manny Machado.

"It's awesome," Mountcastle said. "Those guys help me out a lot, and just seeing how they go about things is really great."

The best piece of advice he's received in camp?

"I'm not sure, I've gotten so much," he said. "You've just got to stay level-headed, especially up here. You're going to be humbled at times. You've just got to be able to stay confident and know that you can do it."

* Gabriel Ynoa made his second start of the spring today, both against the Red Sox, and was charged with six runs and seven hits in two innings. He served up back-to-back home runs to Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers in the second.

Ynoa struck out Mookie Betts and Benintendi to start the game, his slider looking nasty out of the chute. But Devers doubled, Jackie Bradley Jr. walked and both runners scored on Blake Swihart's double into right-center field.

Christian Vázquez reached when his comebacker deflected off Ynoa's glove, but Sam Travis grounded out on the 26th pitch of the inning.

Ivan De Jesús Jr. reached on an infield hit to start the second, Beckham knocking down the ball with a diving attempt along the line, and he scored on Deven Marrero's double. Benintendi launched a two-run shot and Devers followed with his homer to give the Red Sox a 6-0 lead.

I have Ynoa at 49 pitches, but it doesn't really matter. The Sox were teeing off on him.

Ynoa allowed one run and struck out four batters over two innings last Sunday in Fort Myers.

Danny Valencia marked his return to the Orioles with a double off left-hander Jalen Beeks in the second inning.

Update: Adam Jones had an RBI double in the bottom of the third after Jonathan Schoop singled and Machado walked, and two more runs scored on fielder's choice bouncers, with RBIs credited to Trey Mancini and Mark Trumbo. The Orioles trail 6-3.

Rule 5 pick Pedro Araujo tossed a scoreless third. He hasn't allowed a run in three appearances over three innings.

Update II: The Orioles scored four runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-6 lead. Caleb Joseph doubled and scored on Beckham's single. Schoop singled and Machado followed with a two-run double. Machado scored on Jones' double.

Machado is 9-for-14 with three doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs.

Here's Ynoa, via translator Ramón Alarcón:

On what happened after first two batters: "I was leaving the ball up in the zone. That was the main issue with me. The ball was just up in the zone."

On disappointment: "Those are things that happen. I know I have better stuff than what I showed today, I know I can help this team, so I'm just concentrating on the next start right now."

On concern about poor outing while competing for fifth spot: "I feel confident that in the next start I'm going to do a better job, so I'm just concentrating on that right now."

On what he can take from this start: "I would like to continue working on throwing my pitches low in the zone, dominating the zone, in and out of the zone."

Update III: Beckham homered to center field with two outs in the fifth, the ball hitting the batter's eye, to increase the lead to 8-6.

Update IV: The Red Sox scored an unearned run off Jayson Aquino in the sixth after Mountcastle's error, but Pedro Álvarez followed Anthony Santander's single in the bottom half with a long two-run homer off Fernando Rodriguez Jr. to give the Orioles a 10-7 lead.

Update V: Darren O'Day allowed a run in the seventh on a triple, walk and sacrifice fly. Orioles 10, Red Sox 8.

Update: VI: Tanner Scott recorded the save as the Orioles beat the Red Sox 10-8. They have now won four in a row and improved to 5-5-1 in Grapefruit League play.