Hyde on Suárez, Teheran, Kjerstad, McCann and more

SARASOTA, Fla. – Julio Teheran tossed four scoreless innings today in a split-squad game against the Rays in Port Charlotte, allowing only one hit in a final bid to make the club.

Teheran is opting out of his contract and the Orioles must decide by Sunday whether to put him on the 26-man roster or let him go. In the meantime, his locker is cleaned out at the Ed Smith Stadium complex, with only a folding chair inside of it.

Reliever Andrew Suárez’s locker is in the same condition. He wasn’t on the list of yesterday’s roster cuts.

“I think right now he’s in a little bit of limbo and we’re just kind of holding off on him right now and kind of waiting to see what happens,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

Asked about Teheran, Hyde said, “He’s in that boat, too, where we’re just kind of waiting to see.”

The biggest cut was made to the youngest player, 20-year-old Jackson Holliday, baseball’s top prospect.

“I thought Mike (Elias) handled and talked about it really well yesterday,” Hyde said. “For us at this time, we just feel like he needs a little bit more time in Triple-A. He had a great spring, did everything right, played extremely well. He’s got (18) games of Triple-A experience at 20-years-old.

“If you look back and you look at a lot of guys who are having great careers right now and in the past, these types of things happen, and sometimes they just need a little bit more time. We’ll see how long it is. But tough decisions are part of this game and part of this business, and he’s going to be a really, really good player and we’re really excited about him going forward.”

A dramatic increase in young talent has impacted players like Kyle Stowers, Heston Kjerstad, Coby Mayo and Connor Norby, who otherwise might have gone north with the team.

“We’ve had a lot of people have really good springs, and so, that’s exciting,” Hyde said. “We’ve talked about where we want them to have us make tough decisions and they have because a lot of these guys played so well. Especially the young guys, and that’s with limited or no major league time. To showcase themselves the way they have this spring says a lot about them.

“What they’ve done with a lot of eyes on them, too, is incredibly impressive and not easy to do. I’ve seen a lot of young players try too hard in camp, try too hard to make a major league team, and it goes the opposite way. And these guys have performed. It just shows their makeup, how tough they are, and they’re going to be good players.”

Kjerstad was counted among yesterday’s cuts after batting .233/.281/.467 with a double and two home runs in 13 games. He struck out 10 times in 33 plate appearances.

“He’s made strides defensively,” Hyde said. “He got off to a little bit of a slow start offensively. I think he was feeling for some things early, but I thought the last week to 10 days he’s swung the bat more like himself. I think he’s still going to be a really good offensive player in this league, and he’s going to hit. And his defense has come a long way.

“It’s just a matter of time with Heston, too, because he’s going to be a really good hitter in the major leagues.”

Kolten Wong, who also opted-out of his contract, hit a leadoff home run today in a 6-4 win in Port Charlotte, and Colton Cowser belted his sixth. Mayo went 3-for-4 and is batting .360 with a 1.008 OPS. Billy Cook was 2-for-2 off the bench.

Nick Maton went 0-for-2 and is 0-for-23.

Chayce McDermott allowed three runs and six hits with five strikeouts in four innings.

Michael Pérez and Maverick Handley caught in Port Charlotte, with the latter producing a two-run single. Adley Rutschman is behind the plate tonight against the Blue Jays, and James McCann will replace him later in the game.

McCann has been out with some back tightness, with his last appearance on Sunday.

“If that goes well, then I’ll flip-flop them tomorrow,” Hyde said.

Grayson Rodriguez and Cole Irvin pitch Sunday against the Twins in Fort Myers to close out the exhibition schedule.

* Commissioner Rob Manfred issued the following statement on the passing of long-time Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos:

“Peter Angelos was a proud native of Baltimore who deeply appreciated owning the Baltimore Orioles.  Peter’s lifetime of philanthropy greatly benefited numerous worthy causes throughout his hometown.  He championed the Orioles’ historic 1999 series with the Cuban National Team.  Peter ably served the game on our Labor Committee, and I will always remember his personal support when I was first elected to this role in his home city in 2014.

“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I send my condolences to Peter’s wife, Georgia, their sons John and Louis, and the entire Angelos family.”