O's 'pen should certainly be good again

We don't know how much we will see them today but the Orioles bullpen pitchers figure to be a teams strength again this year. The O's 'pen led the American League with a 3.40 ERA in 2016.

Beyond the talent in their bullpen, the team also enjoys strong roster flexibility. The Orioles have a host of pitchers who can be optioned back and forth between the majors and minors and no doubt the shuttle between Baltimore, Triple-A Norfolk and Double-A Bowie will be active. Having so many optionable pitchers over 162 games gives the O's an advantage.

"Having the flexibility should make it a lot easier on everybody," Orioles vice president Dan Duquette said. "I think we have some pitchers that have more depth to their repertoire and they a little bit more skilled than what we've had at Triple-A in the past. That will come into play during the course of the season. I'm excited about the Triple-A rotation also."

There are a few pitchers, of course, who will not be optioned and will be counted on just about every day. Zach Britton went 47-for-47 in saves last year with an ERA of 0.54. That was the lowest in history among Major League Baseball pitchers throwing 50 or more innings.

Soreness in his left side delayed Britton's work in the spring, and he threw just 5 1/3 innings in Grapefruit League games.

"I feel ready to go," he said Sunday. "Maybe would have liked a few more innings in the spring, but the oblique didn't allow that. But I'm about as ready as I can get. Once you get out there, it is a completely different feel than spring, so I'm ready."

The Orioles bullpen has ranked among the best in the AL for the last several seasons. The club ranked third in 'pen ERA in the league in 2014 (3.10) and was third again in 2015 (3.21).

"It's a point of pride," right-hander Brad Brach said. "We want to keep that standard up and live up to it. It's been incredible what we've been able to do the last couple of years. Hope we keep it up this year."

The same could be said of Brach. He slumped late last season, but he also had a full season where he went 10-4 with a 2.05 ERA and made his first All-Star team.

"I want to build on that and prove that last year was not a fluke thing. That I can do that year in and year out. I want to carry what I did last season into this year and just continue with it," Brach said.

Left-hander Donnie Hart got his first call to the majors last July. In 22 games the rest of the year, he pitched to an ERA of 0.49, allowing one run over 18 1/3 innings. While right-handed batters hit .292, left-handers hit just .132 against Hart. Then he had a strong spring in Florida.

"Spring went well," Hart said. "It was my first big league camp, so I tried to take it in, enjoy and watch how the guys go about their business."

Hart pitched in Florida very much like someone trying to win a job, and not someone who pitched well in the majors last year. To his credit, he realizes his big league resume is not very long just yet.

"This game is always a revolving door," Hart said. "I think the minute you get comfortable or complacent with what you are doing and what your job is, someone is knocking on the door ready to walk through it. That is probably going to be my mindset the rest of my career. I don't think there will ever be a minute where I put a big league uniform on and take it for granted."