Reviewing Orioles spring training before today's game

SARASOTA, Fla. - Four games into the exhibition schedule, following a couple weeks of workouts, seems like an ample amount of time to build some early impressions of the Orioles. The good and the disappointing. Reactions and overreactions.

Chris Davis hit a home run yesterday in his fifth spring training at-bat and it was a tape-measure shot off a breaking ball. It could mean something or nothing, but I recognized that swing from the days when he was scary good in the middle of the order.

Didn't seem to take much effort. Nice and easy, and he destroyed the baseball, pausing to watch its flight before breaking into his home run trot.

Davis basically had to surrender to his two-plus year slump and change his offseason work and approach. It wasn't former hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh's fault, but Davis seems to have bonded already with replacement Don Long.

Asked yesterday about Long's philosophy, if one really exists because not every player is the same, Davis replied, "I think it's a little bit different from what we've seen in the past."

"He's really trying to instill a belief that we're going to hit as a unit this year," Davis continued. "It's not going to be one guy carrying the team. It's not going to be two or three guys. It's going to be a collective effort day in and day out.

"We're going to prepare better than anybody else. We're going to do the little things that we know will make a difference throughout the course of the season, and for me he's really just working to instill that kind of confidence in each and every guy and wants us to work to do whatever we can to get ourselves in a position where we can succeed."

Analytics will be more readily available and integrated, but Davis knows how he wants to use them, how they can most benefit him. He won't obsess over every single piece of data placed before him.

"When I was referring to the analytics, I was more referring to defense alignment, how the opposing teams are pitching me specifically," he said. "The launch angle, I feel like you can get really deep. When you start talking about launch angle for me, I've always had an uppercut swing. It's my natural swing. It's just kind of the way I am. The more I try to bear down on the ball, the more it works against me. So when I was referring to the analytics, I was referring more to the defensive alignment and really how the opposition is going to attack me."

Muting the naysayers, especially ones taking aim at the team, is important to everyone in the clubhouse. Not just Davis.

"I think the expectations from within are that we are going to succeed," Davis said. "I think every guy in there wants to win. I think they're going to prepare in a way that puts us in the best position to win.

"There is a little less pressure, I guess, knowing that we're going to have a lot of young guys. We're going to have a lot of new faces. For me, it's an opportunity not only to see some of the young guys get some at-bats and get some game experience, but it's a chance for us to kind of start over and start fresh."

While still picking through the good, there's Jimmy Yacabonis' two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and another reminder that he's got a terrific arm and might just need the Orioles to settle on his role and stop yanking him back and forth - whether rotation to bullpen or Triple-A to the majors.

Yusniel Diaz, the No. 1 prospect in the organization, is 4-for-10 with a home run. He isn't likely to break camp with the team, but there's no reason to dismiss his chances of debuting over the summer.

Cedric Mullins looks like a leadoff hitter and the Orioles haven't possessed one in the prototypical mold in a long time. Austin Hays is running as if he never underwent ankle surgery and he's back, at least so far, to driving the ball to the opposite field. Shortening up his swing when down in the count, letting the ball travel, doing things that good hitters do.

Drew Jackson is making himself a solid Rule 5 utility candidate, which is necessary because a starting job may not be available to him. Rio Ruiz is 3-for-5 with a home run and should have five RBIs if Diaz hadn't been thrown out at third base yesterday before Jonathan Villar scored. Ryan Mountcastle is playing more first base than third, which probably should have happened sooner, and his bat continues to intrigue and tantalize.

Joey Rickard tends to be ignored while media and fans fawn over the prospects, but he's 2-for-5 with a double, two walks and two runs scored and his speed and ability to play all three outfield positions make him a potential piece on the opening day roster.

Trey Mancini has played in only one game, but he went 2-for-2 and seems to have retained the same approach that made him a much better hitter over the second half.

Branden Kline struck out the side to record the save in his only appearance so far and what he did last summer at Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie was no fluke.

Hunter Harvey allowed two runs Monday in his first inning since early June. However, his fastball mostly sat in the 95-97 mph range and he topped out a 98. With the same easy, fluid delivery.

He's still the same stud prospect. Just a little older.

"Velocity was there, his pitches were there," said Austin Wynns, who caught Harvey Monday in Fort Myers. "He only threw one split-change, but overall, his stuff is electric. And his first outing, build off that. That's what we'll do. Overall he looks healthy and he'll be fine."

The giddy-up on Harvey's heater didn't surprise Wynns.

"I know what he's capable of and he has in the tank," Wynns said. "He probably has 100 in the tank. Watch out for that."

And that delivery?

"Natural," Wynns said. "Gifted kid right there."

The disappointments are shouldered by players who can't get back on the field. Or into the country.

Reliever Zach Pop has been shut down after his fastball velocity plummeted into the mid-to-upper 80s range - he's been known to touch 99 mph - but manager Brandon Hyde indicated yesterday that the right-hander could get back on the mound within the next few days.

Starter Dean Kremer showed up with a strained left oblique, and while he's been improving, he could be a few weeks away from pitching.

It's not that big of a deal with Pop and Kremer because they weren't expected to make the club anyway, but it's still unfortunate.

People around here get skittish when young pitchers are sidelined.

Catcher Jesús Sucre should be competing for a job. He has the most major league experience of the group. But he still hasn't obtained his work visa and is stuck in Venezuela, which really isn't recommended.

I must be naïve to wonder why this happens to so many players every year when they know that the visa is needed before reporting to camp. I'll just wallow in my ignorance.

Tanner Scott allowed four runs and four hits in one-third of an inning, but watch a bullpen session and you're reminded that he has some of the best stuff on the roster. No reason to freak out over a poor first outing. He should be in the bullpen on opening day.