Sugano faces hitters in first live batting practice

SARASOTA, Fla. – Tomoyuki Sugano reported to Orioles camp on Saturday, but today felt like the beginning of spring training. Three different hitters stood at the plate against him in live batting practice at Ed Smith Stadium, rotating until he faced eight during his session. A lengthy mound conference followed with catcher Adley Rutschman, pitching coach Drew French, guest instructor and former pitcher Ben McDonald, and interpreter Yuto Sakurai.

Sugano lingered for a little bit longer as the session broke up, sweeping his foot across the dirt and measuring his stride. The mounds in Japan have a softer composition and the rubber sits further back. Just one more adjustment.

The Orioles scheduled only one live BP today and arranged for Sugano to face prospects Enrique Bradfield Jr., Dylan Beavers and Jud Fabian. Beavers flied out and doubled twice on a pair of hard-hit line drives. Fabian struck out twice and singled or doubled into left field – players don’t run the bases – and Bradfield grounded out and lined to left field.

Here’s what they’re saying about the session:

Sugano (via Sakurai)

“I had a good feel for it. I was able to pitch the way I thought I would be able to, so that was good.”

On what he worked on:
“I wanted to communicate with the catcher really well, and I was able to do that with Adley.”

On working with Rutschman in live BP:
“Nothing in particular. But I had a special feeling because it was the first time. Felt like spring training was just starting.”

On facing the young hitters:
“I felt like they were pretty aggressive, but more than anything, it was more about the communication with Adley and the pitch sequence.”

On a different mound:
“I feel really comfortable on the mound. When I was with the Giants, the foreign players who played for the Giants, they were saying, ‘If you can pitch in the Tokyo Dome, you won’t have a problem in the major leagues.'”

Rutschman

“Amazing, amazing. Super fun to catch. First time really working together instead of just talking about stuff. Great experience so far and fun to catch him.”

On the communication:
“We talked a little bit during the offseason, just kind of what we expected coming into spring training, and obviously the best work you can do is when you’ve got batters in there and are getting real feedback. Nice to put words into action and to be able to go out there and really see his stuff in person.”

On the stuff:
“Every pitcher’s unique, and for him, just his location. He’s got a six-pitch mix. Splitter’s really good, and I think he’s got the weapons to be able to attack guys in a lot of different ways.”  

On Sugano’s strike-throwing:
“That was one of the things we talked about beforehand, and trying to move the ball around and being able to attack guys in different ways is a huge part about pitching at this level. And he’s able to do that.”

On the contact against Sugano:
“Definitely today was more about just seeing as many pitches as we could, even if it’s not what we would throw to them in a game setting. We just kind of wanted to play around with some stuff, really get a feel for each other and what he’s able to do. Just get different looks. So today was definitely more about just throwing as many pitches as possible and just trying to get comfortable.”

Beavers

“I thought it was an awesome experience. I’m glad I got to get in there and see that. I know he’s had a lot of success over there, so it was cool to be a part of it.”

On the stuff:
“He showed me a curveball, fastball and the splitter. I thought the splitter was a pretty good pitch.”

On whether he saw anything different from other pitchers:
“I felt like, especially compared to Double-A and Triple-A, just better command. You could really tell that’s what he was focusing on, just hitting spots.”

McDonald

On what he’s seen from Sugano:
“Control and command guy, just like we thought. He got a couple balls elevated in that BP session, but clearly the split is the best pitch. They were working on a few things. I think in a real game-type situation, they would have pitched a little bit differently, but I love the split. The split’s really good. Couldn’t get a read on the fastball velocity because the system wasn’t working, but his slider was good. The depth of his splitter’s the out pitch.

“I don’t know what the usage was in Japan, but I get the feeling that usage is gonna bump up here against MLB hitters. I think that’s gonna be the pitch. The question is, can he get the counts where he can really use it? Can he land it in even counts? Clearly it’s gonna be an 0-2, 1-2 pitch for sure for him, but how does he get to that point? I like his stuff. It’s clearly to me about control. That’s gonna be his strength, being able to throw the ball where he wants to throw the ball.”

On other impressions made by Sugano:
“He seems like just a wonderful guy. What I love about him is, he’s had so much success, but he is willing to learn. Sometimes, you get veteran guys who come from other places – ‘I’ve won two Cy Youngs, I’ve been the MVP three times, I don’t need to do anything different.’ But just sitting in on his meeting after he pitched, he made it clear that, 'Whatever you guys want to do, if you think my sequencing needs to be different than what it is, I’m up to learning and doing whatever you guys think.’ And he loves the analytical data that he’s getting, and it appears that he wants to be able to fit in and do whatever he needs to do.

“The point is, he’s willing to pitch the way they want him to pitch. And they’ll get a game plan every time he goes into a ballgame, and there will be a game plan how he wants to attack every hitter. Can he go out and execute it is the question.”

* The Pirates are starting right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski against the Orioles in Saturday’s exhibition opener on MASN.

Mlodzinski was a first-round pick in the 2020 draft from the University of South Carolina who’s made 75 appearances in the past two seasons – mostly in relief – and registered a 2.91 ERA with only six home runs surrendered in 86 2/3 innings.

* The Orioles game against the Phillies on Sunday in Clearwater will be available on MLB Network in the Baltimore television market at 1 p.m.