Good morning, Camden Chatters.
The Orioles had their final off day of spring training yesterday, and now it’s an all-out sprint to the end of camp. The O’s will play 13 games in the next 11 days, which includes a pair of split-squad games next Thursday, the prospects-only Spring Breakout game next Friday, and games against the Nationals in both Baltimore and D.C. to close out their exhibition schedule March 22 and 23.
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With less than two weeks until Opening Day, everyone seems to be wondering how the O’s will pare their current camp roster of 53 down to their season-opening 26-man. MASN’s Roch Kubatko, MLB’s Jake Rill, and Baltimore Baseball’s Rich Dubroff all offered their thoughts about how the roster might line up when the season starts. All three predict the Orioles to solve their six-starting-pitcher dilemma by having Zach Eflin start the season on the IL and continue to ramp up after last year’s back surgery. Things sure seem to be leaning that way, considering that Eflin has thrown just two innings this spring — impressive as they were — and isn’t currently scheduled to pitch for the rest of this week.
The three writers are mostly in sync about how the bulk of the roster will shake out. The biggest questions right now are the final couple of spots in the bullpen and on the bench. Kubatko and Rill advocate for hard-throwing, out-of-options righty Jackson Kowar, while Dubroff pegs the last bullpen spot for Yaramil Hiraldo. All seem to agree that Grant Wolfram has pitched his way onto the team with his stellar spring (five scoreless innings, nine strikeouts) while Albert Suárez (nine runs in 6.2 innings) has probably pitched his way off of it.
On the bench, the utility infield decision seems to come down to either Jeremiah Jackson (Dubroff’s pick) or Luis Vázquez (Rill’s selection). Personally I’d go with Vázquez, because if you have Coby Mayo as your starting third baseman, you need to have a competent defender available to replace him in the late innings, and Jackson isn’t that guy.
I think the beat writers have got the roster competition sized up pretty well based on who’s currently in camp. But I feel like the Orioles might have another significant move up their sleeve before the season starts. To me there’s still a bit too much redundancy among the position-player group — particularly Ryan Mountcastle, who isn’t going to knock Pete Alonso out of the lineup and doesn’t provide any defensive versatility beyond first base.
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The bullpen also seems a little light, especially now that Andrew Kittredge is injured. I don’t like the idea of Keegan Akin and Yennier Cano getting high-leverage innings, not to mention the relatively unproven guys like Wolfram, Dietrich Enns, and Rico Garcia. Maybe there’s a way for the O’s to address two problems at once by trading Mountcastle for a relief pitcher if they can find an interested partner. Just spitballing here.
What say you, Camden Chatters? As of now, what would your Opening Day roster look like?
Links
As Mayo reacclimates to 3rd, his bat shows why he’s needed in O’s lineup – MLB.com
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I’m going to be holding my breath every time an opposing batter hits a grounder to third base. But I’ll learn to live with it if Mayo keeps hitting like he’s been doing this spring.
Does Chris Davis belong in Orioles’ Hall of Fame? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com
Yes, of course he does. Davis’s O’s career was worlds better than some other guys in the Orioles Hall of Fame. But I understand why his epic collapse is still a a fresh wound for Orioles fans. I would have maybe waited a couple more years before putting him in.
Is new O’s outfielder Taylor Ward flying under the radar right now? – Steve Melewski
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I’ve barely thought about Taylor Ward in months, so I suppose the answer is yes.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Only one player in O’s history has a March 13 birthday: happy 62nd to Will “The Thrill” Clark. He was best known for his prolific career with the Giants and Rangers, but he spent the last two years of his career in Baltimore from 1999-2000. Clark had a .964 OPS in his final season, including 1.081 in 51 games with the Cardinals after a deadline trade, so he certainly went out on top.
On this date in 1996, the Orioles traded outfielder Sherman Obando to the Expos for outfielder Tony Tarasco. Amidst an otherwise unremarkable two seasons with the Orioles, Tarasco infamously was the right fielder from whom Jeffrey Maier stole Derek Jeter’s fly ball at the fence in Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS. Three years later, Tarasco played 14 games for the Yankees, but as far as I know he had no further incidents with fans at the wall.
Read the full article here