Manager Brandon Hyde has not yet revealed how he’ll break down playing time at the non-first base positions of the Orioles’ infield once the regular season arrives, largely because his focus is ensuring that that group makes it through spring training healthy.
But Monday’s exhibition against the Tampa Bay Rays, a 14-2 loss, provided a look at one possible alignment. In a lineup featuring players who could be in the opening day version in eight of nine spots, Adam Frazier started at second, Jorge Mateo at short and Ramón Urías at third. Gunnar Henderson, the lone absent projected regular, will play Tuesday, when Adley Rutschman will catch for the first time this spring after starting two of Baltimore’s first three games at designated hitter.
The game’s No. 1 overall prospect, Henderson is the likeliest of the quartet to play daily, though Hyde will understandably find rest days for each member of the group. When Henderson gets a night off, Monday’s look figures to be the arrangement.
The group offers plenty of flexibility. All but Mateo figure to get time at multiple positions this spring, with Hyde saying he’ll stick to shortstop after being one of the game’s best defenders at that position in 2022. Henderson will spell him at shortstop and also play third base, where Urías won a Gold Glove last year. Urías competed with Mateo at shortstop last spring, but with Mateo and Henderson in the fold, Hyde plans to use him at only third and second. Frazier, who signed a one-year deal with Baltimore this offseason, could see time in the outfield as well as second base.
Like Henderson, Frazier bats left-handed, as does Terrin Vavra. An early frontrunner in the Orioles’ search for a left-handed hitter to offer depth, Vavra spent this offseason becoming more versatile, making a pair of diving plays Sunday at third base after having played only one inning at that position previously in his professional career. Vavra’s presence on the roster would give Hyde the chance to stack his lineup with lefties by putting him at third, Henderson at short and Frazier at second.
Whatever breakdown Hyde decides on could be short-lived. Beyond Henderson, the Orioles have five other infielders among their top 10 prospects, and all but 2022 first-overall draft pick Jackson Holliday ended last season at Double-A. In Monday’s game, Connor Norby, Joey Ortiz and Coby Mayo replaced Frazier, Mateo and Urías. It could be considered foreshadowing.
The battling lineup offered a potential opening day order, with Henderson potentially slotting third behind Cedric Mullins and Adley Rutschman and pushing Anthony Santander, Urías, Austin Hays, Frazier and Mateo down a spot. In what was scheduled to be his final plate appearance of the game, Santander was hit by a pitch on his left knee, exiting the game and soon after the field with a slight limp. Hyde said after the game that Santander is day-to-day with a bruise.
“That’s all I know at this point, but I think he’s OK,” Hyde said.
Zimmermann begins ‘fresh start’
Towson native Bruce Zimmermann began last season in Baltimore’s rotation, drawing a dream opportunity as the starter for the Orioles’ home opener at Camden Yards. He followed that scoreless outing with another, posting a 2.67 ERA through six starts.
But the left-hander then allowed 17 home runs over his next seven starts, spiking his ERA by more than three runs and prompting a demotion to Triple-A. He made only two major league outings the rest of the way, a one-inning relief appearance in July and a six-inning bulk outing in which he surrendered three more home runs.
“I think he lost a little bit of confidence,” Hyde said before Zimmermann started Monday’s game. “He had a really good start for us last year, did a great job. He gave up a bunch of homers kind of late there in his last handful of starts. I think the stuff was still good. I just think he got knocked around a little bit and got his confidence shaken a little bit.
“It’s a fresh start for him. There’s jobs to be won in our pitching staff, and hopefully, he can go out and show the kind of pitcher that we think he is.”
The two runs Zimmermann gave up in his first spring outing came on a Wander Franco home run, but he retired five of the next six Rays. He spent this offseason looking to recapture that, focused on differentiating his four- and two-seam fastballs, honing the shapes of his secondary pitches and overall consistency. Although he agreed with Hyde’s “fresh start” assessment, he felt confident in how he pitched at Triple-A, with a 3.04 ERA over his final 10 starts. Like Hyde, he noted the Orioles’ rotation success made it difficult for the team to find space for him.
Still, he finds himself as one of Baltimore’s dozen rotation options in camp.
“Unfortunately, our guys were pitching amazing in the big leagues, so I just had to kind of wait,” Zimmermann said. “… I think everybody’s aware of the competition and what this camp is about, but I think guys are really excited about it, as well. The last five guys standing are really going to be a good competitive product to really push this year and build on what we did last year.”
Mixed bag for bullpen candidates
A number of the Orioles’ rotation candidates could instead land jobs in the bullpen. Hyde noted the team would ideally have “at least two” left-handed relievers, and with Cionel Pérez assured one spot if healthy, that could create an opportunity for Zimmermann or DL Hall.
Nonroster invitee Darwinzon Hernandez could pitch his way into that mix, too, but his effort to do so did not begin well. The left-hander, who will leave camp early next month to pitch for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, retired only one of the six batters he faced Monday, walking three and allowing four runs.
An inning earlier, Joey Krehbiel allowed two home runs in his first spring outing. Krehbiel was a key member of the Orioles’ bullpen for much of last season, but the trade of All-Star closer Jorge López pushed him into a higher-leverage role. With a 2.35 ERA entering August, he had a 6.98 ERA afterward.
Andrew Politi, another fringe bullpen candidate, pitched a scoreless fifth, working around a one-out triple that Cedric Mullins had trouble with in center. As a Rule 5 draft pick, Politi must remain on the Orioles’ major league roster all season or be placed on waivers.
Noting he won’t read too much into one spring outing, Hyde praised Politi’s breaking ball and Krehbiel’s strike-throwing.
Grapefruit League
Orioles at Pirates
Tuesday, 1:05 p.m.
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