It was a matter of time before the Orioles’ pitching staff struggled this spring. Today happened to be that day, but the offense came through and guided the Birds to their sixth victory this spring.
Corbin Burnes was making his second start for the Orioles this spring, and it was definitely a different showing from the first.
Burnes was charged with three earned runs over 1.2 innings of work. He allowed three hits and a walk while striking out three. Today, though, Burnes was focused on working on his cutter and slider, as he threw 38 pitches with 25 going for strikes.
“We’re really close. Off-speed stuff was really good today, so the second inning was basically like, I told Adley, ‘Hey, the off-speed’s in a good spot. Let’s hammer the cutter, hammer the slider a little bit more, get a feel for that.’ It’s getting there. The cutter away to leftys was really good today, so that was good to see. Made some improvements there from the last outing. The last piece of this thing is just to keep hammering those cutters to the glove side.”
– Corbin Burnes on his outing against the Pirates today
Most of the team’s regular pitchers struggled today, as Craig Kimbrel, Danny Coulombe and Jacob Webb all allowed multiple hits, walks and at least one run in their outings.
Cionel Pérez bounced back with a strong outing, throwing a strikeout and allowing no hits, walks or runs. Having Pérez return to his second half form will be a big deal for the bullpen.
Morgan McSweeney and Keegan Akin had clean appearances, and it was Tucker Davidson (W, 1-0) who picked up the win despite allowing a run over two innings of work.
Offensively, Jackson Holliday, Kyle Stowers and Jorge Mateo led the charge.
Holliday ended his day 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI. It was his first extra-base hit and RBI of the spring, raising his early average to .273 and OPS to .788.
“I’m getting more comfortable. Not to the level that I would like to be swinging it, but the last few games, starting to tick up a little bit, so I’m happy about that. I feel comfortable. It’s just a matter of getting at-bats and a matter of time before I start putting together good at-bats and getting a few more hits.”
– Jackson Holliday on his performance as of late
Mateo went 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs while playing shortstop today. He is now hitting .400 with an OPS of 1.555 this spring. Mateo is vying for a super utility role and could make the outfield competition a little more interesting.
Stowers put on another power display as well, blasting a home run to right-center. He would later pick up a line drive single and end his day with a walk.
Both of Stowers’ hits came against leftys, as he continued his improvement in left-on-left match-ups.
“I’m surprised you don’t want to talk about the walk against the righty. I honestly haven’t seen as many rightys so far for whatever reason. As you guys know, I’ve been having a little more success against the leftys thus far, and I was really happy to have that at-bat against the righty. Like I said, I feel confident against both leftys and rightys, but it was nice to have a successful, positive result against the righty.”
– Kyle Stowers on his outing today against the Pirates
The Orioles improved to 6-1 this spring, as Daniel Johnson would hit a walk-off single to end the game. Johnson continues to turn heads this spring and is pushing to make the team as a bench outfielder in a deep competition for one or two spots.
The Birds are back in action tomorrow when they visit the Atlanta Braves. They will travel to CoolToday Park in North Port, Florida. Game time is at 1:05 p.m. EST with Tyler Wells taking the mound for his spring debut.
Side Notes:
• Ryan Mountcastle was scratched from today’s lineup with an illness, but O’s manager Brandon Hyde said he is doing fine.
• O’s No. 2 prospect Samuel Basallo took batting practice today. He is catching but is currently prohibited from throwing as he recovers from a stress fracture in his right elbow.
• Newly acquired veteran right-hander Julio Teherán threw a bullpen session today and is hoping to get into a game this weekend. Hyde said Teherán would be built up as a starter and said having depth and pitchers who can pitch multiple innings was important.
• Newly acquired infielder Kolton Wong joined the team today and has already started giving Jackson Holliday some pointers on footwork. Wong played with Matt Holliday in St. Louis and now joins Holliday’s son in Baltimore.
Who stood out to you today for the O’s? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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