As if there wasn’t enough hype going around this spring already, the Orioles have Cedric Mullins on a contract year, a smorgasbord of prospects looking for an opportunity, the return of Félix Bautista and Tyler O’Niell replacing fan favorite Anthony Santander.
The media has been in abundance the last two years, as the Birds have gone from laughing stock to one of the most fun teams to cover. This year, that coverage is going to get a bit broader, as Tomoyuki Sugano arrives from Japan.
After securing his work visa, Sugano arrived in Sarasota to a large media contingent. The Nippon Professional Baseball veteran was able to express his calmness and poise.
“I’m not so surprised because with the Yomiuri Giants, it was like this every day,” Sugano explained through his interpreter.
Sugano would meet manager Brandon Hyde and then be introduced to the team, where he expressed through his interpreter that he wanted to win a world championship.
“He’s all about winning. He’s coming over here to win,” Hyde told the media.
Sugano will wear No. 19. Why is that of relevance? The first Japanese player for the Orioles was Koji Uehara, who pitched from 2009-2011 and also wore the same number.
The new starter, introduced to the team as Tomo, trained in Hawaii the last two months. He must adapt to a pitch clock and a larger baseball that is not pre-tacked.
Sugano indicated that his first bullpen session will probably be Monday. He also feels there won’t be much of an adjustment to a five-man rotation, as he usually pitched in one, unlike most Nippon Professional Baseball teams (NPB generally uses a six-man rotation).
Also at camp today was Zach Eflin, who arrived late because his wife, Lauren, and he welcomed their fourth child and first boy, Hayden. All of the children are 3.5 years or younger. Eflin threw his first bullpen session today.
Grayson Rodriguez is tinkering with a sweeper to implement into his arsenal. Having one of the better changeups and a fastball that can reach triple digits, this will only make Rodriguez more difficult to face.
Chayce McDermott has a minor lat/teres strain and has been shut down for a bit. It is expected that he could resume his throwing program in 10-14 days.
“His last bullpen, live BP before he got here, he felt a little soreness, so he reported it, got him checked out,” Hyde said. “It’s going to be a while before you see him on the mound.”
To help cover the loss of McDermott and Trevor Rogers (dislocated knee cap), Albert Suárez will be stretched out as a starter. There still is a possibility he could be moved to the bullpen.
Charlie Morton threw live batting practice today, the only Oriole to take the mound, with catcher Gary Sánchez behind the plate.
“Walked off the mound feeling good, healthy,” Morton said. “I got to throw to Gary, which is awesome. All in all, a first good day off the mound.”
Catchers Adley Rutschman, the aforementioned Sánchez and Samuel Basallo all hit off a pitching machine as well today, with hitting coach Cody Asche observing.
Asche was asked about Rutschman and his second half slump last season and how they are going to prevent that from happening in the future.
“I think it was just good for Rutsch to just reset,” Asche said. “He showed up to spring training in a really, really good mindset. If you’re a fan watching Adley Rutschman, I would say that last year’s the exception, not the rule to what his career is going to look like.”
As the new primary hitting coach, Asche has three main principles when it comes to hitting:
- Hit the ball hard
- Shoot for line drive swings
- Control the strike zone
“Fans at home, I promise you, we are preaching sound baseball philosophy,” Asche said when explaining his approach.
Position players are required to report to camp by Monday, but just about everyone has arrived.
“I’ve been really impressed with the shape that these guys have come in and how eager they are to get started,” Hyde. “They’re all ready to go. They’re really eager for it to start, so I’m really encouraged by how everybody’s come into camp.”
Today is the second to last day before all players must report to camp. There will be some more bullpens tomorrow, but next week, we should start seeing some ramped up activity.
We are exactly one week until the first spring training game for the Orioles, and we’ll be back tomorrow to bring you more news from Sarasota on SpringNotes.
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