The final day before all positions are in camp saw live bullpens happen today, and to say there was no excitement would be a remiss comment.
From batters to pitchers, there were all kinds of head-turning moments throughout the day, though the pitchers ruled.
As day five of spring training wraps up, let’s take a look at how today went before we start preparing for the first spring game next Saturday.
Brandon Young threw to Samuel Basallo, Dean Kremer to Adley Rutschman and Andrew Kittredge to Gary Sánchez in bullpen sessions today. Also throwing bullpen sessions today were Bryan Baker and Corbin Martin.
Martin is a former second-round pick by the Houston Astros, who had Tommy John Surgery in 2019 and shoulder surgery in 2023. He finds himself healthy headed into camp this year. With a heavy fastball, change, curve and slider, he is an arm to keep an eye on.
Young, the Orioles’ No. 18 prospect, had a strong 2024 season and could be one of the first arms called upon if an injury were to occur.
Gregory Soto, Cade Povich, Cionel Pérez, Seranthony Domínguez, Yennier Canó and Rodolfo Martínez pitched live bullpens today as well.
Povich was the only pitcher to throw multiple innings, and despite what the stats say, his approach was good, and he wasn’t as erratic as it might be suggested.
Povich allowed three walks, a single, double and a home run (Dylan Carlson), a groundout and a flyout. The young lefty is vying to return to the rotation this year after closing last season with a 2.60 ERA over his last five starts.
Soto struck out two and induced a groundout in his inning of work, showing good control. Enrique Bradfield Jr. was a victim of a Soto strikeout, taking a slider away and then a fastball that froze the young prospect in a left-on-left matchup.
Pérez’s live BP included a walk, a strikeout, a hit batter and a Gary Sánchez home run.
Pérez has not given up a regular season home run since allowing two on May 31, 2023, spanning 53.2 innings across 62 games.
Domínguez’s bullpen included a walk, a double play, a hit batter/strikeout (Ramón Urías was hit by first pitch but stayed to finish at-bats) and a strikeout.
Canó’s bullpen consisted of a popout, two walks on borderline strikes and a strikeout. He did look sharp and felt good to get back on the mound.
“It’s great. It’s very exciting. I think it’s one thing to try at home. To be able to pitch at the field here is a different experience,” Canó said through his interpreter. “It’s always great pitching to and seeing old teammates, new teammates. It was very fun.”
Martínez closed out the live bullpen/batting practice by striking out Bradfield Jr. and Basallo while forcing Dylan Beavers to hit a fly ball.
Martínez, a 30-year-old Dominican native, is a non-roster invitee who pitched in Mexico and the Dominican last year. He last pitched in affiliated ball in 2019 when he was a part of the San Francisco Giants system from 2014-2019.
SIDE NOTES:
Chayce McDermott, who has been shut down with a mild lat/teres strain, was hoping to compete for a starting position this spring. He says he feels good, and they are hoping he can start throwing in 10-14 days.
“I’m not 100 percent sure what the exact timeline looks like,” McDermott said. “We’re still trying to figure it out. Where I feel right now, I feel like we’re in a good position. I’ll do what the team wants me to do. I’ll be in a good position.”
Manager Brandon Hyde has not decided on an Opening Day starter as of yet. He specified that they need to start mapping out the starter’s build-up schedules.
“We’re keeping our options open, and we’ll go from there,” Hyde said.
Monday brings the countdown to the first spring training game for the Birds. With nearly everyone in camp, a few NRIs should round out the arrivals tomorrow and get things going in full swing.
We will be back with more notes from the day and see if Sugano makes his bullpen debut tomorrow.
A lot will be going on this week, so be ready as we bring you the next edition of SpringNotes 2025.
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