SARASOTA, Fla. — The few position players who aren’t already at the Orioles’ Ed Smith Stadium complex will arrive Monday.
Baltimore’s first official full-squad workout is Tuesday, but with less than a handful of position players not in Sarasota yet, manager Brandon Hyde said it has felt like they’ve been having such sessions already.
While spring training officially began Wednesday, it ramps up this week, with the Orioles’ Grapefruit League opener Saturday against the Boston Red Sox.
For most players, spring training is a time to test out some offseason changes and get ready for the season, focusing on the process over results. Assuming health, not including injured starting pitchers Kyle Bradish and John Means, it appears as if about 18 of the spots on the 26-man roster are secured.
Those remaining six spots are what will drive the roster battles this spring, and the players vying to make the roster could benefit from a sharp spring. From the back end of the rotation to a few middle relief spots to backup infielders and outfielders, the next five weeks are expected to be competitive with a roster that’s considered as deep as any in the American League.
Here are the four Orioles players with the most to prove this spring:
Left-hander Cole Irvin
Had this list been compiled before the club announced that Bradish, who has a sprained elbow ligament, and Means, who is a month behind schedule, would likely begin the season on the injured list, Irvin might not have made it.
Irvin, who is out of minor league options, seemed destined for a role as a long reliever in Baltimore’s bullpen. He started poorly with the Orioles in April after joining the organization via trade from the Oakland Athletics, but once returning in June, he posted a 3.18 ERA in nine starts and a 3.26 ERA in 12 relief outings as he bounced from the rotation to the bullpen.
Irvin and Tyler Wells have inside tracks to the two open rotation spots behind ace Corbin Burnes, fireballer Grayson Rodriguez and right-hander Dean Kremer. Wells could also be on this list, as the 6-foot-8 right-hander was the club’s best starter in the first half before running out of gas, being sent to the minors to rest and returning in September as a steady back-end reliever.
But Wells, who led the American League in WHIP in the first half, is presumably ahead of Irvin in the pecking order given the former’s consistent big league success. That leaves Irvin in the fifth and final rotation spot attempting to fend off Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott, the club’s top two pitching prospects, both of whom reached Triple-A last season.
Before 2023, Irvin had a pedigree as a strike-throwing innings eater with Oakland, posting more than 178 innings in both 2021 and 2022. It’s unlikely that he’ll spend all of 2024 in Baltimore’s rotation, but for him to start in it, he’ll need to have a good spring.
“Wherever they want me to go is where I’m going to go,” Irvin said. “It’s 60 feet, 6 inches either way. I feel like I’m in a really good spot, and I’m ready to get going.”
Right-hander Dillon Tate
What reliever Dillon Tate has to prove this spring is that he’s healthy after not appearing in the majors for all of 2023 because of a forearm-elbow injury.
Tate was a valuable reliever in 2022, posting a 3.05 ERA in 73 2/3 innings with a 0.991 WHIP. If Tate is healthy, he is one of Baltimore’s best relief options, giving the club a quality back end to the bullpen alongside closer Craig Kimbrel, sinkerballer Yennier Cano and left-hander Danny Coulombe.
Tate, who trains at Driveline, a data-driven training facility, in the offseason, was shown in a social media video hitting 100 mph with a 3 1/2-ounce plyometric ball (a baseball is 5 ounces). During his first bullpen during spring training Friday, he looked sharp throwing to catcher James McCann with his sinker showing impressive movement.
With Kimbrel, Cano, Coulombe and left-hander Cionel Pérez seemingly as locks for the opening day roster, that leaves four open spots in the bullpen. If Tate can prove he’s healthy, he has a good shot at one of them, but one factor that could play a role is the 29-year-old still having two minor league options. Other right-handed relievers in the mix such as Mike Baumann and Jacob Webb are out of options and would be subject to outright waivers if they don’t make the opening day roster.
If Tate is healthy and pitches well, it seems likely he’ll be with the team March 28 at Camden Yards. But if either are in doubt, that might not be the case.
Shortstop Jorge Mateo
Is Jorge Mateo valuable enough to stave off Jackson Holliday? Is he reliable enough in center field to convince the Orioles to keep him? Can Mateo hit well enough to justify another season with him playing consistently?
These are questions surrounding Mateo this spring. His value to the Orioles — or any MLB club — is obvious. He’s a great defensive shortstop, evidenced by winning 2022’s Fielding Bible Award. He’s one of the sport’s fastest players with a spring speed that ranks in the 99th percentile, according to Baseball Savant.
But despite a torrid April, he was one of the majors’ worst hitters last season with a .607 OPS in 350 plate appearances. With Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg considered locks for the opening day roster, Mateo and Ramón Urías are the veteran options while Holliday is the top prospect waiting in the wings.
Mateo, who doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, could increase his chances of making the club by showing he can play center field — a position he’s dabbled with in his career — at an above-average level. If so, that could allow the Orioles’ brass to keep only four traditional outfielders and have Mateo serve as a backup to Cedric Mullins, perhaps having the former play versus left-handed pitchers.
Either way, if Mateo can hit more like his April 2023 self than how he did the remainder of the season, it would go a long way in helping him secure a spot.
Outfielder Kyle Stowers
Of the players on this list, Stowers has perhaps the least likelihood of breaking camp with the big club.
But that doesn’t mean the prospect doesn’t have anything to prove.
Stowers, who made the Orioles’ opening day roster last year, had a strange 2023 that included struggling in the majors, missing time with a shoulder injury and then getting hit in the face with a fastball while in Triple-A. Despite that, he still posted an elite 8.1% home run rate in the minors with an .875 OPS with Norfolk.
“This guy still has his whole career ahead of him, huge power tool, he’s big and athletic, he plays the corners well, he can throw,” Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said during the winter meetings. “There’s a lot there, and it’s kind of an under-the-radar person that could be a factor for us this season. The fact that we have a talent like that and he doesn’t get a lot of attention speaks to the depth we have in this system.”
The outfield competition is crowded with Ryan McKenna, Sam Hilliard, Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad vying for what could be two spots behind starters Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander. But Stowers, 26, could be a left-handed power option the club is OK with having on the bench, compared with Cowser, a younger, highly touted prospect who still needs everyday at-bats.
If Stowers can prove himself defensively and hit the way he has in his minor league career, he could be one of the more surprising players to make the opening day roster.
