The Orioles finished off spring training a little banged up, but with high hopes for the 2023 season. They start off in Boston Thursday March 30th at 2:10 with Kyle Gibson taking the mound for the Orioles.
While spring training was thankfully uneventful overall for the Orioles, backup catcher Brian McCann (oblique) and Mychal Givens (knee) were unavailable late in the spring and could start the year on the injured list.
The other major news was top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez pitching himself off the roster. The 23-year old right-hander showed poor command and struggled to find a consistent breaking ball leading the Orioles to send him back to Norfolk (AAA) to start the season. His poor spring helped Tyler Wells keep his spot in the rotation, at least through part of April at the very least.
The Orioles rotation is expected to by Gibson, Dean Kremer, Cole Irvin, Kyle Bradish and Wells. The bullpen will include closer Felix Bautista, Bryan Baker, Austin Voth, Keegan Akin (LHP), Cionel Perez (LHP), Danny Coulombe (LHP), and two of Michael Baumann, Logan Gillaspie, and Joey Krehbiel if the Orioles go with an 8-man bullpen as expected. Dillon Tate and Givens are expected to start the year on the IL with Tate expected to be ready by early May.
The position players look pretty set though the Orioles have not announced their starting 26-man roster as of this writing. The O’s will be led by 2nd year star catcher Adley Rutschman who will make his first big league opening day start after starting the year on the Norfolk IL last year. The infield will mix and match between shortstop and third base with rookie Gunnar Henderson playing one or other on most games. Gold glove caliber shortstop Jorge Mateo should man SS and Ramon Urias will man third base when Henderson plays the other position.
Ryan Mountcastle will be the everyday first baseman as he tries to rebound from an unlucky 2022 when he under performed his expected stats considerably. Controversial off season acquisition Adam Frazier, who is coming off a year and a half of unproductive offensive output, along with a poor spring training, will man 2nd base every day though Urias could see some time there as well. His signing blocked top prospect Jordan Westburg who will return to AAA despite putting up a .869 OPS in 413 AAA PAs last season.
The outfield will be manned by Austin Hays in left field, Cedric Mullins in center field, and either Anthony Santander or Kyle Stowers starting in RF with the other DHing on most days. Terrin Vavra (2B/3B/OF) and Ryan McKenna (OF) should be bench players though Mike Elias is continuing to search the waiver wire as this is being written.
Without a true ace, the Orioles rotation will need repeat 2nd performances from Kremer and Bradish and need Gibson and Irvin to get a boost from Camden Yards deep left field porch. The banged up bullpen would look a lot better with Tate and Givens in the pen, but will need to find good innings from their replacements as well as repeat performances by Bautista, Perez and Baker to remain a strength.
In a tough AL East, the Orioles have an uphill challenge to compete for a playoff spot after a disappointing offseason where Mike Elias failed to bring in an impact reliever or middle of the order bat. Add in some early injuries and the disappointing spring for Rodriguez, and the Orioles are going to need most of their young players to take steps forward and re-catch a little 2022 magic to be in the playoff hunt in September.
Saying that, this team has some good young talent and if things bounce right, they could very well be in the thick of things late in the year.
It should be a fun ride either way!