Where did all the time go? The Orioles will hold their first official workout Thursday at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota, Florida, and I haven’t even had time to shake my Super Bowl hangover.
Okay, that’s not really true, since I haven’t had a hangover since the O’s drove me to drink during their 14-year losing streak. It just seems like yesterday that we were investigating the mysterious disappearance of their offense last October and now it’s time to break out the bats and balls and try to build back better.
It has long been open to debate whether major league teams really need six weeks to get ready for the regular season. I always thought so, but basking in the Florida (or Arizona) sun while your friends are home trying to get the feeling back in their toes might have affected my reasoning.
There was a time long ago when it was definitely necessary, back when players actually took jobs during the offseason to make ends meet. Now, most position players work out all year round and pitchers begin throwing long before they report to camp.
Still, while most hitters will tell you that they can get up to speed at the plate in two or three weeks, the pitchers definitely need extra time to build up to a regular season workload, which is why pitchers and catchers traditionally report before the rest of the squad.
Not that anyone in MLB’s executive hierarchy would even ponder significantly shortening the training period, since they have convinced municipalities in both Florida and Arizona to build luxurious, state-of-the-art training facilities and stadiums that are supported by the month-long exhibition season.
Orioles fans have every right to be thrilled that this year’s 8 ½-month baseball journey has begun, and many of them travel to Sarasota to hang around the perimeter of the practice fields to watch the players go through early drills.
What they’ll see over the next few days is PFP (Pitchers Fielding Practice) and some batting practice, which is not particularly exciting but is an opportunity to see the big league players and some highly regarded minor league prospects up close.
The exhibition season opens on February 22nd with a home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who train nearby in Bradenton and will play the O’s seven times this spring.
That’s when things get interesting, but from a team-building standpoint, this camp won’t feature a great deal of position competition. The Orioles infield is set – with veterans Ramón Urías, Jorge Mateo and Ryan O’Hearn filling the reserve roles – and it’s easy to predict who will be the top five outfielders and top two catchers on the roster come Opening Day.
The major point of interest this spring will be the same as it has been throughout the offseason, whether the starting rotation still needs a significant upgrade to make up for the loss of one-and-done ace Corbin Burnes to free agency.
Executive VP/general manager Mike Elias obviously thinks so, which should keep the team’s beat reporters on their cell phones trying to unearth a major trade or create some intrigue around the possibility.
There will be some jockeying for bullpen roles as manager Brandon Hyde designs a relief corps with enough late-inning options to take pressure off electric closer Félix Bautista as he navigates his comeback from Tommy John elbow reconstruction.
While it might not be hard to predict the roster, it is impossible to predict the future. There are a number of pressing questions facing this team – from the viability of the starting rotation to the concern created by Adley Rutschman’s late-season struggles at the plate last year and the progress the O’s can expect from top prospect Jackson Holliday.
Six weeks might seem like a long time, but none of those questions will produce definitive answers until well into the regular season.