Tomoyuki Sugano makes his final spring tuneup start and it’s actually going to be on MASN.
We are one week away from Opening Day. The Orioles have four spring training games remaining in Florida, plus a tune-up exhibition against the Nationals on Monday afternoon. The news from camp was not encouraging today, with manager Brandon Hyde indicating that both Gunnar Henderson and Félix Bautista are still up in the air for whether they’ll be on the Opening Day roster.
I’d been resigning myself to the idea that Henderson will miss at least a little bit of the season. The Bautista news is a bit more of a surprise. That’s my fault, I suppose, for buying in to how he’d been pitching and his own belief he’d have the velocity back by Opening Day. Before camp, Bautista being on the OD roster wasn’t guaranteed and the Orioles don’t seem to have ever wavered from that stance.
It’s an open question for each of these guys how long he might be out, or perhaps really just how long of a rehab assignment might be needed before they join the team. The bullpen picture without Bautista feels mighty grim.
- Cedric Mullins – DH
- Adley Rutschman – C
- Ryan O’Hearn – 1B
- Tyler O’Neill – LF
- Colton Cowser – CF
- Jordan Westburg – 2B
- Heston Kjerstad – RF
- Ramón Urías – 3B
- Jackson Holliday – SS
The following pitchers are lined up to get some work in: Tomoyuki Sugano (starter), Keegan Akin, Matt Bowman, Seranthony Domínguez. This deep into spring training, that could end up being the only pitchers who appear.
What do you think? Is this an Opening Day-looking lineup? Obviously I don’t expect Mullins as the DH when the real games get going, and it would be a surprise if we don’t see Ryan Mountcastle play that first game. But with Gunnar Henderson looking less likely to make the day 1 roster if only because they haven’t promised he will yet, this collection of players is a plausible lineup, in this order too.
By the way, Sugano has a 0.00 ERA through 10.1 spring innings, so he’s putting that on the line tonight. Previous 10+ inning guys who didn’t allow an earned run in spring training were Chris Ray, Troy Patton, and Paul Fry, so it’s not exactly distinguished company, but it’ll be fun if he keeps pitching well to carry some good feeling into the regular season. Sugano could turn out to be one of Mike Elias’s better signings.