SARASOTA, Fla. — The Orioles got their first look at their prized offseason acquisition Saturday afternoon, and he didn’t disappoint.
Corbin Burnes took the ball for the club’s Grapefruit League opener against the Boston Red Sox, donning the Orioles’ home whites for the first time since being traded by the Milwaukee Brewers in January. The 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner pitched only one inning, but it was an impressive one.
He struck out the first two batters he faced on his way to a scoreless frame, throwing 21 pitches, including 13 strikes. Burnes wanted to test out his slider and he threw several to Red Sox first baseman Bobby Dalbec, the lone hitter to reach against him with a single to center. However, early spring training games are all about process over results, and Burnes left the mound pleased with the work he did to begin building up his arm for the regular season.
“Today was just getting the feet wet, getting out there, get on the mound, feel the adrenaline going again in a game situation and then get to work with Adley [Rutschman] a little bit,” Burnes said after his appearance. “So, obviously a little bit structured today as far as what we’re doing pitch-wise but had a little bit of freedom to kind of mix and match some stuff.”
Given the state of the Orioles’ rotation, the most significant takeaway from Burnes’s outing was that he emerged from it healthy. Baltimore expects to begin the year with both Kyle Bradish (UCL strain) and John Means (elbow soreness) on the injured list. Burnes has been among baseball’s most durable pitchers the past four seasons and the Orioles hope to lean on him heavily for those innings early.
Rutschman starts with a bang
While Rutschman didn’t have to do much game-calling behind the plate for Burnes, he still found other ways to leave his mark. The Orioles catcher crushed a home run to straightaway center field off Red Sox starter Garrett Whitlock in his first at-bat.
Rutschman reached the 20-homer threshold for the first time in 2023. His average launch angle lends itself more to gap-to-gap power than over-the-fence production, but the 26-year-old switch-hitter has shown he knows how to dial up a big swing. Notably, Saturday’s blast came from the left side — Rutschman hit just six homers left-handed last season.
Later in the game, Rutschman also threw out a would-be base-stealer trying to take second. Top prospect Jackson Holliday, making his spring debut at second base, caught the ball on a hop to tag out a sliding Dalbec. The Orioles are giving Holliday a look as a candidate to make the opening day roster; he hit seventh and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.
“He’s professional in the way he goes about his business,” Rutschman said of Holliday, his fellow No. 1 overall draft pick. “He’s a hard worker, has looked great so far in spring training. It was cool to have that first interaction.”
Cowser walks it off
Colton Cowser delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon with the Orioles down to their final three outs.
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, he smacked a ball over the center field fence for a two-run, walk-off home run to send a sellout Ed Smith Stadium crowd home happy.
Cowser, 23, is fighting for a spot on the Orioles’ opening day roster after earning his first big league call-up in 2023. He struggled to find a rhythm at the plate and finished with a .115/.286/.148 slash line in 77 plate appearances, but his body of work in the minors suggests he has the potential to be a five-tool player.
“I think just feeling a little bit more comfortable,” manager Brandon Hyde said after the game of what he’s looking to see from Cowser this spring. “I think he will be second time around and is off to a good start this spring.”
Cowser, the No. 5 overall pick in 2021, reached base in each of his two plate appearances, taking a pitch off his leg in the seventh. Perhaps his biggest competition for a roster spot, fellow outfield prospect Heston Kjerstad, went 0-for-2.
Around the horn
- Right-hander Jonathan Heasley was tagged with two runs allowed in two-thirds of an inning and lefty Trey McGough gave up the go-ahead run in the eighth that set up Cowser’s walk-off. Ramón Urías drove in Ryan O’Hearn with a sacrifice fly for the Orioles’ other run.
- Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias joined the MASN broadcast during the game and provided an update on Bradish: “The early reads on the PRP treatment that we did and how his throwing is going thus far are all very positive … We’re certainly not over the hump with anything, but we feel like we have things moving in a really positive direction.” Bradish threw from 90 feet Saturday morning as he continued his throwing program.
- Infield prospect Connor Norby is dealing with side soreness, Hyde said in his pregame press conference. The Orioles plan to give him a few days off to get right before he makes his Grapefruit League debut. The 23-year-old utility man is jockeying for preferred positioning on Baltimore’s infield and outfield depth charts.
Grapefruit League
Orioles at Pirates
Sunday, 1:05 p.m.