FORT MYERS, Fla. — If the Orioles play to the same winning percentage during the regular season that they did this spring, they won’t have any trouble repeating as American League East champions.
Baltimore ended its spring training schedule Sunday with an 8-3 win over the host Minnesota Twins, finishing camp with a sparkling 23-6-2 record.
It’s easily the best record of any MLB team this spring, and the 23 spring victories are the most in franchise history. The Orioles’ previous record was 20 in 2002.
The .793 winning percentage, not counting ties, over 162 games would result in a record of 128-34.
Of course, none of this matters, and the Orioles will not win 128 games in the regular season. But a good camp record is better than the alternative.
Last year, the Orioles went 16-13-3 and then won 101 games in the regular season — the franchise’s most since 1979. No other MLB club has more than 20 wins this spring. The last time a team won 23 games in a single spring training was in 2017.
Looking at this year’s spring standings proves why such records mean little. The other top teams in the Grapefruit League include the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals — five teams that had a losing record last year.
“It’s going to be 0-0 after today, so not really,” manager Brandon Hyde said on the significance of the spring success. “No, I’ve seen really good teams be way under .500 in spring training. I’m not putting any stock into it. I like the way we’ve played. Hopefully we can continue the high level of play we’ve played defensively. I think our at-bats have gotten better over the course of the spring.
“But I’ve been pleased with the style of play and how we’ve run the bases and the defense we’ve played.”
Anything you can do, I can do better
In the first inning, Gunnar Henderson clobbered a 451-foot home run to continue his scorching hot spring.
After an oblique injury sidelined him for the start of spring training, Henderson hasn’t missed a beat after his AL Rookie of the Year campaign last year. He ended spring with a .417 average and a 1.154 OPS.
But his long ball wasn’t the farthest hit by an Oriole on Sunday.
Henderson’s teammate and fellow former No. 1 overall prospect Adley Rutschman one-upped the shortstop with his homer in the seventh.
Rutschman demolished a 460-foot big fly — nine feet farther than Henderson’s — to right-center field for his third home run of spring training. The All-Star catcher ends his spring with a .924 OPS.
Also in the win, Austin Hays started after exiting Saturday’s game early with a bruised right shoulder following a hit by pitch. Ryan O’Hearn went 2-for-2 with an RBI double, ending his camp with an .888 OPS. Jordan Westburg, who Hyde said was informed a few days ago that he unsurprisingly made the team, went 2-for-4.
On the mound, Grayson Rodriguez and Cole Irvin piggybacked to cover eight innings. Rodriguez, whose outing was expected to be shorter, pitched three scoreless frames with three strikeouts. Irvin struggled in his first two frames, allowing a run in each, before settling down to pitch five innings of two-run ball.
Who’s on first? No, who’s on second and third?
Throughout the Orioles’ stellar 2023 season, Hyde mixed and matched his infield based on opponent, platoon advantage, rest and several other factors.
He will mostly have to do so again this season.
With Jackson Holliday opening the season in Triple-A, what could the Orioles’ infield look like during the beginning portion of the schedule before the top prospect makes his debut?
Hyde said last week that Henderson will primarily play shortstop and will only play third base in a pinch. Ryan O’Hearn and Ryan Mountcastle will split time between first base and designated hitter.
That leaves Jorge Mateo, Ramón Urías and Jordan Westburg — all right-handed hitters — to man second and third base. Urías and Westburg play both spots, while Mateo is becoming a super utilityman, he doesn’t play third base. Defensively, Urías is the best third baseman, evidenced by the Gold Glove Award he won there in 2022. Westburg posted excellent defensive metrics at second base last season. Mateo is a plus defender at shortstop but doesn’t have much experience elsewhere in the majors.
Mateo played almost exclusively against left-handed pitchers in the second half last year, while Urías and Westburg played against both righties and lefties. In his career, Urías has reverse splits — meaning he hits right-handers better than southpaws — while Westburg’s splits are neutral, although he hit lefties better in the majors last year.
That means when facing left-handed pitchers, Mateo could be at second base and Westburg at third, while against righties, Westburg could move to second with Urías at third.
Of course, there will be more to these decisions than just the platoon splits, but the infield math is more clear with Holliday in the minors. When he debuts, it will get even more complicated for Hyde to sort through.
Lineup predictions
Despite his struggles against all pitching, Hyde kept Mateo in the lineup against left-handers throughout last season. Meanwhile, despite his success against all pitching, Hyde only let first baseman Ryan O’Hearn play against right-handers during his breakout campaign.
The skipper said it’s likely that continues for both players to begin 2024.
“We had success with that last year,” Hyde said about the club’s platooning. “Jorgie swung the bat really well against left-handed pitching; O’Hearn has swung the bat well versus righties [in his] career, especially last year. So I think as we go into the season that’s probably how it’s going to be right now. I think things change rapidly, quickly, and we’ll see how we are on a day-to-day basis in the big leagues. But I was encouraged by the way Mateo swung the bat in this camp, too, against left-handed pitching, and [O’Hearn] is going to be in there against right-handers for sure.”
It’s likely in the first series of the season against the Los Angeles Angels that the Orioles face both a right-handed and left-handed starting pitcher. Southpaw Patrick Sandoval is starting opening day Thursday at Camden Yards for the Angels.
With several platoon players, including Mateo, O’Hearn and potentially Urías and right-handed bench bat Tyler Nevin, it’s possible there is just as much mixing and matching for Hyde in 2024.
So, here are guesses for what the Orioles’ lineup will be for their first games versus a lefty and a righty.
vs. LHP
- Cedric Mullins, CF
- Adley Rutschman, C
- Gunnar Henderson, SS
- Anthony Santander, RF
- Ryan Mountcastle, 1B
- Austin Hays, LF
- Tyler Nevin, DH
- Jordan Westburg, 3B
- Jorge Mateo, 2B
vs. RHP
- Cedric Mullins, CF
- Adley Rutschman, C
- Gunnar Henderson, SS
- Anthony Santander, RF
- Ryan Mountcastle, 1B
- Ryan O’Hearn, DH
- Austin Hays, LF
- Jordan Westburg, 2B
- Ramón Urías, 3B