It doesn’t count, but it’s still cool.
Hello, friends.
Today at 1:05pm Eastern is the final spring training game in Florida. It won’t be televised here in Baltimore, though it will be on the radio. The Orioles do have one more exhibition tomorrow afternoon at Nationals Park. Opening Day is now just five days away. There are a lot of roster decisions that have to be made between now and then. Many of them could be made today, if the team wants to pare down as much as possible before packing up and heading north.
The Orioles threw a no-hitter in yesterday’s spring training game! That may not mean anything, but it’s still fun. It was a seven pitcher combined no-hitter with the following making contributions: Zach Eflin for three innings, then one inning each for Gregory Soto, Yennier Cano, Cionel Pérez, Bryan Baker, Roansy Contreras, and Riley Cooper. Good thing they didn’t allow any hits because the O’s batters only got six hits for themselves. Still, it was enough for a 4-0 win over the Pirates.
The health status of Gunnar Henderson is the big one still to be determined. The Orioles have punted on making an official announcement about him as long as possible. It’s been a few weeks now since he appeared in a spring game. Presumably he will need to get some work in even if he’s ready, and today and tomorrow won’t be enough for that.
You never know what the Orioles will do. Sometimes their decisions seem quite strange, as with the weekend’s surprise signing of Kyle Gibson, who, by the way, also isn’t going to be ready for Opening Day. That part isn’t surprising. You can’t sign a guy in late March and expect him to be ready to pitch right away. Whether the Orioles try to build his innings out of the bullpen or some other way will be another factor in the roster through April.
If Henderson goes on the injured list, who gets the opportunity with a roster spot? That probably depends on whether Jorge Mateo, who is on his own rehab journey, is ready to go now or not. If Mateo needs some minor league action to shake off the rust too, possibly that creates space for spring training sensation Vimael Machín.
The bullpen will be a part of the final roster composition decisions as well. Out-of-options guys who could be on the roster bubble include two who pitched in yesterday’s combined no-no: Baker and Contreras. The injury to the lone offseason bullpen addition of Andrew Kittredge opens up room for one of those guys, but not both. Based on what manager Brandon Hyde said on Thursday, Félix Bautista isn’t a sure thing for Opening Day either. That could make space for the other one of those two guys.
As with Henderson, the question would be: Okay, so how long will he actually be out? We won’t know until the Orioles give some indication. They probably have different scenarios in mind and are hoping optimistic ones come true until it’s clear they won’t.
Around the blogO’sphere
The Orioles face a familiar dilemma: When is it time to go all-in? (The Washington Post)
The paper immediately to the south has taken notice of this Orioles team as the season approaches.
Eflin pleased with outing and Gibson’s return (School of Roch)
The Opening Day starter reacted to his final spring tune-up outing as well as his moving towards being one of the veterans around – if not as much as some of his rotation-mates.
Gibson thrilled to return to Baltimore: “A place that was pretty special” (Orioles.com)
When the Orioles signed Gibson two years ago, he was positive about coming here and I thought it would be nice when the O’s are an attractive destination for better free agents than Gibson. They still are attractive to Gibson. Better guys than Gibson? Well, I’m still waiting.
The lone rebuild survivor: Cedric Mullins remembers where it all started (The Baltimore Sun)
Mullins is the last guy from the 2018 Orioles, as The Sun reminds us with this article. A chapter of O’s history will be fully in the past once he is gone.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
One year ago today, owner Peter Angelos passed away. The sale of the team to David Rubenstein was already under way by this point, so it was more of a symbolic end of an era than an actual end of an era.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1968 pitcher Bruce Howard, 1975-80 first baseman Lee May, and 1963-67 outfielder Sam Bowens.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: geologist William Smith (1769), psychologist Erich Fromm (1900), filmmaker Akiro Kurosawa (1910), designer Kenneth Cole (1954), and actress Keri Russell (1976).
On this day in history…
In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered a speech in Richmond in which he proclaimed, “Give me liberty or give me death!” This became one of the enduring memorable lines of the Revolutionary War period.
In 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition started its journey back home, having succeeded in exploring the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean.
In 1933, the German legislature Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, by which Adolf Hitler became dictator of the country. The body was dissolved upon passage.
In 1965, the Gemini 3 mission launched. Its two astronauts, Gus Grissom and John Young, were the first two-man space crew by an American mission. Gemini 3, which included among its goals the firing of thrusters to adjust orbit, lasted just under five hours.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on March 23. Have a safe Sunday.