Today’s Orioles spring training game will be on Blue Jays television, though there’s no local broadcast.
Hello, friends.
There are now just two weeks remaining until Orioles Opening Day. It’s almost here!
The Orioles played the kind of game in spring training yesterday where it’s not exactly feeling exciting to think about how the games will start counting in 14 days. They got blasted by Atlanta, 13-5, with Dean Kremer giving up four runs over four innings, Keegan Akin allowing two runs in an inning, and Jordan Westburg committing two errors.
On the plus side, Ryan Mountcastle hit a dinger, and each of Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad walked twice. That will help the on-base percentage.
Today’s Grapefruit League contest will see the Orioles traveling to Blue Jays camp. There will not be a local O’s broadcast. Those who are able to access other teams TV feeds can watch the Jays feed. Cade Povich is set to be the starting pitcher for the game.
Being this close to Opening Day means that I’m ready to start to see the contours of a successful team showing up in these spring training games. For guys who’ve been stinking, it’s time to get into gear. For guys who are looking like they’re ready to rock, keep themselves ready to rock until when they make it up into Canada.
Who’s on that struggle bus? Cedric Mullins with a .311 OPS in 27 AB might be the worst. Coby Mayo, not expected on the OD roster, is even less likely to make it after a .337 OPS spring. Ryan O’Hearn is below .450. That’s not very good. Things have also not been good as far as results for a variety of pitchers, including Kremer, Albert Suárez, Bryan Baker, and a variety of others who just haven’t thrown that many innings yet.
For starting pitchers especially, there will only be a couple more opportunities to make starts before everything starts to count for real. Roster spots are mostly settled by now, barring injury developments, so there’s not much competition left. We just need the guys who are going to be the Opening Day guys to be ready. Some of them aren’t looking like it yet. Time remains, but only so much.
Around the blogO’sphere
Kittredge provides update on knee surgery, Henderson fields ground balls (School of Roch)
Gunnar Henderson taking ground balls seems like a positive development, although I’m still impatiently awaiting some kind of return to games timeline from the team. As for Andrew Kittredge, maybe he’ll be back a little earlier than expected, but also maybe he won’t.
Despite slow start to spring, Kremer looking for consistency in 2025 (Orioles.com)
After yesterday’s outing, Kremer has a 9.00 ERA in 12 spring innings. It’s not great.
How do Orioles feel about robot umps? They’re already thinking strategy. (The Baltimore Sun)
I’ve liked seeing the ABS system in action during spring training. The challenges are resolved quickly and the players get the benefit of correct calls.
Orioles announce Eutaw St. Block Party, which sure feels a whole lot like FanFest (The Baltimore Banner)
I disagree with the headline writer here because you have to be in the offseason to be like FanFest. I do hope the just-announced event, set for the first Saturday afternoon of the regular season while the O’s are playing in Toronto, is a success. The game will be shown on screens in the stadium.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
There is one lone former Oriole who was born on this day. Happy 61st birthday to 1999-2000 Will Clark, who was pretty good here at the tail end of his career.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: baseball Hall of Famer Home Run Baker (1886), actor William H. Macy (1950), rapper Common (1972), Super Bowl champion Ravens quarterback Trent Dilfer (1972), gold medal skier Mikaela Shiffrin (1995), and tennis star Coco Gauff (2004).
On this day in history…
In 1567, mercenaries in the employ of the Spanish Empire attacked a band of rebels in Oosterweel in modern day Belgium. This small battle involving about 3,000 men on both sides is recognized as the first battle of the Eighty Years’ War.
In 1781, the planet Uranus was discovered by astronomer William Herschel. It was an exciting discovery at the time as planets beyond Saturn had not been discovered since centuries back into the BCE years.
In 1954, Viet Minh attacked the French at Dien Bien Phu in present day Vietnam. The capture of this fortress two months later, one of the phrases in Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” led to the French withdrawing from its colonial possession and Vietnam being divided into a Communist-aligned North and a US-aligned South.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on March 13. Have a safe Thursday.