SARASOTA\u2013What\u2019s happening? Tomoyuki Sugano will make his Orioles debut on Wednesday when Baltimore plays the Pittsburgh Pirates at LECOM Park in Bradenton at 1:05 p.m. Bailey Falter will pitch for Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Manager Brandon Hyde said that F\u00e9lix Bautista, who threw live batting practice for the first time since having Tommy John surgery in October 2023 on Sunday, would throw on the back fields \u201ca couple of more times\u201d before he pitches in a Grapefruit League game.<\/p>\n
Grayson Rodriguez and Zach Eflin will make their first starts this week. Rodriguez will start against Toronto\u2019s Easton Lucas, a former Orioles\u2019 minor leaguer on Thursday in Sarasota. Eflin will start against Minnesota\u2019s Zebby Matthews on Friday in Fort Myers.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s happened? Because of Monday\u2019s rainout, the Orioles limited Charlie Morton to one inning. Morton allowed two hits to the Detroit Tigers in the Orioles\u2019 8-7 win before 6,106 at Ed Smith Stadium on Tuesda<\/p>\n
It was the 41-year-old right-hander\u2019s first appearance with the Orioles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played four teams in the past seven years. I\u2019m kind of getting used to it,\u201d Morton said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a good or bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
After leaving the game, Morton threw about 20 pitches in the bullpen.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe pitched like a veteran\u2019s first outing,\u201d Hyde said. \u201cA ton of strikes, a lot of sinkers. Really good stuff for just one inning. Pitched like a guy who\u2019s been out there a long time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Dean Kremer, who was supposed to start on Monday, allowed a two-run home run to Ben Malgeri on three hits in two innings, walking two and striking three.<\/p>\n Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez allowed a two-run home run to Riley Greene in the fourth. Gregory Soto allowed two runs in the fifth. Cionel P\u00e9rez allowed a run in the sixth.<\/p>\n Keegan Akin, Yennier Cano and Bryan Baker each pitched hitless innings for the Orioles.<\/p>\n Hyde used veteran pitchers exclusively, a rarity for early spring games, because of the rainout.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just how it lined up today,\u201d Hyde said.<\/p>\n Heston Kjerstad hit a two-run, opposite-field home run to left against Detroit\u2019s Jackson Jobe, the game\u2019s fifth-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat piece of hitting, fastball out over the plate,\u201d Hyde said. \u201cHe got a good pitch to drive and he put a great swing on that.\u201d<\/p>\n It might have been a good sign for the shorter left-field wall at Oriole Park.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully, it will get out there,\u201d Kjerstad said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure how the fence looks. We\u2019ll see it in person. If I hit the ball away, it should be good.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Kjerstad was 1-for-2 with a walk as the designated hitter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all trying to get our timing around,\u201d he said. \u201cMine\u2019s coming along. It\u2019s not where I want it to be, which is expected just a couple of games into the spring. It\u2019s been good. Just every day, showing up, working on it. It will start clicking more and more every day.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Kjerstad\u2019s 2024 season was shortened when he was hit on the helmet by a pitch from New York\u2019s Clay Holmes just before the All-Star break.<\/p>\n Drafted second overall in 2020, the beginning of his career was delayed until June 2022 by myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and a strained left hamstring.<\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely been through my ups and downs and injuries early on in my career,\u201d Kjerstad said. \u201cYou hope to have the least amount of those possible.<\/p>\n Some of them are out of your control. You just have to keep on fighting, even when you\u2019re down. You just crush your rehab and get back out there once you\u2019re healthy and keep competing.\u201d<\/p>\n Enrique Bradfield Jr. hit a two-run home run to spark a four-run eighth for the Orioles.<\/p>\n What\u2019s up with?\u00a0<\/strong>Jordyn Adams signed a minor league contract with the Orioles last December 23rd<\/sup>. He had a .176 average in 28 games with the Los Angeles Angels in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n The outfielder was a two-sport athlete in high school and had offers as a running back at Alabama, Clemson, LSU, North Carolina and Ohio State. His father, Deke, is the defensive line coach at Arkansas.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t really that tough a decision to play baseball,\u201d Adams said. He was the 17th<\/sup>\u00a0overall pick in 2017 by the Angels.<\/p>\n \u201cBaseball was the first sport that I picked up growing up. It was nice to have an opportunity to be a priority to a team. That aspect made it pretty easy for me to make a decision.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Adams is one of several non-roster outfielders trying to make the team.<\/p>\n \u201cI know what I can bring to the table,\u201d he said. \u201cI know I\u2019m not that person that stacks myself up against other guys. I know what I can bring on the field. I try to bring that every day and prove it.\u201d\u00a0<\/em> What\u2019s what?\u00a0<\/strong>Koji Uehara, the first Japanese Oriole, was a visitor to Ed Smith Stadium. Uehara is working for NHK, a Japanese television network covering Sugano, who will be the third Japanese Oriole.<\/p>\n Uehara, who pitched for the Yomiuri Giants with Sugano in 2018 and 2019, thinks Sugano will be successful in the major leagues because of his outstanding command. Uehara said Sugano is better than he was, and \u201cmore famous.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s the word?\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u201cThat is one thing that I don\u2019t like about the business side of it, investing a lot emotionally, mentally into the human beings I\u2019m around. Then basically, \u2018All right, see you guys, on to the next one.\u2019 I don\u2019t have a blas\u00e9 attitude about it. I don\u2019t. You kind of have to a little bit.\u201d\u2013<\/strong>Morton on joining a new team.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n What\u2019s the number? 4.\u00a0<\/strong>The Orioles have four games scheduled to be broadcast on FOX: May 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0vs. Kansas City, August 21st<\/sup>\u00a0vs. Houston, August 30th<\/sup>\u00a0at San Francisco, September 18th<\/sup>\u00a0vs. New York. They also have four games featured on FoxSports 1: May 17th<\/sup>\u00a0vs. Washington, May 24th<\/sup>\u00a0vs. Boston, August 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0at Chicago and September 24th<\/sup>\u00a0vs. Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the record? 2-1.\u00a0<\/strong>The Orioles will play the Pittsburgh Pirates at LECOM Park at 1:05 p.m. on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SARASOTA\u2013What\u2019s happening? Tomoyuki Sugano will make his Orioles debut on Wednesday when Baltimore plays the Pittsburgh Pirates at LECOM Park in Bradenton at 1:05 p.m. Bailey Falter… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n