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<\/p>\nBRADENTON, Fla. \u2013 The Orioles remain hopeful that Gunnar Henderson is on their Opening Day roster, but they know the importance of a good contingency plan.<\/p>\n
Jackson Holliday made his first spring start at shortstop tonight against the Pirates, hitting a double and single to left field and committing an error on his first and only chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Gunnar out right now, unsure of the timetable, but he\u2019s doing really well,\u201d manager Brandon Hyde said this afternoon. \u201cHe\u2019s progressing well, but we\u2019re not sure when we can get him back into game action. Jackson\u2019s going to be playing shortstop here periodically the rest of camp.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henderson\u2019s strained rib cage muscle led the Orioles down an alternate path with Holliday. They wanted him to get more comfortable at second base. Guest instructor Brian Roberts corrected his footwork, trying to strip him of a shortstop\u2019s approach to fielding the ball and making feeds. But he could do more switching to the left side.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s definitely different,\u201d Holliday said. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to practice it, but to play it in a game and read the ball off the bat, kind of the angle that it comes in, it\u2019s obviously very different, but I should make that play every single time. But hopefully I don\u2019t have to play both. Hopefully, Gunnar gets healthy real quick and I can just stick over at second until they tell me they need me. But if that is the case, I\u2019m up to the challenge.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Hyde admitted to some concerns about Holliday bouncing back and forth.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a little bit because we\u2019re feeling really good with where he is at second base, but shortstop\u2019s his natural position, so it\u2019s more of just getting him refamiliarized,\u201d Hyde said. \u201cI\u2019m gonna move him around to both spots. He\u2019s gonna play majority of second base, but we need to get him looks at shortstop, also.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Holliday charged Andrew McCutchen\u2019s grounder leading off the second inning, and his throw veered left and pulled first baseman Ryan O\u2019Hearn off the bag. He didn\u2019t have another ball hit to him.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I got a little sped up,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, playing shortstop for the first time in a while, you\u2019d like a lot of action just to get your feet under you. I mean, it\u2019s fine. You\u2019re not going to be perfect over there, but I\u2019d like to make the play for sure. I\u2019d have liked a busier night, but hey, just to get out there is good enough for me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The camp roster holds a batch of shortstop options, with Hyde mentioning Liv\u00e1n Soto and Luis V\u00e1zquez and also noting that Jordan Westburg played the position in college and made one start with the Orioles.<\/p>\n \u201cKind of keeping our options open there,\u201d Hyde said. \u201cEven if (Henderson) does break, is he going to be able to play the first \u2026 we have five games before an off-day and four on turf, so we\u2019re looking at everything right now.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Holliday\u2019s two hits made him 8-for-27 (.296) this spring.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like lately I\u2019ve been taking really good at-bats since I kind of made a little hand adjustment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe check-swing double, I\u2019ll take it. The single was nice to be able to hit a heater, and to hit it the other way is always good for me as far as my approach and kind of where I\u2019m at, so I\u2019m happy with that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n * F\u00e9lix Bautista made his third spring training appearance and allowed two runs in the third inning with three hits and a pair of strikeouts. He threw 24 pitches, 12 for strikes.<\/p>\n The Pirates made hard contact, beginning with Jared Triolo\u2019s one-out triple and followed by Jack Suwinski\u2019s RBI double and Bryan Reynolds\u2019 RBI single.<\/p>\n But Bautista\u2019s sinker topped at 98.5 mph and he also hit 98 mph.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt good to see that,\u201d he said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. \u201cI feel like every outing I continue to get better and better. I\u2019m feeling better, my arm\u2019s feeling well, so it\u2019s just about continuing to pitch well and wanting to continue feeling better as we go.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Other readings on his fastball included 97.7 mph, 97.6, 97.3 and 97.2. Statcast also recorded a splitter and slider, and Bautista said he threw two cutters \u2013 a pitch not normally in his repertoire.<\/p>\n Bautista said where his velocity stands is about the same as any other camp.<\/p>\n \u201cIn spring training\u2019s past I would progressively throw harder and harder leading up to Opening Day, and I feel like that\u2019s what\u2019s happening now,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd once I got to Opening Day, I felt like the adrenaline would kick in and that\u2019s when I would reach those high velos. So I\u2019m hoping now that that will continue to be the same.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt can be difficult. I feel like I\u2019m still finding myself in some ways, working through it and trying to get to full form and trying to reach that form for Opening Day. So it\u2019s just a matter of working through all of those things and make sure I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Bautista retired the side in order in his debut and allowed a run and two hits with a walk and strikeout Friday night in Lakeland. He remains as confident as ever that he\u2019ll be ready for Opening Day.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, of course,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Orioles are locked into wait-and-see mode with Bautista\u2019s status. They want to get him into three or four more games.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has responded really well physically the first two, so I cross my fingers that the rest of them go as smoothly,\u201d Hyde said earlier. \u201cHow he feels after, it\u2019s important. We\u2019re not going to break with him if we have doubts of if he\u2019s able to \u2026 I\u2019m trying to put him to have success and to help us, so we\u2019ll see how it goes at the end.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n * Bautista liked throwing to 20-year-old Samuel Basallo.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was great,\u201d he said. \u201cReally big strike zone.\u201d<\/p>\n Basallo also swings a big bat, and he can flip it, too.<\/p>\n The organization\u2019s No. 1 prospect demolished a slider from former Orioles reliever Isaac Mattson with two runners on base in the fifth inning. Basallo watched it sail to right-center field, past the boardwalk, and chucked the lumber.<\/p>\n Statcast registered the ball at 111.3 mph and had it traveling 403 feet. It seemed longer \u2013 like in the general vicinity of Sarasota.<\/p>\n \u201cI was watching it from the dugout and I\u2019ve seen that many times, but that one was extremely far,\u201d Holliday said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if they have the metrics, but I guarantee you they\u2019re not right with the distance and the wind.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Told that Basallo was credited with 403 feet, Holliday said, \u201cI\u2019m not buying that. No chance.\u201d<\/p>\n * Jorge Mateo had a full workout back at the complex. He could get into some games late in camp, and he\u2019s never surrendered the idea of making the Opening Day roster.<\/p>\n The Orioles haven\u2019t struck the same optimistic tone thus far. However, Mateo is making progress after undergoing reconstructive-elbow surgery in August. The brace came off a long time ago and he\u2019s immersed in baseball activities.<\/p>\n \u201cHe went full day with us today,\u201d Hyde said. \u201cWe were in the stadium taking ground balls. He\u2019s doing stuff in the cage. He\u2019s swinging the bat.<\/p>\n \u201cGame-wise, though, he\u2019s still a ways away, but watched him take ground balls at shortstop today, he looked great.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n * Matt Bowman struck out the side on 16 pitches in the first inning, getting Suwinski on a cutter, Reynolds with a sinker and Oneil Cruz with a cutter. He allowed one hit and struck out four, including former Oriole DJ Stewart on a sinker, in 1 2\/3 scoreless innings.<\/p>\n Bowman surrendered two runs in one inning in his spring debut against the Pirates, but he\u2019s look good in his next three appearances.<\/p>\n He\u2019s allowed only an unearned run and two hits in 3 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n Most impressive are the seven strikeouts in that span, giving him nine in 4 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n The Orioles re-signed Bowman to a minor league contract in December after outrighting him. He posted a 3.45 ERA in 15 games.<\/p>\n * Heston Kjerstad led off the second with a walk against Mitch Keller and raced to third base on Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas\u2019 double to right-center. They scored on Daz Cameron\u2019s single. Ur\u00edas also singled in the fifth.\u00a0 \u2026 Westburg lined a slider into right-center field for a double in the first inning and had an RBI single off reliever Jack Carey in the second. \u2026 Kjerstad walked twice.<\/p>\n * The Orioles won 6-3, their first victory over the Pirates in five tries.<\/p>\n Hyde on Basallo:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThat ball was absolutely crushed. I thought he caught well, too. This is a great experience for him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Hyde on Bautista:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI thought he got a little bit better as the inning went along. Still kind of feeling his way through for me. It\u2019s his third outing, year-plus. We\u2019re watching him closely. The velo ticked up a little bit as the inning went along. It\u2019s spring training. I know he felt great coming off the mound and that\u2019s all that matters right now.<\/p>\n \u201cTomorrow is a big day, see how he feels tomorrow. Really happy with F\u00e9lix, though, and how everything\u2019s progressed. The work that he\u2019s put in has been unbelievable. He\u2019s got an incredible attitude. He\u2019s got a lot of confidence, so just keep throwing him out there.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BRADENTON, Fla. \u2013 The Orioles remain hopeful that Gunnar Henderson is on their Opening Day roster, but they know the importance of a good contingency plan. Jackson… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":40300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n