Mountcastle, Stewart reassigned; Asher optioned
Trumbo back Wednesday; free child admission offered
BRADENTON, FLA. — The Orioles gleaned plenty from top prospect Ryan Mountcastle’s big league camp this year, and before sending one of the organization’s most promising young players back to minor league camp Sunday, manager Buck Showalter issued Mountcastle a challenge.
Mountcastle and fellow first-round draft pick DJ Stewart were among the Orioles’ latest roster cuts, which came before the team’s road Grapefruit League game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at LECOM Park. Right-hander Alec Asher was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, trimming the big league camp roster to 45 players.
The 21-year-old Mountcastle’s bat played well in his first big league camp as he had a .292/.320/.667 slash line with three doubles, two homers and five RBIs in 13 Grapefruit League games. In his final game in big league camp, Mountcastle hit an opposite-field three-run homer as part of a two-hit game in the Orioles’ 7-3 road win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday afternoon.
Mountcastle also showed that his transition to third base — he was moved from shortstop when he was promoted to Double-A Bowie in midseason last year — is still a work in progress. He was charged with two errors this spring and struggled finding his footing at third.
He showed up several days before the mandatory position-player report day and worked with major league infield coach Bobby Dickerson and minor league infield coordinator Dave Anderson on the back fields of the Ed Smith Stadium complex to improve his footwork. Throughout camp, instructors preached the importance of using his feet to create a more fluid field-and-throw routine.
Showalter meets with every player before he is cut. He asks them what has worked for them over their professional careers, he inquires about their goals, and asks them to rate their tools.
But in meeting with Mountcastle on Monday morning before he was reassigned, Showalter impressed on him the importance of showing this season that he can be more patient at the plate. He’s walked only 51 times in 1,236 plate appearances in his three-year pro career.
“I said, ‘What do you see yourself doing next year?’ ” Showalter said Monday. “I said, ‘I noticed last year that you only walked 17 times. What was that all about?’ He started laughing. And I told him, ‘Understand [that] it’s not funny. This won’t work.’ … He said, ‘I’m a free swinger.’ I said, ‘Then you need to correct that.’ ”
Stewart, 24, hit .211/.318/.211 in 13 games, with four singles in 19 at-bats. He mostly played left field but also experimented in right field. He was in his first big league camp after a breakout season at Bowie. Asher optioned to Norfolk: Asher — whose 2017 season included a strong early-season stint in the bullpen, had a rocky test run in the rotation and ended with a stint in Double-A — will go to Norfolk attempting to separate himself from a pitching roster crunch at the Triple-A level. Since he has a minor league option this season, he can be on the team’s shuttle between Baltimore and the majors.
Asher allowed two earned runs over six innings, posting a 3.00 ERA and holding hitters to a .174 batting average this spring. Trumbo to return Wednesday: Designated hitter-outfielder Mark Trumbo is scheduled to return to Grapefruit League play in Wednesday’s home game against the New York Yankees, Showalter said.
Trumbo has been sidelined the past week with a right quadriceps injury. Free child admission: The Orioles announced a promotion launching this year that will offer paying fans occasional free admission to their accompanying children.
The program, called “Kids Cheer Free,” allows two children ages 9 and under free upper-deck seats for every adult upper-deck ticket purchased for every home game (excluding Opening Day) through April 29. Tickets to remaining games will be made available on a month-by-month basis, though every remaining homegameisexpected to be included in the promotion.
You can reserve tickets on the Orioles website at orioles.com/kidsfree.