Diaz coming out swinging early in camp
Former top prospect is also showing off his arm and glove
BRADENTON, FLA. — Yusniel Diaz might not be the Orioles’ top prospect anymore, but he still has plenty of talent to put on display in this his first major league camp while on the big league roster.
In the spring opener last Sunday, he hit a towering home run. In the ensuing week, he’s made diving catches, laced opposite-field doubles and shown a strong arm from the outfield. For a player who is trying to leave an impression on the Orioles brass who will be in charge of eventually making him a big leaguer, he’s certainly hard to miss.
“I really would like to highlight all aspects of my game,” Diaz said through Ramón Alarcón, the team’s coordinator of Latin American operations. “I think I’m fortunate to have many different tools and I want to showcase them every single day.”
On Sunday, he simply had a professional single and played a strong right field in a miserable 13-1 loss to the Pirates. But even if he’s going to be ticketed for the minors to start the season and get some Triple-A experience once that season starts in May, Diaz isn’t wasting the chance to show he belongs in the big leagues.
Truthfully, he’s probably felt that way for
“I’m healthy, I feel like my pitches are breaking well. Just not executing them as well as I’d like, especially with two strikes. That’s the name of the game. You can get two strikes all you want but you’ve got to get the out.”
years. He said Sunday he feels “pretty close” to being in the big leagues and that improvements to his swing and his defense at the alternate training site in Bowie last summer were enough for that elusive promotion.
“I thought I made all the necessary adjustments to be called up,” Diaz said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. But I still wanted to take advantage of that camp and advantage of all the resources that were available for me to improve as a player overall.”
At this point, the Orioles have too many outfielders to bring Diaz north when the season starts. When he joins them, it will probably because one of them has run out of chances or performed so well that the Orioles cashed in and made a trade to free up a space.
But Diaz is not one to shrink from the moment. His teammates from 2019 at Double-A Bowie still talk about what he did to carry them on their playoff run. He seems to be the type who will elevate his game with the stage, even if he sometimes has to calm himself down.
Whether he’ll be breaking camp with a roster spot, however, doesn’t mean much for a team simply looking for bright spots. He is one.
Means on the mound
When left-hander John Means was at his most frustrated and least effective in 2020, it was easy to tell — he’d yell obscenities on the mound in an empty stadium.
Means is certainly in a better place stuffwise through two spring starts than he was last summer. But the fact that he’s pitching in games at all means such competitiveness is even possible — and that’s a good thing as Means gets ready for the season.
This time last spring, the Orioles were keeping him on the back fields in simulated games and hiding him from the public and other teams’ eyes. Now he’s benefiting from facing real opponents.
“I like pitching in games,” Means said. “Spring training is obviously a lot different than the season, but I like the adrenaline before the game, the routine aspect of going out there like a real game. It doesn’t really matter to me a whole lot whether it’s backfields or in game. In spring training, it’s all about getting your work in and getting to the season healthy.”
Means was charged with four runs in two-plus innings Sunday, though that doesn’t tell the full story. His changeup in particular was sharp, even if he admitted he couldn’t put hitters away. But he could have been out of his three-run second inning if the Orioles turned a double play for him.
Luckily for him, he’s not someone who needs to put in a good statistical showing to know what his place is on this team. It’s more about the work right now.
“I’m healthy, I feel like my pitches are breaking well,” Means said. “Just not executing them as well as I’d like, especially with two strikes. That’s the name of the game. You can get two strikes all you want but you’ve got to get the out. I like where I’m at. I like where my pitches are at.”
Bad day on the dirt
The Orioles had their infield of the present playing Saturday night against the Detroit Tigers with Freddy Galvis at shortstop, Rio Ruiz at third base and Yolmer Sánchez at second base.
A possible infield of the future was playing across town in Bradenton with Gunnar Henderson at third base, Jordan Westburg at shortstop and Adam Hall at second base in the prospect-heavy “B” game.
The infield of the in-between played in Sunday’s Grapefruit League game against the Pirates with Jahmai Jones at second base, Ramón Urías at shortstop and Pat Valaika at third base, and had a bad time of it.
From their inability to turn a 5-4-3 double play in Means’ three-run second inning to a throwing error from Urías in the fourth inning and an infield single on a relatively simple ground ball Valaika fielded in the hole later that inning, it was tough to watch.
Jones, too, had an infield single credited to a Pirates hitter on a ball he would have been expected to convert into an out in that inning.
“We’ve got to start playing better defense,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Our work in the backfields and the mornings is great. It’s been fantastic, actually. As good as I’ve seen from a standpoint of the work we’re getting in. It’s just not translating into the games. We just need to play better defense overall.”
One of Valaika and Urías will likely be on the team as a utility player, and Jones has a lot of work left to do to finish his development after making his big league debut with the Los Angeles Angels last summer.
It was just made apparent Sunday that the Orioles’ infield depth remains an area of deficiency, even if the future is bright.
— John Means, Orioles starting pitcher
Around the horn
The Orioles reassigned catcher Brett Cumberland, right-hander Marco Diplán, infielder Mason McCoy and left-handers Zach Muckenhirn and Josh Rogers to Twin Lakes camp.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Is it really spring here before Max Scherzer climbs the mound, rocks into his windup and, after unleashing a pitch, grunts into a quiet Florida evening? And is it spring for Scherzer until, upon doing so, he has to face questions about how some body part feels?
“The ankle’s been good. I’ve been getting through it. I can pitch at 100% on the ankle, so that’s the good news,” Scherzer said Friday after his first appearance of 2021, which was delayed — as you may have guessed — by a sprained left ankle. “I can get through the ball. So no worries on that end tonight.”
The plan was for Scherzer to throw two innings and between 30 and 35 pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals. He wound up tossing 38 before he was hooked with two outs in the second.
The 36-year-old is no stranger to dealing with minor injuries in February and March. The Nationals, though, are unfamiliar with how to ramp up pitchers after their arms have been started, then stopped, then started and stopped again in the past nine months.
It has made for an interesting experiment at Washington’s complex in West Palm Beach. Scherzer was the first expected starter to face another team. Left-hander Patrick Corbin is expected to take the mound Saturday against the Miami Marlins in Jupiter, Fla. Joe Ross will come next, according to manager Dave Martinez, and Stephen Strasburg behind him.
Jon Lester, the club’s expected fourth starter, underwent surgery to remove his thyroid in New York on Friday morning. The Nationals have floated using a six-man rotation in early April to curb any physical issues with their staff.
“If anything, spring training 2.0, you learned from that — like how can you ramp up quickly and stay healthy at the same time?” Scherzer said, referring to three weeks of training in July.
Taylor Swift, BTS, Cardi B and Billie Eilish are set to perform at next week’s Grammy Awards.
The Recording Academy announced Sunday that Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Post Malone, Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa will also hit the stage at the March 14 event. The show will air live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on CBS and Paramount+.
The Grammys were originally supposed to take place on Jan. 31 but were delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The academy said in a statement that “artists will be coming together, while still safely apart, to play music for each other as a community and celebrate the music that unites us all.”
Trevor Noah is hosting the show for the first time. Other performers include Chris Martin, John Mayer, Doja Cat, Maren Morris, DaBaby, HAIM, Lil Baby, Brandi Carlile, Roddy Ricch, Brittany Howard, Miranda Lambert, Mickey Guyton and Black Pumas.
Beyonce is the leading nominee with nine, followed by Swift, Lipa and Ricch, who each earned six nominations.
A Grey summer: Christian Grey is tying up the loose ends of his side of the story this summer. “Freed: Fifty Shades Freed as told by Christian” is set to hit shelves on June 1, the publisher said Sunday.
The book is the conclusion to author E L James’ trilogy from Christian’s point of view. Previous books include “Grey” and “Darker.”
James said in a statement that “Freed” has been a labor of love.
“For me, just as for Anastasia Steele, Christian is a challenging, infuriating and endlessly fascinating
character,” James added. “Living in his head is exhausting, but I got to explore aspects of his life in ‘Freed’ that we only glimpsed in the original trilogy.”
James’ “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide. The books were adapted into a series of films that made more than $1.3 billion at the worldwide box office.
Quiet box office:
Theaters reopening in New York City this weekend did not set the box office on fire. North American theatrical grosses stayed relatively muted, despite some major new releases like Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” and Lionsgate’s Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley action flick “Chaos Walking,” according to studio estimates Sunday.
Walt Disney Animation’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” earned an estimated $8.6 million from 2,045 locations in North America. The well-reviewed
fantasy adventure, featuring the voices of Awkwafina and Kelly Marie Tran, is also available for Disney+ subscribers to rent and stream at home for $29.99. Streaming grosses were not reported.
Warner Bros.’ “Tom & Jerry,” which is available to stream free for HBO Max subscribers, brought in $6.6 million from 2,563 North American theaters in its second available weekend. Last weekend, the animated film scored the best domestic opening of the year with $13.7 million.
“Chaos Walking,” meanwhile, debuted with $3.8 million. The future-set film from “Edge of Tomorrow” director Doug Liman cost around $100 million to make.
March 8 birthdays: Jazz saxophonist George Coleman is 86. Singer Peggy March is 73. NBC News anchor Lester Holt is 62. Singer Shawn Mullins is 53. Actor James Van Der Beek is 44. Singer Kristinia DeBarge is 31.
MONDAY
BLACK LIGHTNING As Black Lightning (Cress Williams) departs on a special mission, he does so with the full support of Gambi (James Remar) in the new episode “The Book of Ruin: Chapter One.” China Anne McClain, Christine Adams, Marvin Jones III and Jordan Calloway also star. (TV14) 9 p.m. on 50 CW 54 CW
ROCK THE BLOCK Some of HGTV’s favorite renovators face off as this hit competition series returns for Season 2. Host Ty Pennington referees the action as twoperson teams compete to maximize the value of identical suburban properties, with $225,000 and only six weeks to complete their project. This season’s roster of dueling duos includes Mike Holmes and Chicago renovation and design expert Alison Victoria; designing dads Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent; past “Design Star” winners David Bromstad and Tiffany Brooks; and Florida-based design spouses Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt. (TVG) 9 p.m. on HGTV
BEARTOWN Peter (Ulf Stenberg) pushes the team and his coaching staff to their limits as the finals loom in the new “Episode 3.” Maya (Miriam Ingrid) tries her best to work through her trauma from the assault, while Kevin (Oliver Dufaker) does everything he can to block it from his mind. Peter winds up being forced to make a painful choice in priorities between his family and the big game. (TVMA)
9-1-1: LONE STAR As T.K. (Ronen Rubinstein) celebrates a year of sobriety, Owen and Gwyn (Rob Lowe, guest star Lisa Edelstein) may not make it to the end of the week as a couple in “Bad Call,” the winter finale. (TV14)
9 p.m. on HBO