O’s prospects fall to Pirates in Spring Breakout game
BRADENTON, Fla. — The future of Orioles baseball was on display Thursday night in a way it had never been before. Baltimore fielded a roster solely composed of players from its farm system for MLB’s inaugural Spring Breakout showcase, a nationally televised seven-inning exhibition game in which the Orioles’ prospects lost to those of the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1.
MLB’s two previous No. 1 overall picks, Jackson Holliday (2022) and Paul Skenes (2023), were among the players to suit up in front of an announced crowd of 6,913. The Orioles’ lineup included Holliday, 2023 first-round pick Enrique Bradfield Jr., consensus top-20 prospect Samuel Basallo, consensus top-30 prospect Coby Mayo and fast-rising infielder Connor Norby.
“It’s a neat event,” said Holliday, who finished 0-for-2. “I think they’ll be able to run with it and get some little bit more stuff into it as long as the years go. So, it’s really cool to be able to go out here and compete against these guys.”
Left-hander Cade Povich got the start on the heels after making a strong impression in the Orioles’ major league camp this spring.
He handled the unenviable task of pitching opposite Skenes, who lasted only one inning but made it count by setting down the top of the lineup in order with strikeouts of both Bradfield and Holliday. Povich struggled with his command early before settling in to pitch three innings of two-run ball.
Perhaps the most notable moment of Povich’s night came in the second inning, when the Orioles used a challenge to contest a called ball.
The automated strike zone made its debut at the Triple-A last season but has not yet been approved for the majors. After a motion graphic was displayed on the scoreboard showing that Povich’s 2-1 sinker clipped the bottom corner of the strike zone, the call was overturned.
“The umpires are so good but at the same time, something like a challenge, I think, can maybe find a way [to the majors],” Povich said. “
The way I’ve seen it work in Triple-A, I think that’s more of a preferred better solution than having the whole game be automated, so I think the challenge is a cool idea.”
Both offenses struggled to make contact all night. Pittsburgh scored its two runs on a sacrifice fly and a balk, while the Orioles had just one hit, a bunt single by Bradfield.
The Vanderbilt alum registered a sprint speed of 30.5 feet per second while running to first.
That matched the average sprint speed of star shortstops Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, who shared the MLB lead in that category among qualified players in 2023.
“Whenever you get a chance to represent the organization that you play for in one of these games, this was the first one and hopefully there’ll be many more. It was cool to take the field with guys that have been in the orange for a little while, or at higher levels,” Bradfield Jr. said. “Just getting that experience of playing around guys that are going to be the future of this organization, it was fun.”
Basallo, who made his Grapefruit League debut this week after being delayed by a fractured elbow, started the game at DH and drew a walk in his first plate appearance. The Orioles lifted him for pinch runner Luis Valdez — he went on to steal two bases and score the club’s only run of the game on a sacrifice fly — as part of their effort to ease the 19-year-old catcher into action this season. He later returned to the game and struck out.
Around the horn
Earlier Thursday, the Orioles’ regulars beat the Pirates, 5-2. Outfielder Kyle Stowers, a left-handed hitter, provided the bulk of the offense on a three-run home run in the seventh, tying the team lead with his fourth long ball of the spring. All four of Stowers’ home runs have come against left-handed pitchers.
Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez became the first Orioles starter to pitch into the fifth inning of a Grapefruit League game this spring, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 4 innings. According to Statcast, Rodriguez’s fastball averaged 96.3 mph and maxed out at 98.6. He said his command was “a lot better than what we were at the beginning of spring.”
After taking 10 days to recover from a minor hamstring injury, outfielder Cedric Mullins returned to the lineup Thursday and went 0-for-3. Mullins said Monday that he would’ve likely “played it just as smart” and landed on the injured list if it happened midseason, a lesson he learned from trying to play through a groin strain last year.