‘We’ve got to get better’
Halfway through spring training, bats are troublingly quiet
Spring training is often a time for hitters to get their feel and timing back, with the results of their in-game at-bats taking a backseat to whatever it is they’re working on to be ready to do once the season begins.
The Orioles, however, are already getting team talks from the coaching staff about improving their approach as they’re nearing the halfway point of Grapefruit League exhibition season with the league’s worst offense in several major categories.
“Certain guys are swinging the bat better than others,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We’ve talked a lot about our approach, our hitting guys have talked to our guys about our approaches here the last few days because we feel like they’re really overswinging and not making a whole lot of adjustments throughout an at-bat. They’re not committing to a two-strike approach. That’s just something we’ve got to get better at as a club.
“There are certain guys that are. It’s not everybody. I still think Cedric Mullins is taking really good at-bats. Austin Hays is taking good at-bats. [Pedro] Severino is not getting results but he’s been taking some good at-bats. So, I think that we would just kind of — we’re not scoring a whole lot of runs right now.”
Saturday’s spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays, a shutout loss, was just the latest example of that. Catcher Adley Rutschman came off the bench and won a 10-pitch battle with reliever Jordan Romano to double to center field and give the Orioles their first hit of the game with two outs in the seventh inning.
Hyde said the top prospect battled with two strikes and more of the team’s hitters need to adopt that mentality.
“I think we have a lot of guys that are trying way too hard and swinging way too hard,” he said. “No matter the count, they’re trying to
put their A-swing and hit the ball as far as they can as far as managing an at-bat, middle of the field approach and a battle mode with two strikes. We’re just swinging hard — and a lot.”
Saturday’s lineup featured a first-choice outfield with Hays and Mullins and both top catchers in Severino and Chance Sisco, but an infield that could easily get to play together again at the Bowie training site that replaces Triple-A with Rylan Bannon, Ramón Urías, Jahmai Jones and Tyler Nevin lined up on the dirt.
On the days when they play the rest of their starters, with Anthony Santander, Trey Mancini, Freddy Galvis and Yolmer Sánchez part of the alternate-day group that’s expected to play again Sunday, the offense hasn’t been that much better.
Santander is walking a ton this spring, with seven in 17 plate appearances, but he has just two hits so far. Mancini is getting his timing back after his return from colon cancer, in Hyde’s estimation, and has five singles in 17 at-bats so far this spring.
Galvis had a three-hit game Wednesday, but has one hit in four other starts combined. Sánchez has been steady, if unspectacular.
Hyde says that group is one he thinks will be able to step up once the season starts.
“The guys that have some more experience have been taking some more professional at-bats,” he said.
Other regulars who haven’t been able to show much this spring include third baseman Rio Ruiz, who has been out for about a week with illness, and outfielder DJ Stewart, who had two home runs in two games before a hamstring injury over a week ago sidelined him.
Rookie Ryan Mountcastle also has struggled. He broke out of his habit of rolling over pitches and grounding out to the left side for a massive home run March 5 against Toronto, but has one other hit and no walks in 20 plate appearances.
Both Mullins and Hays had the honor of being among the more consistent hitters of the first week-plus, with Hyde praising each for the quality of their at-bats and the strong contact they’ve been making.
But they’re more the exception than the rule. As their game ended Saturday, the Orioles had the fewest extra-base hits of any team in baseball this spring with 18 in 13 games, and their .599 OPS was also the worst in either spring circuit. They have no home runs since Mountcastle and Pat Valaika went deep March 5.
“I think we’ve got over two weeks to go, so we’re addressing different things every day with our club — especially when we’re home,” Hyde said. “We’ve just got to get better.”