BUILDING BLOCKS
The future of the Orioles’ infield is in Double-A Bowie, and the youngsters already have championship aspirations
BOWIE — Gunnar Henderson had an idea. He and Joey Ortiz were working in the batting cage this offseason, the kind of run-of-the-mill process that can become monotonous even to a 20-year-old early in his professional baseball career.
“Hey, Joey,” Henderson prompted. “You wanna play a game of horse off the tee?”
Ortiz didn’t need to be pressed, setting off a friendly competition between the Orioles infield prospects. That’s the nature of their relationship: They’re friends, but they’re also teammates pushing each other toward the next level, with an eye toward Baltimore.
For now, they’re at Double-A Bowie, part of a stacked infield. During pregame warmups before the Baysox’s season opener at Prince George’s Stadium on Friday, Henderson, Ortiz and Jordan Westburg trotted out to third, short and second to field grounders. In the future — an ever-nearing future — that trio could trot out together at Camden Yards.
As the Orioles began their season in Florida against the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore’s faces of the future began their season in Bowie. They haven’t shied away from those lofty expectations, either — the idea that they could be the saviors for a franchise mired in 100-loss seasons during its steady rebuild from the ground up.
“If we can all come up at the same time, that goal of winning the World Series, the last game of the season, is next up,” said Westburg, 23, a first-round pick in the 2020 MLB draft. “You don’t want to look at it right now because we’re at opening day in Double-A. There’s no reason to put that pressure on ourselves or start thinking about that. But