Burnes to start spring training opener on MASN
SARASOTA, Fla. — Orioles fans won’t have to wait for March 28 to watch Corbin Burnes pitch on their television screens.
Baltimore’s new ace will start the Orioles’ first spring training game at 1:05 p.m. Saturday, manager Brandon Hyde announced Thursday, in a game that will be aired on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.
The Orioles will host their Grapefruit League opener at Ed Smith Stadium against the Boston Red Sox, who are also starting their No. 1 starter, right-hander Garrett Whitlock.
Who starts the first game of spring training is essentially meaningless aside from setting up the rotation schedule the best way the team sees fit.
“Just because it’s lining up to the beginning of the year, and we’re just trying to put guys in places,” Hyde said when asked about his reasoning for starting Burnes. “He’s on turn.”
But it doesn’t change the fact that the club’s first game — exhibition or not — since losing in the American League Division Series will feature its biggest offseason addition. The Orioles traded for Burnes three weeks ago, sending prospects DL Hall and Joey Ortiz to the Milwaukee Brewers for the former National League Cy Young Award winner.
The move to have Burnes start the first game is a stark contrast to how Hyde has begun spring training during his tenure. In 2019, Hyde’s first season at the helm, Yefry Ramírez got the first ball, followed by Chandler Shepherd, Thomas Eshelman, Spenser Watkins and Drew Rom in the subsequent four springs.
Saturday’s Orioles game is the first of seven MASN is broadcasting this spring. That number is an increase from recent years and a return to MASN’s pre-pandemic amount. However, the network’s television broadcasters will announce the games from the B&O Warehouse in Baltimore rather than in Florida.