Spring training is ramping up with a full workout tomorrow.
Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! I hope you had a nice weekend. Maybe that weekend is still going if you’re off for the President’s Day holiday.
If you’ve been soaking in news from the start of spring training, you’re not alone. The Orioles and the beat reporters have filled their socials with beautiful pics. We get to see players reporting for duty, pitchers taking their places on the mound, and group shots of players laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Because it’s been less than a week, these things count as exciting.
Tomorrow marks the first full-squad workout, which is another box to check on our slow march to real baseball. The next check box after that is Saturday, when spring training games begin. As we continue to check off those boxes, the important thing is the players staying healthy. There has been no injury news since Mike Elias’s initial report. Let’s keep it that way, huh?
But speaking of injuries, one former Oriole could be closer to finding a new home. A report came out yesterday that John Means and the Cleveland Guardians are in “advanced talks” on a contract. Means will be lucky to pitch in 2025, and so the MLBTR speculates that they could be discussing a two-year deal.
Should this deal go through, I will be happy for John Means. He’s gone through two Tommy John surgeries since 2022. It’s a long road back for Means, who has made just 10 starts since that 2022 season and who turns 32 in just about two months. It’ll be hard to see Means in another uniform. He has spent his entire career to this point with the Orioles and was one of just a few bright spots on the team during bad years with the team.
I would like it if the Orioles signed Means to a deal, but I also get why they might not be interested. Means has been nothing but good for the Orioles, but with such limited use over the past few years, multiple major arm surgeries, and the passage of time, there are a lot of question marks.
I hope he’s very good no matter where he ends up.
Links
Sugano brings modest goal to O’s: ‘Let’s go win a world championship’ – Orioles.com
Tomoyuki Sugano has reported to camp and, of course, is saying all the right things. I want great things from this guy and I know we’re not selling jeans, but…he just looks like an old guy.
More notes from Day 4 of Orioles spring training – MASN Sports
As expected, Roch Kubatko is pumping out the stories from spring training. In this story, he focuses on new assistant coach Tommy Joseph.
A mini hitting camp gives Orioles’ prospects a chance to take the training wheels off – The Baltimore Banner
Ranging from Jackson Holliday to Vance Honeycutt, eight players got the chance for personal sessions with the major league hitting coaches.
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have four Orioles birthday buddies, the longest-tenured of whom is Alan Wiggins. Wiggins played in 232 games with the Orioles between 1985-87. Wiggins struggled both on and off the field and passed away in 1991 at the age of 32. Today would have been his 67th birthday.
Also born on this day are: relief pitcher Scott Williamson (49), who appeared in 16 games for the 2007 Orioles; outfielder Mike Hart (67), who saw action in 34 games in 1987; and Willie Kirkland (91), whose nine-year career included 66 games with the Orioles in 1964.
On this day in 2003, 23-year-old prospect Steve Bechler suffered a heat stroke during a spring training workout and passed away. He had been taking ephedra and his death resulted in the FDA investigating and subsequently banning it from use. Such a tragedy.
In 2014, the Orioles signed Ubaldo Jiménez to a four-year contract. In 2021, they signed pitcher Matt Harvey. So maybe it’s not too late to sign another pitcher! If so, here’s hoping it works out better than those guys did.