SARASOTA–What’s happening? Cade Povich will start when the Orioles play the Philadelphia Phillies at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Tyler Phillips will start for the Phillies.
The game can be heard on WBAL/98 Rock with Geoff Arnold and Ben Wagner and seen on the MLB Network.
“Cade had some good starts for us,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I think he’s taken that into this year. He’s put some good size on. He looks different physically. It looks like he’s walking around here with a lot of confidence. Looking forward to watching him pitch this spring.
“Talking with him, there are some things that he wanted to improve on this offseason and his side work, and the pitching coaches are happy with the progress he’s made in some pitch development things. I think he’s come a long way.”
Brandon Young, the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year, will pitch after Povich. It’s his first major league camp.
“It’s been awesome. It’s been enjoyable. Trying to take it day-by-day and take some stuff [from] the older guys,” he said. “Hear what they do, how they do stuff, and how they throw so many innings every year.”
Young is projected as a starter, and he’s realistic about his chances.
“Enjoying the opportunity that I have, maybe competing for a job like most of his are here,” Young said. “I’m not mad if I go back to Norfolk. That’s kind of what I’m expecting. I think to learn and know what I’m good at, and take it to the next level.”
In 2023, Young had his second Tommy John surgery. Last season, he rebounded nicely with a 3.57 ERA in 27 games for Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk.
“To have a full healthy season was really nice. I’m just glad I could finish it on a good note,” Young said.
Young has been spending time with 41-year-old starting pitcher Charlie Morton.
“This is his 18th season. He’s been throwing 160 innings however many years, kind of picking up what he’s got,” Young said. “He’s pretty cool. He’s a really humble guy. He’s learning. I think that’s how he’s been doing it for so long.”
Dean Kremer is scheduled to pitch on Monday, and Tomoyuki Sugano is scheduled for his first outing on Wednesday against Pittsburgh in Bradenton.
What’s happened? Albert Suárez allowed two runs on former Orioles’ outfielder DJ Stewart’s two-run double in the first. Suárez allowed two runs on three hits in 1 2/3 innings in the Orioles’ 10-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates before a sellout crowd of 7,628 at Ed Smith Stadium on Saturday in the first game of the Grapefruit League season.
“I thought he had a good fastball. The offspeed stuff was just missing below the zone,” Hyde said. “Good stuff for his first time out.”
Suárez threw 41 pitches. Minor league reliever Yaqui Rivera recorded the third out in the second. Suárez said he threw all his pitches, and has added a slurve, a combination of the curve and slider.
“Feels good to get that one out of the way,” Suárez said. “Go back and competing, it feels good.”
The Orioles tied the score in the second when Ryan Mountcastle scored on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Ramón Laureano. Stewart homered against Keegan Akin in the third.
Emmanuel Rivera scored on Dylan Carlson’s sacrifice fly in the fourth to tie it at 3-3. He hit a two-run homer in the eighth.
Matt Gorski hit a two-run home run against Corbin Martin in the sixth and a grand slam off minor league reliever Dylan Heid in the ninth.
Jackson Holliday hit into a force, scored a run and struck out in four innings. He’s feeling better at second base.
“I’m a lot more comfortable. Today was good,” Holliday said. “I got a lot more ground balls, a lot more than did, I think, in last spring training in total … A lot more comfortable in practice. Getting the first few ground balls out of the way is great.
“I think being crisp and sharp. Me personally watching the league, everything is so clean and direct, so that’s something that I’ve been working on, and being as fast as possible in double play feeds, just trying to get the ball as quick and possible to Gunnar [Henderson] to let him do his thing. That’s been the point of emphasis so far.”
What’s up with? Corbin Martin allowed a two-run home run to Gorski and doubles to Endy Rodriguez and Nick Solak in the sixth inning.
Martin was claimed off waivers from Milwaukee last May 13th and was 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA in 29 games with Triple-A Norfolk. He was 1-5 with a 6.71 ERA in 17 games with Houston in 2019 and Arizona in 2021 and 2022.
Martin had Tommy John surgery in 2019 and surgery on his lat in 2023.
“Hasn’t been easy,” Martin said. “It’s hard to mentally stay focused when I’m battling all those injuries,” he said. “Every day seemed like I wanted it to end the day before.
“Going through surgery in the past, that helped me with this past surgery, made sure that I was doing all the right things every day to get back to being healthy and once I started pitching again, taking it a day at a time, knowing it wasn’t going to come instantly but I feel like once I got to this org, we did a really good job of honing in on the things that were going to get me back.”
There are many non-roster pitchers in camp like Martin who haven’t had major league experience.
“I’ve just got to go be myself. I feel like if I can lay my head on the pillow at night and know I did everything to go be myself and prove that I still have the stuff, I think I can live with that. At the end of the day, it’s their decision, what they want to do. Go pitch with confidence and have the attitude I do belong.”
What’s what? Hyde says he’s mapped out the spring training schedule for his regulars “in pencil.”
He said that “everybody’s a little bit different, especially the guys who’ve been around a little bit. They kind of know how many at-bats they need. There’s a couple of guys who are not playing today, just giving them a couple of extra days, but they’re going to pick up and catch up. I’m not really worried about anything the first week except guys a few at-bats, getting guys used to the game day.”
What’s the word? “That’s obviously a big part of what my game could be. It’s something I’m working on with [coach Anthony] Sanders and the rest of the coaching staff, is just being able to have that threat because honestly if I can lay a few down, it might open up a lot more hits on the third base side. If I get that guy coming in, I could maybe shoot a few more singles that way. I obviously haven’t bunted too much in my life. It’s definitely a skill that needs to be developed.”-Holliday on bunting
What’s the number? 3. Holliday made three plays at second base in four innings.
What’s the record? 0-1. The Orioles play the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater.