One of essentially the most intriguing competitions at Orioles spring coaching is among the many left-handed hitters vying to be Ryan Mountcastle’s backup first baseman.
The crew compiled a bunch of those gamers with main league expertise — together with Ryan O’Hearn, Franchy Cordero, Josh Lester and Lewin Díaz — and invited them to spring coaching as nonroster invitees to compete for that spot.
But will that seat on the bench even exist come opening day Thursday in Boston?
The reply to that may depend upon the membership’s confidence in a separate group of gamers who might function insurance coverage behind Mountcastle if the Orioles select to not roster one of many left-handed hitting first basemen. Some of these gamers, similar to utilityman Terrin Vavra and outfielder Anthony Santander, have frolicked this spring studying easy methods to play first base to present the crew positional flexibility throughout the season.
“If we need them in a pinch to play first for whatever reason, we feel comfortable that they’re able to do it,” Hyde mentioned in regards to the group that additionally contains catchers Adley Rutschman and James McCann.
“Moneyball” — the movie adaptation of the 2003 e-book by the identical title in regards to the Oakland Athletics and sabermetrics — famously questioned whether or not the place was troublesome. The dialog between then-Athletics basic supervisor Billy Beane and catcher Scott Hatteberg about changing to play first base is likely one of the most memorable scenes within the film — with Beane, in making an attempt to persuade Hatteberg of the swap, saying it wasn’t arduous to play the place.
Orioles infield coach Tony Mansolino, when requested if studying to play first base is, in reality, difficult, answered nearly identically to how then-Athletics infield coach Ron Washington responded within the film.
“It’s incredibly difficult,” Mansolino mentioned about studying easy methods to be an “impact” defender on the place.
“I don’t subscribe to the theory that anybody can go play over there. It takes a lot of work.”
While first base is taken into account a neater — and fewer helpful — place than catcher, shortstop and middle area, that hardly means it’s easy for a brand new participant to select up.
“People think you can just stick a guy over at first base and be OK, and it’s not the case,” Hyde mentioned. “There are a lot of things that go with it.”
One of the most definitely selections to again up Mountcastle is Santander, the Orioles’ proper fielder, whose solely skilled expertise on the place is 9 video games in 2016 with the Cleveland Guardians’ High-A affiliate. He hasn’t performed the place in a significant league recreation since turning into an Oriole in 2017, though he practiced there throughout the second half of final season.
“Overall, I feel pretty good, just have to continue working hard to play there to give some rest to [Mountcastle] sometimes,” Santander mentioned.
Santander mentioned the toughest a part of enjoying first base is the main focus and a focus to element each play requires. First basemen are concerned in way more batted balls than some other participant on the sphere — a facet that may make the place really feel pressure-filled.
“I don’t feel afraid to play first base,” mentioned Santander, who has performed a couple of spring coaching video games on the place. “I just stay positive and anticipate all the plays. That’s the key to playing that position — you have to be involved in every play.”
While it could be much less doubtless that Vavra performs first base than Santander or one of many catchers, he nonetheless spent components of his offseason and spring coaching training the place. Vavra’s expertise is enjoying the up-the-middle positions, largely second base but in addition shortstop and middle area, however in camp he’s appeared in exhibitions at first, third and left area in addition to training to catch in an emergency.
Vavra mentioned enjoying first brings its “own challenges,” most notably the angle at which the ball comes off the bat in comparison with positions up the center. One motive he thinks he’s been in a position to decide up the place — and why he believes others can, too — is {that a} important a part of succeeding there may be psychological.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily an easy position, but I think it’s something a lot of guys can handle,” mentioned Vavra, who performed two innings at first in an exhibition final week in his first look on the place. “Guys who have been playing for a long time, they know how things function on the field and how a first baseman gets involved in a lot of plays. There is some familiarity for guys that go over there.”
Every place has distinctive elements — pitch framing for catchers, turning double performs for center infielders, first steps for outfielders — however the listing of little particulars that go into enjoying first base is lengthy.
First basemen have to fret about holding runners, stretching to snag throws from infielders, selecting errant throws within the grime and footwork across the bag — the final of which, Mansolino mentioned, is the toughest half about studying the place.
“It’s the bag work. It’s always the bag work,” he mentioned. “You can get them to the point where they can catch routine ground balls — these are major league baseball players and major league defenders before they came over. But it’s all the little intricacies after that — feeling the bag under your feet, throws up the line, throws down the line.”
First base can be the one place on the sphere the place the precedence is to be on the bag quite than going after the ball. That creates difficult selections, Vavra mentioned, on grounders between the primary and second basemen. If the primary baseman goes too far, the pitcher is pressured to cowl the bag; don’t go far sufficient, although, and a floor ball that might in any other case be an out turns into a success.
“It’s unlike any other position,” Vavra mentioned.
Something that provides the Orioles’ coaches confidence about educating the place is that the group has efficiently executed it earlier than. In 2019, the primary season underneath the brand new regime and the rebuild, the Orioles transformed Mountcastle, a former shortstop and third baseman, to play first. After grading as one of many worst first basemen by Statcast’s outs above common metric in 2021, Mountcastle ranked within the 79th percentile in 2022.
“It starts with Ryan Mountcastle, who we consider a plus defender at first base,” Mansolino mentioned. “He’s turned himself, through his own hard work and his own willingness, into a really good major league first baseman. We feel incredibly comfortable with our everyday option at first base, and then the group that’s going to help out [Mountcastle] get some days off or days to DH and relax the body, we feel really good about that group as well.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com