Andrew Politi mentioned he wasn’t too nervous in the beginning of Orioles spring coaching six weeks in the past.
“You have this long spring ahead, so the nerves aren’t really there,” he mentioned.
Instead, it’s now, with only a few days till the Orioles head to Boston for his or her opening collection of the season, when the nerves begin creeping in. Politi, a Rule 5 draft decide, is certainly one of a number of right-handed relievers competing for a spot within the Orioles’ bullpen.
“The closer it gets, the more the nerves come a little bit,” Politi mentioned Friday. “But I think I’ve done what I had to do, and I think I had a good spring from my understanding. It’s kind of funny. The nerves didn’t really hit until later on when you’ve been throwing the ball well and you start to see your chances raise a little bit.”
The 26-year-old is hoping to develop into the most recent in a protracted line of Orioles Rule 5 draftees to make the large league membership, together with some like Anthony Santander and Tyler Wells who grew to become integral components of the workforce. The Orioles took Politi, then a minor leaguer with the Boston Red Sox, within the December draft after he posted a 2.34 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A final yr.
“It just goes to show, with how many chances they’ve given guys in the past, that they really trust guys,” Politi mentioned. “It’s nice to know they’re not just picking you at random. There’s a reason they pick you, and they trust you. You just got to go out there and show it.”
Politi has allowed six runs on 9 hits and three walks in 8 2/3 innings. But seven of his 9 outings have been scoreless, with supervisor Brandon Hyde remarking a number of occasions about how sharp his curveball seems to be.
Perhaps his finest sport of the spring got here Wednesday towards the Toronto Blue Jays, when Politi retired George Springer, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. so as on simply 10 pitches.
“He got some weak contact,” Hyde mentioned. “You saw some uncomfortable swings from three of the best hitters in our game. He’s been impressive this whole camp.”
“I’m not really big on who’s hitting,” Politi mentioned. “It’s just me knowing that if I execute my pitches I’ll get good results. It’s just using my pitch mix to the best of my ability and throwing to the blue zones. I know if I can do that I can throw against anyone, it doesn’t matter who it is.”
However, certainly one of his dangerous outings got here in his subsequent look towards the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, surrendering two runs on three hits and one stroll in 2/3 of an inning. Politi is aware of that dangerous innings are going to periodically occur as a reliever, however his focus isn’t letting it spiral into future appearances. After giving up 4 runs in 2/3 of an inning in early March, Politi went scoreless in his subsequent 4 outings.
“I think it shows a lot, especially as a relief pitcher, when you have outings like that and you bounce back and put up zeroes,” Politi mentioned. “That’s huge, because in baseball you’re not going to have those perfect outings every time. I think for relievers to have a long career it’s how they bounce back.”
Look at me, I could be middle subject
On Friday, Hyde made a shock transfer to place shortstop Jorge Mateo in middle subject for 2 innings. Against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, Mateo began on the place and performed six innings.
The choice to work Mateo out in middle subject may very well be for a few causes. Defensive versatility, as displayed by Terrin Vavra, Adam Frazier, Anthony Santander and others this spring, offers Hyde choices throughout a 162-game season. But it might additionally give Baltimore the choice to make use of Mateo in a late-inning defensive substitute within the outfield as a substitute of rostering a participant like Ryan McKenna, who served in that position in 2022.
“The more flexibility you can create with your roster, the better,” Hyde mentioned. “It’s not like [Mateo] has never been out there before. We just kind of want to give him a look just in case it did happen in the season where we did need some coverage in center field.”
Mateo hasn’t performed a serious league common season sport in middle subject since 2021 with the San Diego Padres. But Hyde talked about that Mateo was used as a defensive substitute within the outfield by the Padres.
Of course, Mateo is especially a shortstop, beginning all however 20 video games on the place final season and successful the Fielding Bible Award for the most effective defensive shortstop in baseball. But in middle subject Sunday, he appeared like a pure, though his solely check was a fly ball to left-center subject that he simply tracked down.
To the left, to the left
Cionel Pérez, one of many Orioles’ finest relievers final season with a 1.40 ERA, will as soon as once more be the membership’s prime left-hander within the bullpen.
But who would be the second?
The reply to that query was maybe answered shortly after the Orioles’ 4-2 win over the Phillies when the membership optioned DL Hall to minor league camp. Hall, the Orioles’ No. 2 pitching prospect, was seemingly in a contest with Keegan Akin for that second lefty spot. Instead of increase Hall as a starter within the main league bullpen, the Orioles will as a substitute try this in Triple-A.
Hyde has mentioned this spring he prefers no fewer than two lefties within the bullpen in addition to a number of relievers able to going two or three innings. Akin, a transformed starter who was glorious within the first half of 2022 however uneven within the second half, served in that position final yr.
Akin, who entered Sunday with out permitting a run in seven spring innings, believes he’ll be extra ready for a protracted season within the bullpen after doing it for the primary time final yr.
“I didn’t know how to prepare for a full seven months down there [in the bullpen],” Akin mentioned. “Like what you’ve got to do to stay ready and battle through those outings that aren’t going your way.”
While he’s principally been a one-inning reliever in spring coaching, Akin mentioned he’s been stretched out to a few innings on the again fields. That means Akin may very well be used for matchups towards left-handed hitters in addition to short- and long-relief outings.
“That’s what he brought us last year, especially that first half, was a guy that was able to do a lot of different things for us and do it very very well,” Hyde mentioned. “He’s carried that into this spring. The stuff looks even sharper, the velocity’s kind of up. He creates a lot of flexibility in our bullpen. He can be a left-on-left guy, but he can also give us multiple innings as well.”
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Akin mentioned. “If I’m there, that’s all that matters to me.”
Akin allowed a solo homer and a double to steer off his inning Sunday earlier than retiring three straight batters. Also within the win, beginning pitcher Kyle Bradish bounced again from his nine-run begin Monday to throw 5 innings of one-run ball.
Injury updates
The first day of spring coaching introduced the information of a number of accidents Orioles gamers sustained in the course of the offseason. But for the subsequent month, the Orioles remained comparatively wholesome, as they did in 2022.
In the previous week, nevertheless, a few veterans anticipated to make the 26-man roster are coping with illnesses that places their standing in query. Reliever Mychal Givens, who final pitched in a sport March 16, threw a reside bullpen Sunday morning at Ed Smith Stadium, however it ended poorly. The veteran was annoyed together with his sore left knee after 10 pitches, walked off gingerly and threw his glove towards the dugout fence. Hyde mentioned Givens’ standing for opening day remains to be up within the air.
Catcher James McCann, who hasn’t performed since Monday, has a sore left indirect. He mentioned the damage is “minor” and that he’s “day to day.”
“After going through an oblique injury last year, it’s something we’ve treated with a lot of caution just to be sure it doesn’t turn into a two-month absence,” McCann mentioned. “With the process and the rehab, it’s a waiting game. There’s nothing you can do other than wait and let them heal.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com