For Anthony Santander, enjoying within the World Baseball Classic was “like a dream.”
The proper fielder returned to Orioles spring coaching Tuesday after spending the earlier 12 days enjoying for Team Venezuela.
“Oh my god, unbelievable experience,” Santander stated. “Very grateful and happy for the opportunity. That’s something that I’ll never forget, being there playing like a kid but in big situations.”
Santander gained worldwide consideration in the course of the WBC as one of many match’s greatest hitters. The 28-year-old opened the occasion as Venezuela’s No. 7 hitter, however he rose all the best way as much as the No. 3 gap.
In Venezuela’s opener, he smacked a solo dwelling run in his first at-bat and later hit a triple and made a diving catch. Santander adopted that up with a three-run blast the next day. He ended the match slashing .368/.455/.842.
“I prepared really good before the tournament. I honestly didn’t get surprised at the results,” Santander stated. “That’s something as a player you always keep to yourself, being quiet and prepare yourself and go out there and compete pitch-by-pitch. I’m excited that I did good to be able to help my team win at least the first couple four games.”
“I’m just so proud of him, honestly, for what he did on the big stage,” supervisor Brandon Hyde stated. “It’s fun to see your guys get national attention.”
Venezuela’s WBC run ended within the quarterfinals with a 9-7 loss to Team USA, which performs within the closing Tuesday evening towards Japan. Santander was considered one of three gamers on the Orioles’ 40-man roster to take part within the WBC; heart fielder Cedric Mullins remains to be enjoying for Team USA, and beginning pitcher Dean Kremer pitched for Team Israel.
“Feel really proud to be able to wear that jersey, representing the whole country, family, my hometown,” Santander stated. “That’s something that as a player you never forget that big moment. The more important thing is we bring some happiness to our people back there.”
Santander was again within the Orioles’ lineup Tuesday towards the Boston Red Sox and went 0-for-3.
Righty Rutschman
Adley Rutschman’s largest flaw in 2022 was his ineffectiveness towards left-handed pitching. As a switch-hitter, the star catcher slashed simply .174/.287/.265 in 115 plate appearances when batting from the suitable facet towards lefties.
Rutschman hit only one lengthy ball towards huge league left-handers final yr. So far this spring, he’s already tallied two blasts as a right-handed hitter.
Facing seven-time All-Star left-hander Chris Sale on Tuesday, Rutschman hammered a fly ball over the left-center area wall for a first-inning solo homer.
“He’s been swinging the bat well right-handed this whole spring, not just out here but in the back fields also,” Hyde stated. “That was a point of emphasis for him to work on his right-handed swing a little bit this offseason. It’s been really good this spring.”
The homer was Rutschman’s fourth in 35 spring at-bats, along with his first coming from the suitable facet towards Detroit Tigers lefty Matthew Boyd earlier this month.
Also within the 6-2 win over the Red Sox, Ryan Mountcastle adopted Rutschman’s lead and continued his scorching spring with a solo shot of his personal to straightaway heart area.
“I feel like this is one of the best springs I’ve had in a while,” Mountcastle stated. “I’m a little more locked in this year at the plate.”
Orioles left-hander Cole Irvin earned the win after pitching five-plus innings, permitting seven hits and two runs with no walks and three strikeouts. Irvin, whom the Orioles acquired from the Oakland Athletics this offseason, has surrendered 5 runs in 14 1/3 innings this spring.
“You saw the tempo of the game, the time of game,” Hyde stated, referencing the two:06 recreation time. “When Cole Irvin’s on the mound, he’s going to be throwing a ton of strikes. He did that again today, has been doing that all camp.”
Zimmermann’s future
Despite the membership optioning Bruce Zimmermann to Triple-A on Monday, Hyde spoke extremely of how the Ellicott City native pitched this spring, including that he expects the left-hander to make it to the large leagues someday in 2023.
“I thought he threw the ball well in spring,” Hyde stated. “It’s that time of camp where starters are getting a little bit longer, and kind of narrowing down our numbers a little bit. But I thought [Zimmermann] showed well, and hopefully he gets off to a good start in Norfolk. I’m sure we’ll see him at some point this season.”
Zimmermann, 28, has began a recreation for the Orioles in three straight seasons, together with the house opener in 2022 and 13 video games in every of the previous two campaigns. He has a profession 5.65 ERA in 145 main league innings.
He broke camp in 2022 in Baltimore’s rotation and pitched effectively in April earlier than struggling — permitting 17 dwelling runs in a span of seven begins — and getting despatched all the way down to Norfolk.
Zimmermann was considered one of 12 pitchers who entered spring coaching competing for the 5 rotation spots, however he was on the surface trying in of that competitors from the get-go.
“We’re going to make the best decisions we can for who we feel like is going to open the season in the rotation, but that could change quickly,” Hyde stated. “As we know, you need more than five starters. We felt really good about [Zimmermann] being part of our starting group, he’s just going to start the year in Norfolk.”
Left-handed reliever Nick Vespi was additionally optioned. Vespi was excellent in Triple-A final season (0.00 ERA in 28 2/3 innings) and posted a 5-0 document with a 4.10 ERA in 26 1/3 innings within the majors. He struggled in his first few outings this spring whereas working his approach again from offseason hernia surgical procedure.
“He got off to a kind of late start,” Hyde stated. “We felt like he needed more appearances. He’s going to start the year in Triple-A, and hopefully build off a great year he had in Norfolk last year and did well for us when he came up. These are all tough decisions that we have to make, but we just feel like Nick needs more appearances.”
Grapefruit League
Orioles at Blue Jays
Wednesday, 1:07 p.m.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com