Starting the primary sport of spring coaching isn’t the glamorous task pitching on baseball’s true opening day is. That doesn’t imply left-handed pitching prospect Drew Rom isn’t thrilled to get the chance Saturday for the Orioles.
“Huge confidence boost,” Rom mentioned Thursday after supervisor Brandon Hyde named him Baltimore’s starter for Saturday’s Grapefruit League opener towards the Minnesota Twins. “Them having the confidence in me to go out there and establish kind of that first day, first game, first pitch — everything starts from there, and I think for me, that’s a big thing. They trust me to go out there and really start everything and kind of get the fans, the team, everything going.”
Baseball America has Rom, 23, because the Orioles’ No. 24 prospect, ranked ninth amongst pitchers, and though he’s one of many dozen candidates for Baltimore’s 5 season-opening rotation spots, he’s maybe the least doubtless member of that group to obtain one. Top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez, taken eleventh general and three rounds earlier than Rom within the 2018 draft, is the one different candidate but to pitch within the majors.
But after ending final season in Triple-A — an expertise that taught him “where not to throw the ball,” he mentioned with amusing — Rom believes he’s positioned to achieve the majors sooner or later this yr. Saturday’s outing might begin of the trail for a big group of prospects to reach in Baltimore.
“Honestly, it’s almost like a party in here now,” Rom mentioned of the expertise within the Orioles’ clubhouse. “I believe everybody can really feel that power and really feel that that is sort of our coming-out yr, virtually. Not essentially saying that final yr wasn’t. Last yr sort of took everybody unexpectedly, and now this yr, we’re poised to do the identical factor once more and perform a little bit higher.
“I think the talent will speak for itself this year.”
Entering final season, coaches within the group persistently pointed to Rom as one of many system’s most underrated gamers. He then led Orioles minor leaguers with 120 innings and 144 strikeouts and began three extra video games (25) than anybody else within the farm system. Working with a low-90s fastball, Rom had a 4.43 ERA between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, however in seven begins after the promotion, his strikeout-to-walk ratio fell by a couple of.
The expertise gave him perception on “the approach the big leaguers are gonna have.”
“All those guys either had big league time or are about to be there,” Rom mentioned. “Seeing the more professional approach rather than, like, the prospect approach, they wait for the pitch, they think every single pitch ahead. It’s wild to me, but for me, it was definitely figuring out how to pitch against big league hitters.”
He’s assured this would be the season he get face them for actual. He spent this offseason honing his mechanics as a part of a program from the Orioles mixed with insights from Tread Athletics in North Carolina.
Rom mentioned his tweaks won’t essentially present up in his fastball velocity, however he believes the pitch will probably be extra “explosive.” Paired with what he additionally thinks will probably be improved management, he might place himself to be somebody the Orioles flip to this season, even when just for a spot begin or bullpen assist.
“I control what I can,” Rom mentioned. “I’ve performed all I can this offseason to do to even improve [velocity] somewhat bit. For me, I felt like my fastball has gotten much more explosive, perhaps not velo, however I really feel prefer it simply has gotten so much higher simply by way of my mechanics and simply being truly explosive by the ball, quite than simply actually sort of simply attempting to position it.
“Trying to just move fast and move hard to throw hard. I think that’s the biggest thing was just quit being so scared of trying to throw hard.”
Rom famous the Orioles’ clubhouse provides him two examples of left-handers who’ve had success as main leagues regardless of missing premier velocity. John Means and Cole Irvin each throw fastballs averaging between 90 and 93 mph, based on Baseball Savant; Means was an All-Star in 2019 and threw a no-hitter in 2021 earlier than present process Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgical procedure final season, whereas solely 13 pitchers have thrown extra innings than Irvin over the previous two years.
“Seeing those guys that are kind of my ‘stereotype’ almost get out there and succeed … has really helped my confidence,” Rom mentioned. “Seeing that I don’t need to throw 100 or whatever, I can go out and do my thing, and if velo comes, velo comes, but I’ve had success doing what I can do right now.”
That success has include an intriguing strategy, altering arm slots relying on the handedness of the batter. Rom started to sometimes drop down as a excessive schooler in Kentucky, however when Chris Holt — then the Orioles’ minor league pitching coordinator and now their main league pitching coach — noticed him do it at an educational camp after the 2019 season, he instructed Rom combine that strategy into video games.
Typically, Rom has reserved the search for lefties, however he mentioned he began to make use of it towards right-handers final season, which he mentioned “really turned a lot of heads and turned my pitching around.” He additionally simplified his repertoire, decreasing utilization of his changeup and curveball to extra often deploy his splitter and slider.
On Saturday, Rom would be the first Oriole to throw a pitch in a sport in 2023. Regardless of what slot it comes from, he’s trying ahead to what it represents, for each him and the group.
Spring coaching opener
Twins at Orioles
At Sarasota, Florida
Saturday, 1:05 p.m.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com