Burnes ready for Game 1 postseason start for Orioles: ‘I’m excited to get the ball’

BALTIMORE—What happened? The Orioles and Kansas City Royals weren’t able to work out in advance of Game 1 of the wild-card series because of inclement weather.

Corbin Burnes will start for the Orioles and left-hander Cole Ragans will start for Kansas City in Game 1 of the best-of-three series, which is scheduled to start on Tuesday at 4:08 p.m.

“We feel great about Corbin going in Game 1,” manager Brandon Hyde said on Monday afternoon. “Especially what he’s been doing in September.”

Burnes has a 1.20 ERA in five September starts.

“He’s had a heck of a year,” Hyde said. “He’s a guy that can beat anybody on any night. To have a guy like that with that kind of stuff, that kind of confidence. Corbin Burnes is pitching, you expect to win that night, and that’s how our guys feel.”

Hyde said he isn’t sure who will start Game 2, although it’s expected to be Zach Eflin. If there’s a Game 3, Dean Kremer is expected to get the start.

Hyde also declined to announce the team’s 26-man roster, which must be finalized by by 10 a.m. Tuesday.

“We’re going to continue to meet on the guys we’re going to put on the 26-man roster,” Hyde said. “We’re going to keep talking about it today.”

Although Eflin appears to be the logical choice to start Game 2, Hyde was playing it safe.

“We’re going through every scenario, covering all the bases on it,” Hyde said. “Seeing how Game 1 goes, how deep Burnesy goes, all those type of things.”

How will Burnes pitch against the Royals? Burnes pitched twice against Kansas City. On April 3^rd, he allowed two runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. On April 20th, he gave up three runs on four hits in 5 2/3.

“Obviously, we haven’t seen them in five months so it’s going to be a little different looking of a team than when we faced them then,” Burnes said. “The team’s identity is a little different. For me, it’s same process as usual, go do my business of doing my homework and watching video and being prepared. I’m excited to get the ball.”

Burnes started the first game of spring training, Opening Day and now Game 1 of the postseason.

“Not many guys get to do that in their career,” Burnes said. “I’ve been fortunate to do that a couple of times in my career, and to do it my first year here in Baltimore is special as well.”

Burnes is keen on not putting extra pressure on himself for Tuesday’s start.

“I try to treat it as every start is the same,” Burnes said. “Spring training, Opening Day, a start in June, one of the bad ones in August, they’re all the same.”

Burnes impresses not only the Orioles, but their opponents.

“He’s an ace. Game 1, and that’s where he fits,” Orioles pitching coach Drew French said. “I know he’s going to be ready, and that’s the main thing.”

“It’s been awesome to be able to watch him,” shortstop Gunnar Henderson said. “Being able to watch it from up the middle, see how stuff moves and how he attacks hitters has been really awesome to watch, and I’m really looking forward in the postseason atmosphere.”

“One of the elite pitchers in the game for a number of years, power stuff,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s going to be an extremely tough matchup for whoever’s in the lineup.

“That’s the hallmark of any good team. I believe that’s why we’re here is our pitching. They’re super athletic up and down the lineup. They can provide a ton of matchup problems with righties and lefties.”

Is Henderson ready for the postseason? Henderson played 159 games, more than any Oriole.

“I feel really good for this point in the year,” he said. “Body feels really well. Feel like the training staff, the weight room, coaches have helped me get my body ready and keep it healthy throughout the year. I feel like that’s the biggest thing, taking care of it early to help at this point of the year.”

The Orioles won five of six in the final week of the season against the Yankees and Twins.

“The offense started clicking and the pitchers have been throwing it really well,” he said. “I felt like it set us up to get going. We’ve been putting up a decent amount of runs the past week. Hopefully, it’s setting us up for a good run.”

The Orioles lost five consecutive series before winning the last two.

“Nobody ever thought we wouldn’t get through it,” Henderson said. “It was a matter of when. It’s tough in [real] time because you’re playing every single day. It does get tough at some points, but you have to keep going out there and keep fighting until you push through.”

In a difficult three-game sweep by the Texas Rangers in last year’s Division Series, Henderson was 6-for-12 (.500) with a home run and two RBIs.

“Definitely learned from some of the bad experiences we had there last year in the postseason,” Henderson said. “Kind of used it to fuel us this year, give us the kick that we need to push through and, hopefully, make a good run this year.”

What will the bullpen look like? Hyde will have the same group he’s come to rely on recently, left-handers Keegan Akin, Danny Coulombe, Cionel Pérez and Gregory Soto, and right-handers Yennier Cano, Seranthony Domínguez and Jacob Webb.

“We have a lot of good stuff down there,” Hyde said. “We have guys that I can put in different roles without having set roles down there. I can try and mix and match the best way I possibly can.”

The Orioles won four of six games against the Royals, all in April. They were preparing for Kansas City and Detroit, their opponents in two September series.

“It’s a little bit of a scramble,” Hyde said of the preparation. “It’s a scramble for them, too. They weren’t sure who they were going to play. That’s part of postseason baseball sometimes, season’s over and you gear up quickly for the opponent.

“We haven’t seen Kansas City, it feels, like a long time,” Hyde said. “We’re scrambling right now and preparing as well as we possibly can.”

If the Orioles have to play a Game 3, Hyde said he’d use relievers three days in a row, something he’s reluctant to do in the regular season.

“This is more of a sprint,” Hyde said. “I’m not looking long-term here. I’m trying to win two of these three games.”

The Orioles also have right-handers Matt Bowman and Colin Selby on the roster, and it’s possible that left-handed starter Cade Povich could slide into a bullpen role.

‘I do have a lot of options down there,” Hyde said.

Do players with postseason experience have an advantage? As a backup catcher, James McCann didn’t get to play in any of the three Division Series games. He played in the postseason with the Chicago White Sox in 2020 and the New York Mets in 2022.

“I think it is important. I think it’s important for guys to experience it,” McCann said. “It’s a different environment. The crowd is bigger. The crowd is louder. Each pitch there seems like there’s more riding on it than a regular season game. So, I think that experience is huge and I think that it’s going to play out nicely for us.”

Outfielder Austin Slater played for the San Francisco Giants in the 2021 postseason

“I think there’s just a little more energy in the ballpark,” he said. “You want to treat it just like any other game. I do think the energy level and the importance of the game, situational baseball is a little heightened. You typically play closer games, so playing clean team baseball is what helps.”