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SARASOTA-What’s happening? Dean Kremer will make his first start of the spring when the Orioles face a Philadelphia Phillies’ split-squad at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. He’ll be opposed by Cristopher Sanchez.
Kremer allowed two runs on three hits in two innings in his first appearance on Tuesday. He struck out three and walked two and gave up a home run in relief.
The game will be heard on WBAL/98 Rock with Geoff Arnold and Brett Hollander on the call.
Charlie Morton will start on Monday against the Boston Red Sox. Tomoyuki Sugano also will pitch.
Tyler O’Neill was out Saturday because of illness, manager Brandon Hyde said. “Hopefully, he feels better tomorrow.”
Jordan Westburg, who’s been out for the past week with a sore lower back, is improving, the manager said.
“Big strides, he’s doing a lot better,” Hyde said. “He’s going to do some baseball activities today. That’s progressing well. Hopefully, he’ll be in there sometime next week.”
Gunnar Henderson, who left Thursday’s game with discomfort on his right side, is also improving, according to Hyde. “Gunnar is doing a little bit better today. He’s still sore, but improving. Hopefully, he’s not too far away, either.”
Jorge Mateo, who had Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, isn’t ready to play, but Hyde said “he’s throwing. He’s doing some light cage activity, keeping himself in shape. We just did baserunning. He’s doing ground ball stuff. He’s progressing really, really well.”
Hyde isn’t ruling out an appearance by Mateo in Grapefruit League games. “I think it’s possible the last handful of games, but it’s a hitting progression. Those type of things that have to happen,” he said.
What’s happened? Cade Povich allowed one hit in three innings, striking out six in the Orioles’ 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates before 7,593, the second sellout of the spring, at Ed Smith Stadium on Saturday.
Povich gave up a leadoff single to Nick Yorke in the first and two batters later, he walked Oneil Cruz before retiring his final eight batters.
“Other than throwing a perfect game or a no-hitter, you can’t really get much better than that for three innings of spring,” Povich said.
Povich has thrown five scoreless innings his spring, allowing one hit and a walk, striking out seven. “I came in here, working on some stuff I didn’t work on last time, and I was able to do that.”
Catcher, Adley Rutschman was impressed.
“I thought he really settled in today,” Rutschman said. “In the bullpen, he was kind of sort of working through some stuff, and then all of a sudden we get out to the game, and he was just dotting his fastball and throwing his offspeed in two-strike counts for competitive misses to get some strikeouts … It looked like he had a really good demeanor on the mound.”
Hyde also was pleased.
“That was really encouraging. He’s been throwing the ball really well in camp,” he said. “The changeup has come a long way. He threw a lot of good ones today, so really happy with the life to his fastball. Good changeups behind, especially to right-handed hitters.”
Rutschman was 1-for-2 against Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, who gave up a run on four hits in three innings.
“I like how I’m seeing the ball at the plate,” Rutschman said. “How some of my misses are going as far as some line drives the other way on balls that I’m a little late on and just making sure that those launch angles are keeping in a good range and those misses are good outcomes, I guess.”
It isn’t often that Rutschman gets to face top-tier pitchers in spring. Skenes was 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA and was voted the National League Rookie of the Year.
“It’s fun. It’s on you,’’ Rutschman said. “I got to see the majority of his pitches today. He forces you to make quick decisions. He’s working on both sides of the zone. His pitches are really good.”
Rutschman faced him last year when Skenes worked a 1-2-3 inning against the Orioles. “He’s obviously a phenomenal pitcher. You can see why.”
Cruz and Nick Solak homered in the fourth against Orioles reliever Seranthony Domínguez.
Konner Griffin homered against Brandon Young in the ninth. Enmanuel Valdez hit a two-run home run off minor league reliever Gerald Ogando in the ninth.
Luis Vázquez had an RBI double in the fourth to score Nick Gordon. Rutschman scored on a throwing error in the second.
What’s up with? Thaddeus Ward has yet to pitch in a game for the Orioles this spring. Ward was claimed off waivers from the Nationals on November 1st and later designated for assignment by the Orioles and outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk
“Nobody ever likes to be DFA’d, so it was disheartening to hear that at first when I got DFA’d, and then when I learned it was the Orioles who picked me up, I was excited about that side of it,” Ward said. “I heard a lot of good things about the organization from former teammates and guys who played for them in the past. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the way they operate, their belief system and how they go about their business. I was very excited to get the opportunity when I got the information.”
Ward tried to be philosophical about being removed from the roster by the Orioles.
“Another kind of disheartening thing. It’s part of the business,” he said. “It’s a paper move. They needed room on the roster, and I was an available spot for them. It’s part of the business. It comes with the territory.”
In 23 games for the Nationals in 2023, Ward had a 6.37 ERA. Last year, he was 8-6 with a 5.64 ERA in 28 starts with Triple-A Rochester.
“I look at myself as more of a starter, but I’m always flexible and willing to do whatever the team requires of me,” Ward said. “I like starting better. I like that five-day routine. Just being able to map out my days and stuff like that. Whatever the Orioles need me to do.”
Ward is proud of his pitch mix.
“I have a pretty versatile arsenal,” he said. “I get a lot of movement, left and right with a lot of different pitches, and I can show the ability to go up and down with it, too. I think these are good attributes to have as a starter, being able to do a little bit of everything, but I think having pretty extreme movement, left to right helps me get weak contact, helps me get swing and miss when I need it. The movement profiles give me a little bit of an edge.”
What’s what? For the second straight Sunday, the Orioles will play at Clearwater. They’ll also play there as part of a split-squad for a third straight Sunday on March 9th.
What’s the word? “Everyone’s meshing … It’s kind of cool to see. There are no real like different groups. Everyone’s bantering. Everyone’s talking to each other, which is cool. Everyone’s playing golf together.”-Rutschman on the Orioles’ camaraderie.
What’s the number? 7. Hyde named seven possibilities for the starting rotation on Friday, including Povich and Albert Suárez.
“You can’t have enough. We learned that last year,” Hyde said. “Hopefully, we have tough decisions to make at the end of camp. We have a lot of guys throwing the ball well.”
What’s the record? 4-3. The Orioles will face the Philadelphia Phillies at BayCare Ballpark on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.