I really, really enjoy spring training, and think it’s important to explain why.

It’s a moment in time, yes, and one that mostly separates the offseason from the playing season, and that’s incredibly valuable considering how stale talking about the same team for four-plus months can be.

More than anything, it’s just a time to refocus on the season ahead, prioritize what matters and what doesn’t, and align with the course the team is going to take.

When the Orioles were rebuilding and the minor league substitutes in Grapefruit League games were more interesting than the starters expected to be on the club, that meant something, and I aligned my coverage accordingly. At the end of the Buck Showalter era when the team was constantly adding pitchers in free agency during camp and creating competition in that space, those outings from the starters meant more.

Other things, it turned out, didn’t have much influence on what happened in the season: any number of Chris Davis’ “mini-renaissances,” the dominant springs from prospects who don’t end up making the team, etc.

With a whole 24 hours at Orioles camp under my belt, it felt appropriate to lay out what I have time for and what I don’t this week while I’m in Sarasota, Florida.

I have a lot of time for the last couple spots in the Orioles bullpen.

Lame, I know. But health assumed, the established group of Félix Bautista, Yennier Cano, Seranthony Domínguez, Andrew Kittredge, Gregory Soto, Cionel Perez and Keegan Akin leaves just one spot through which the Orioles can cycle an optionable reliever or long reliever. There are a lot of candidates, and they’re going to need a lot of them, if we’re being honest. Last year, there were a lot of interesting waiver claims and free agent signings in camp whom we ultimately never saw in the majors. This time around, that’s not the case, so the likes of Kade Strowd, Luis Gonzalez, Colin Selby and so many others are going to be called upon at some point this season.

I want to see where Coby Mayo spends a lot of time defensively.

Understanding that Brandon Hyde said Coby Mayo would spend a lot of time at third base this spring, I wonder how that looks in practice. I think he remains the most valuable there, but the fact there hasn’t been a clean shift feels different than when Ryan Mountcastle showed up in 2019 and was immediately switched from third to first. They think there’s a chance Mayo sticks, but at what point does practicality for the near-term situation take precedent?

I don’t have a lot of time for digging into the veteran starters in spring.

It’s going to be incredibly uncomfortable for the Orioles if Charlie Morton or Tomoyuki Sugano ends up having a rough spring, because for different reasons they enter camp with questions as to their viability in this rotation. Morton was on the fence about pitching this year, and at age 41, he is in a stage where he still has to prove he can pitch at a high level, given the dearth of examples of that kind of longevity.

Sugano is transitioning from Japanese baseball and learning major league hitters for the first time. That said, spring training might not be the evidence we’re seeking either way. Remember that Shohei Ohtani was dumped on by major league scouts in his spring debut, and that worked out well enough.

Quite simply, we might have an inkling of the answer to those questions in spring, but it won’t be until April that we can truly dig into those results.

Miss me with the leadership talk.

I get it. It’s natural, especially given the perception of how and why this team fell apart last year. And I had some second thoughts about this idea with Danielle’s great camp-opening story.

I just have had too many camps where too many players have chuckled at the idea of clubhouse leadership. And I have seen too many examples of players considered good leaders who’ve acted more like bad people in that role to think it makes a material difference to how a team does. I think culture does, and the Orioles have a great one in their clubhouse. That comes back to boasting about a group of incredibly hard workers who also double as their best players. That was the case whether there were other leaders around or not, and will remain so no matter what.

Ballpark chatter

“We’re not unaware of what you’re talking about.”

David Rubenstein on all the young Orioles who could warrant contract extensions in the coming years 

I enjoyed how Rubenstein spoke about this — noting how many great players the Orioles have, the landscape of how the game operates with long-term contracts, and how much of a commitment they take to execute. All very true and understated.

The acknowledgement that he knows what reporters were asking about, though, makes sense. Winning and losing in October will ultimately define whether this whole thing is a success, but watching another generation of homegrown stars leave via trade or free agency because the team couldn’t keep them around will undermine pretty much all the good work done to build a team featuring so many extension candidates in the first place.

Talent pipeline

This is clearly going to be the Samuel Basallo camp, and that’s going to be great for all involved. I don’t know what role he plays on the 2025 Orioles, but I know he’s going to hit, and hit a lot. The change in him from last year — when he was relatively unsure of his place, given that he was rehabbing his elbow injury — to now, when he’s a clear part of the work, is drastic. He already looks like he belongs. Now comes the work to prove it.

For further reading

💬 Chatting with the big boss: Andy had his own chat with Rubenstein yesterday, and a lot of good came of it. I am personally glad that Rubenstein explicitly explained the thinking on signing long-term deals and why the club hasn’t yet.

🏋️‍♂️ Winter gains: I also really enjoyed Andy’s story on Adley Rutschman’s work this winter. As I’ve written before, Rutschman is a pathological winner, and that means that losing was never going to sit well with him.

💪 The mini hitting camp: Danielle’s story on the Orioles’ early arrivers on the hitting side was a nice reminder of the work that goes into not only cultivating such a large group of high-level hitting prospects but doing everything the team can to help their transition to the majors and get the most out of them.

🎯 A new pitch?! Grayson Rodriguez is going to be a fulcrum on which this entire season tilts. If he’s the best version of himself, the Orioles will be, too. I’m interested to see how this new pitch Andy uncovered helps contribute to that.