SARASOTA, Fla. — At just 5 feet, 8 inches tall, Keeler Morfe is typically one of the shortest guys on the field.

But, while he may fall off on the height chart, his stuff more than makes up for it. He’s a foot shorter than Orioles closer Félix Bautista, yet Morfe’s stuff can reach the same triple digits as the 2023 All-Star.

No, the command is nowhere close to what Bautista can produce. But Morfe is just 18, years away from the big leagues. And right now the Orioles are high on his upside.

“It’s [an] extremely high-velocity fastball; the composure of a young kid is exciting as well,” Anthony Villa, the Orioles’ director of player development, said, adding later, “He’s so young and still so far away. I think the potential is still out there.”

On Saturday, the Orioles tabbed him to start the spring breakout game, a prospect matchup against the Yankees that lines up the best minor leaguers not on their team’s 40-man roster against each other.

The Orioles treat this is as an important test to see how the future of their team fares in a higher-stakes, nationally televised game. They set the day up akin to what a major leaguer goes through, complete with media sessions and the same pregame rituals.

For the Orioles, this game was also a chance to show the improvements in their international program. The club was absent in Latin America for years under former owner Peter Angelos, but general manager Mike Elias made the region a priority when he was hired in 2018, bringing in Koby Perez to head the international scouting department.

The progress has been slow — prospect development is always a long road, but it oftentimes takes longer to see the fruits of that labor with international signees because most sign at 16 years old instead of out of high school or college.

But, after years of work, that commitment is starting to show results. The Orioles have 12 international signees on their top 30 prospect list, and this season could be the first time they have a homegrown international prospect make his major league debut since Jonathan Schoop in 2013.

That person who beats the streak could very well be Samuel Basallo, their No. 1 prospect who ended last season in Triple-A and has impressed this spring with his power. But the Orioles are hoping whoever it is is not the last, and finding opportunities for someone like Morfe to experience the spotlight is part of that plan.

Morfe, a 2023 signee out of Venezuela, has been throwing hard for some time, he said. But his first year in the Dominican Summer League showed him it takes more than high velocity to succeed. He got roughed up, pitching to a 7.01 ERA and walking 21 batters in 25 2/3 innings.

Morfe said it was mainly mental — he had to remind himself of his goals and how he would need to get there.

“I really started to think, ‘Well, what is it that I want to do in professional baseball?’” he said through translator Brandon Quinones. “After all of that, it’s just a matter of thinking to myself where I want to go and getting to work and putting in that hard work. Thankfully, because of that, that’s where I’m at right now with the Orioles organization, a lot of hard work in the offseason, to say the least.”

He fared much better in his second year, so much so that in August the Orioles promoted him straight from the DSL to Low-A Delmarva, making him the first prospect in the Elias era to skip the Florida Complex League. He made four starts for Delmarva, pitching to a 6.75 ERA while striking out 11 batters in 10 2/3 innings.

He’ll likely head back there to start the season, taking with him the lessons he learned on Saturday when he faced some of the best Yankees prospects. Morfe got roughed up — he didn’t even make it through the inning — but displayed that fastball that has the Orioles so giddy.

He opened the game with seven straight fastballs over 98 mph against Yankees No. 2 prospect George Lombard Jr., resulting in a strikeout. Of Morfe’s 32 pitches, 20 were fastballs. All were 97 mph or higher.

Morfe also threw a sweeper that hit in the low 80s and a changeup in the low 90s. The command needs work — but he knows this.

“I was a little nervous, but it was a proud moment for me and my family,” Morfe said. “It was great to be able to come out here and be able to compete. Just going to keep working hard, and hopefully [if] the opportunity comes around next year to pitch in the spring breakout game, I’ll have some better results.”

As for his size, the Orioles only expect him to continue building out. He already seems taller than his listed height — he lines up about the same height as Quinones, who says he is 5-10. And with more size, they believe, will come even more power and control, leading to another success story for them.