Could Kolten Wong actually make the team? Hopefully he’s just meant as depth insurance
Hello, friends.
We’re now less than a month away from Opening Day, unless it rains and they postpone on March 28 and then it would turn out that we are exactly a month away. Ignoring that possibility, there are 28 days to go. On the current roster, that’s a number that belongs to Kyle Stowers, and it has also been used by guys like Steve Pearce, Randy Myers, and Jim Dwyer.
For a second straight day, the Orioles had news involving a minor league signing of a veteran who’s now invited to camp. Tuesday night saw a report about longtime Atlanta pitcher Julio Teherán signing with the team. How long has Teherán, 33, been around? The Orioles had him on a list of players they wanted from Atlanta in a possible Adam Jones trade 13 years ago! That signing was confirmed yesterday.
Also yesterday, the Orioles added veteran infielder Kolten Wong on a similar minor league contract. Wong, a 33-year-old Hawaii native, has batted .256/.330/.390 over an 11-year big league career but is coming off an utterly horrible .519 OPS in 87 games last season. The lefty batter doesn’t bring any kind of defensive versatility because he’s only played a grand total of 117 innings of defense at positions other than second base in that long career.
That makes it tough to project Wong onto the current roster. If he played more infield spots, it would seem more likely that he could nudge out Ramón Urías or Jorge Mateo for a bench role. There were some reactions yesterday as if this Wong signing means the Orioles are planning to start Jackson Holliday in the minors rather than on the MLB roster.
I just don’t see that, so I’m not going to spend time worrying about it. Wong is depth, because if there is an early or even still in spring training injury to an infielder, the O’s could probably use the veteran insurance. This is just the infield version of that Teherán signing. Although the Orioles might not even get much insurance out of them, because each of these guys can opt out at the end of spring training if they don’t make the team.
The Orioles put a whooping on the Twins in Grapefruit League action on Wednesday, a 12-3 win that saw all of Cedric Mullins, Colton Cowser, and Urías with multiple hits. Of interest to probably no one except for me, the Twins had former Orioles farmhand Joe “The Gunk” Gunkel pitch the final two innings. The Gunk is now 32. I’m rooting for him to finally make it into an MLB game. Check out the full box score here. The O’s are now 5-1 through the first six spring contests.
The Orioles play another Grapefruit League game against the Pirates starting at 1:05 this afternoon. The game will not be televised anywhere. If you were hoping to get another look at Corbin Burnes, who’s scheduled to start today, too bad. Also too bad if you wanted to get to see a top prospect battle, as Holliday is likely to face Pittsburgh’s 1-1 choice from last year, Paul Skenes. There will be a streaming only Pirates radio broadcast of the game.
Around the blogO’sphere
Dean Kremer returns with a renewed focus, goal of 200 innings (The Baltimore Banner)
If Dean Kremer even tops 180 innings, I think that would probably be a sign that things have gone OK with the Orioles starting rotation.
Hard-throwing Grayson Rodriguez brings new two-seamer to spring training (The Athletic)
Grayson Rodriguez having a good full season is also going to be a big part of that, of course. Will his new pitch make a difference when the results actually count?
Quick hits on injury recovery and pitching notes (School of Roch)
Brandon Hyde said we’ll be seeing Gunnar Henderson in a game “pretty soon,” which is what I want to hear! Prospect Connor Norby is on the way back as well.
As Norby rises through O’s ranks, his brother carries on ECU legacy (Orioles.com)
The Orioles are unlikely to be bad enough this year to be able to draft Ethan Holliday next year, but maybe they’ll be able to have their eye on Ethan Norby two years from now. The younger Norby is a pitcher.
How the Orioles bullpen could line up on Opening Day (Steve Melewski)
The last spot or two in the bullpen could come down to who is out of minor league options and who isn’t, though I hope they just chuck out-of-options guys they don’t think are their best options.
Why Justin Armbruester could become Mike Elias’ first homegrown pitcher to reach the majors (The Baltimore Banner)
Armbruester is a great name for a pitcher. The 2021 12th round pick has gotten solid results all the way up the minor league ladder, although the walk rate jumping at Triple-A last year caused him some problems that spilled into his ERA column.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
There are only 16 major league players who’ve ever been born on this day. One of them is a former Oriole. Happy 32nd to 2017 pitcher Stefan Crichton.
Is today your birthday? Hey, you get an actual birthday this year. Happy birthday! Do you usually celebrate the day before or the day after? Here are some of your fellow Leap Day birthday buddies: Guillaume Tell composer Gioachino Rossini (1792), big band jazz man Jimmy Dorsey (1904), and rapper Ja Rule (1976).
On this day in history…
In 1712, the date in Sweden was February 30. The country had been using its own calendar that was one day ahead of the Julian calendar, so to get in line with the Julian they just decided to add an extra day after the leap day they already had the day before, and then say it’s March 1 tomorrow. The still-used Gregorian calendar wasn’t adopted in the country for another 41 years.
In 1940, Hattie McDaniel received an Academy Award for her performance as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. This was the first Oscar won by an African American.
In 1980, Hartford Whalers player Gordie Howe scored the 800th goal of his career, becoming the first player to ever reach that milestone. Howe’s mark was later beaten by Wayne Gretzky (894 career goals) and Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin (838 goals and counting).
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on February 29. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!