Orioles pitching prospect Ryan Long had the opportunity of a lifetime when he pitched in the World Baseball Classic for Great Britain in March.
Because his mother’s side of the family is from England, Long was eligible to play for Great Britain. As such, he made some lasting memories.
“That was probably the best experience I’ve ever had. It was really special. It was both great to be able to pitch against that level of competition but also to be able to represent my heritage,” Long said on Glenn Clark Radio July 27. “It was great to be able to go out and play with that team.”
Long pitched against some high-level competition, including 1.2 innings against Team USA. Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout was among the stars he faced in that game.
“It was a pretty special at-bat,” Long said. “I was able to get him to strike out on a 3-2 count, so yeah, that was definitely the highlight of the game for me.”
Pitching in the WBC gave Long perspective on what pitching in a major league game would be like, and he proved to himself that he could succeed at that level. In mid-July, he got closer to reaching those goals when he was promoted to Double-A Bowie.
The 6-foot- 6, 240-pound right-hander has pitched in four games for his new team. In 15.2 innings, he has given up 17 hits, 12 runs, three home runs and eight walks and struck out 18 batters.
The 23-year-old began the season at High-A Aberdeen, where he pitched 60.2 innings and allowed 43 hits, 21 runs and 18 walks while striking out 71 batters, good for a 2.52 ERA. He appeared in 15 games, starting six of those games.
Long has been used as a starter and reliever during his pro career, with the latter proving to be an adjustment.
“I’ve always been a starter,” Long said. “My whole life, that’s kind of what I’m more familiar with, so I’d say that might be the easier one for me.”
Although Long views himself primarily as a starter, he does get opportunities in relief because of all the pitchers the Orioles want to stretch out. Long is unsure what the Orioles have planned for him long term, but he is happy he is gaining experience throwing as a starter and as a reliever.
“They have more than five guys who they want to get starter innings, so what they’ll do is they’ll throw, say, a second starter after the first starter, so when I’m getting relief outings, they’re planned,” Long said. “They’re usually supposed to be around four or five innings, so you’re still getting essentially a starter’s workload, and you can kind of prepare like a starter.”
The Orioles drafted Long in the 17th round of the 2021 MLB Draft. He reported to the Florida Complex League after being drafted, then pitched for Low-A Delmarva in 2022.
Long played his college ball at Pomona Pitzer College. He appeared in 18 games during his time there, starting 14 of those games. He finished his career with 92.1 innings pitched. He gave up 101 hits, 44 runs and 19 walks and posted a 3.61 ERA and 59 strikeouts.
Long has five different pitches in his arsenal — a fastball, slider, cutter, changeup and curveball. He said his two best pitches are his fastball and changeup, but he throws his cutter a lot as well.
“I have a four-seam fastball that actually changed after joining the Orioles. I threw kind of a two-seam fastball all throughout college and coming into the Orioles, but I was able to change the grip on it and get a lot more life on that pitch, which is great,” Long said.
He is currently working on his slider a lot. Long said that he works with the staff every day on the pitch to learn how to throw it harder and make it more consistent. Long has also been working on a new type of slider called the sweeper.
“It’s hard for me just because I naturally can throw that fastball and the changeup a little bit easier going toward my throwing arm side and the pitches going toward my glove side have always been harder for me,” Long said. “I’m definitely making progress on that, so it’s been really cool to work with all the coaches here and improve on that.”
For more from Long, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Kadalena Messiano