The Baltimore Orioles finished with a 16-13 record in the Grapefruit League this spring in Florida. A lot was learned about the roster heading into the new season, as current and former players believe this team has a chance to compete now.
Former Orioles Mike Bordick and Mike Devereaux made appearances as guest instructors at Orioles camp. They shared their thoughts on what they saw from the team during their time at spring training.
“Everybody’s kind of on the same page about a genuine excitement to really turn things around and get back in the winning track,” Bordick said on Glenn Clark Radio March 6.
“I do see a lot of confidence,” Devereaux said on Facebook Live with Stan “The Fan” Charles and Ross Grimsley March 6. “One good thing is that I think as an organization they’re looking at winning now as opposed to rebuilding.”
Bordick played shortstop for the Orioles from 1997-2002, with a shortened stint in 2000 because of a midseason trade to the New York Mets. He re-signed with the Orioles as a free agent the following offseason. Bordick sits in the Orioles Hall of Fame after collecting 674 hits, 61 home runs and 299 RBIs during his time in Baltimore.
Bordick was in camp from Feb. 24 to March 2 and worked with the infielders.
Bordick sees a lot of versatility within the Orioles’ current infield. Some names that he mentioned were top prospect Gunnar Henderson, Gold Glove third baseman Ramón Urías, and in Bordick’s words, “hands down the best shortstop in the game right now” in Jorge Mateo.
The Orioles have a good problem in that they want to find ways to stay flexible with their roster in order to maximize talent. Mateo even saw time in center field during spring training. Urías took a lot of reps at third base and second base, and Henderson took plenty of reps at shortstop and third base.
Bordick believes Henderson will find a home on the left side of the infield.
“I just think third base looks like his position,” Bordick said. “I think he could be in the line of Manny Machado over there. I mean, Brooks Robinson is a pretty high standard to meet, but I think he could potentially fall in with the greats.”
Devereaux played center field for the Orioles from 1989-1994, then again in 1996. He is also a member of the Orioles Hall of Fame, accumulating 797 hits, 94 home runs and 403 RBIs with the team.
Devereaux was at camp from Feb. 21-27, and he mainly worked with the outfielders. He praised how receptive they were to what he had to say despite Devereaux having more of an “old school” approach to the game that does not focus as heavily on analytics.
“It’s funny because when I worked with the minor leaguers, like the A-ball guys, they were pretty much like, ‘Oh, you’re an old school dude. It’s not like that right now,'” Devereaux said. “But these guys did ask questions about how I did certain things and it was fun to work with them. … I gave them what I knew and how I played the game and how I went about the game. And I was actually pretty impressed with the way they went about their business.”
Even some of the coaches at spring training were willing to learn from Devereaux.
“Some of the coaches [were] there that hadn’t played the game, they were asking me about how I did things,” Devereaux said. “Obviously this game is all about learning, and you never know everything. And so, they’re in my mind and I was also in their mind. … It was fun. It was all total respect.”
An important aspect that both Bordick and Devereaux got to witness firsthand at camp was how players adapted to some of the rules changes in baseball — most notably, the pitch clock. They both took the hitters’ viewpoint on the new pitch clock, stating that the pitchers have an advantage despite having to speed up.
Pitchers have 15 seconds to deliver a pitch with the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on base. Hitters must be ready to hit with eight seconds left on the pitch clock.
“I think there are going to be pitch strategies around the clock to offset a hitter’s rhythm and timing and I think hitters are at a completely unfair advantage with this clock,” Bordick said. “They can be standing in the box for eight seconds, and then they’ve got show that they’re ready to hit? That just isn’t going to work.”
Devereaux agreed that pitchers have the upper hand.
“I think these pitchers can work this pretty much to their advantage,” Devereaux said. “… And the hitters actually have to have some type of plan that they get to a routine of doing also. And it’s going to be part of scouting also in what pitchers do and just how they do things and how that comes to the reports.”
For more from Bordick, listen to the full interview here:
For more from Devereaux, watch the full interview here.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox