by Eric Garfield
Full Article with videos here.
Happy March O’s fans. For me, the new month starts at a sunny but brisk minor league camp. It’s 9:25 and the dog walkers are leaving as the young Orioles walk on for a day of practice. I finally have the list of guys here totally memorized and have a few questions about guys who are here and dressed but doing very little. I’ll try to get to that and a few other items and be back soon.
11:30am Update-
I’ve figured out the most difficult drill out here-catcher pop ups above the plate. I’ve got great video of them shooting two balls up in the air for two catchers and it’s very very tough to get to them. Today is also very windy. Cumberland seems to get to the spot best, but catching is an entirely different exercise and none could wrap them up consistently. I’m going to look at the cage now. It appears that the field work is done for today.
1:30-Update: I’m home and about to play with the dog but I have good video as the hitters came out for live BP after the cage so I’ll look through it soon and pick out some good shots to share. There were a couple pitchers who threw their 30 bullpen offerings as well as drills plus a chat with a couple coaches/staffers that fans would love to hear. I’ll be back in a bit to finalize everything but before I go there was another father and son showing up this morning. They love the O’s minors and read the site too! They asked me about Grayson, Hernaiz and DL Hall. I told them about Baumann, Gunnar and Janvrin. The future is starting to become more than just a talking point. I told them they’d be impressed with what they saw as far as skills on display but they had to leave to go to the O’s game in Clearwater.
6:00pm Update-
I went through the video from today and what I saw gives a better picture of my day so I’ll link them up soon.
Briefly, I saw the battery combo of Drew Rom and Jordan Cannon working very well together and there was lots of communication and encouraging. Cannon had a paper resting on home plate with a sequence and Rom had it memorized. The slider was better than the overall control. To close out the session, Rom lit up the LHB inside edge and Cannon was pumped.
Peek had a good session but I couldn’t get in position to catch it. I think he’s going to be a pleasant surprise. His delivery still seems so liquid and hinge-less.
The catcher’s pop-up drill, so ridiculously tough. One guy made it look easy.
After following the hitters into the cage I saw some guys working on all aspects of offense. Janvrin continues to impress me as he doesn’t have ideal swing mechanics today but has a good core and reaching or extending his swing doesn’t throw off his center. He stays balanced. Also, Stowers is a guy who takes the work out on to the field well. How he barrels and swings in the cage is a perfect facsimile to what he brings to the field. He gives off the air of being pretty baseball bright yet coachable. With his skills, smarts and frame I am building an impression of him as a potential fast riser. He gives me reason to think that just from watching him.
Tomorrow I’ll be there again but here’s some great videos I put on Twitter from today.
