Orioles news: Alonso continues to show veteran leadership

Good Morning Birdland,

The Orioles did play a game on Tuesday, but there are no highlights to share. The game, an exhibition against the Netherlands WBC team, was not broadcast anywhere. As far as I can tell, not even that awkward single camera angle from behind home plate—a trademark of spring games not shown on TV—was available.

All we can go on are first-person accounts and the box score. In that regard, it was not a good day for the Orioles.

Trevor Rogers started. He lasted 2.1 innings while giving up six runs on six hits, a walk, four strikeouts, and two home runs. Despite the ugly line, Rogers was encouraged by the outing, telling the media postgame that he thought he “got some good work out there.” It’s a process.

The Orioles had a rough game in the field. They made four errors, one each by Jeremiah Jackson, Bryan Ramos, Samuel Basallo, and Cobb Hightower. That sloppiness prompted Pete Alonso to call for an infield huddle in the second inning. The veteran slugger urged his teammates to “clean up” and play with more energy. The moment was praised by Rogers and manager Craig Albernaz.

Alonso had himself a fine afternoon. He went 2-for-2 with a two-run homer, just the latest impressive showing in what has been an impact spring for the newcomer.

Other performances of note included a solo homer for Jackson, two RBI for José Barrero, four shutout innings for Dean Kremer, and a two-strikeout inning for Grant Wolfram.

Team USA got its WBC preparations underway as well. They played a game against the Giants in Scottsdale, Arizona, and boy was it a walloping. Team USA prevailed 15-1, compiling 19 hits, eight walks, and 10 strikeouts. Alex Bregman and Roman Anthony both homered.

Gunnar Henderson also got into the game. Even though he did not start, the O’s star still managed to take four trips to the plate. He went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, two runs scored, and two RBI.

The Orioles will play the Astros in Grapefruit League play today at 1 pm ET. Team USA will take on the Rockies at 3:10 pm ET.

Links

At Orioles camp during a game that didn’t matter, accountability took center stage | The Baltimore Banner
Here’s more on Alonso’s decision to gather the infielders in the midst of a defensive fiasco. Does this stuff matter? Who knows. Alonso is definitely developing a culture of accountability and stepping into a veteran leadership void that we know existed post-trade deadline for this team last year.

Rogers allows 6 runs in Orioles’ 8-5 loss to Team Netherlands; Albernaz: ‘Sloppy game’ | Baltimore Baseball
Yeah, these aren’t the sorts of numbers you want to see from the pitcher that could potentially be your team’s Opening Day starter. But if we are going to disregard really good numbers, we can probably discount the really bad ones too. Or at least, that’s what I’m gonna tell myself.

Spring training leftovers for breakfast | Roch Kubatko
Quotes from all over the organization in this one. It sounds like Albernaz will be trotting out some different names at shortstop while Henderson is with Team USA. The fact that Jackson Holliday is also hurt does make this a bit tricky. They need to enter the season with a backup at the position, and right now it is not exactly clear who that would be.

For the homeland: These O’s are ready to rep their country in the Classic | MLB.com
Yet another roundup of where you can see some Orioles during the World Baseball Classic. Some of them are prospects or fringier talents, so you may not immediately recognize them.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Richard Rodríguez is 36 years old. He pitched in five games for the 2017 Orioles.
• Nerio Rodríguez is 55 today. From 1996-98, he made 20 total appearances for the O’s, mostly as a relief option.
• Jack Fisher celebrates his 87th birthday. The right-handed pitcher had a four-year stint in Baltimore from 1959 through ‘62. Over 634.1 total innings with the Orioles he had a 3.92 ERA and 1.8 bWAR.
• The late Bob Johnson (b. 1936, d. 2019) was born on this day. He spent five seasons on the Orioles infield from 1963-67. During those five years he played all four infield positions, accumulated 3.1 bWAR, and an 87 OPS+.

This day in O’s history

Not much has happened in Orioles history on this date, according to Baseball Reference. So here are a few happenings from beyond Birdland:

1913 – The United States Department of Labor is formed.

1917 – Jeanette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives

1918 – A case of influenza is recorded at Camp Fusion, Kansas, considered the beginning of the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic.

1933 – Frances Perkins becomes the first female member of the United States Cabinet. She is confirmed as Secretary of Labor and sworn in the same day.

1955 – An order to protect the endangered Saimaa ringed seal is legalized.

1957 – The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.

1966 – In an interview with the London Evening Standard, John Lennon declares that The Beatles are “more popular than Jesus now.”

2020 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.