SARASOTA, FLA. — Nolan Reimold flashes his trademark half-grin and delivers a classic one-liner: "Open me."
Some context is needed, but it's vintage Reimold, who has seen more ups and downs than most 31-year-old ballplayers.
After all those years of being the next great Orioles outfielder who simply couldn't stay healthy, Reimold is back with his original club on a minor league deal. He's far removed from the hype of 2009, when he emerged as a Rookie of the Year candidate, or even from the concerns over the past few years about whether his surgically fused neck will hold out.
This March, Reimold is just another player likely ticketed for Triple-A, but he's hoping to make a strong impression in case the big league club needs help at some point this season. He's not exactly the forgotten man, but he's no longer at the forefront of the Orioles' consciousness. He has a unique take on that.
"What's the best Christmas present? The one that you forget about and is left way under the tree. You are like 'Ohhh yeah,'" Reimold said. "A little bit later you are searching and you see it and everybody gets real excited.
"Right now, I'm stuck under the tree," Reimold grinned. "Open me. Open me."
Reimold is opening eyes again after what have basically been five lost seasons — four due to injury and last year, when he played with three different organizations. After going 2-for-2 with a hit by pitch Wednesday, he's batting .333 with a .459 on-base percentage through 17 games this spring. He has one homer and six RBIs, and he's running hard, playing good defense and staying healthy.
"This is Nolan before he got hurt, so far," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He's playing without caution. … Even physically the eyeball test is better. He is doing everything everybody else is doing and then some. You can see it on his face how good he feels."
The story of Reimold always has to include a mention — or several — about health. The 2005 second-round pick has been on the big league disabled list six times in his career. He had to be shut down in 2012 and 2013 to undergo vertebrae fusion surgeries.
"This guy has had issues for three years, and some of it life-altering issues. The heck with getting ready to play baseball, how about being able to pick up your kids?" Showalter said. "One description of Nolan [is] soft? It's just the opposite. Most people would never have continued to do what he is doing with the things he's had."
Reimold's days as a can't-miss-prospect are long gone. Now, it's a question of whether he can be a bounce-back candidate.
"He might be one of those guys, [ages] 28 to 32, look out. He could be this year's Steve Pearce," Showalter said. "I like what I see a lot."
Pearce, who blossomed last season at 31 after years of getting hurt at inopportune times, has played either with or against Reimold his entire career. He's seen what the 6-foot-4, 205-pound outfielder can do from afar and up close — and he knows what it's like to have to re-prove yourself after injuries.
"It's tough. He hasn't played [consistently] in a long time," Pearce said. "He doesn't have the luxury to sit around and wait any longer. He's got to figure it out. And I know he has that mentality. I know he can do it. He is good. He is freakishly athletic. He'll be fine."
Unless something changes drastically, Reimold is headed back to Triple-A Norfolk, where he hasn't played since 2011 (his injury stints in 2013 and 2014 were at Double-A Bowie). The Orioles have a crunch for their final roster spots even without considering Reimold.
"Yeah, I know on the surface [there's no spot]," Showalter said of Reimold, a career .251 hitter in the big leagues. "But he's done everything to make you think there was some reason why you took him two or three years [to the majors]. And he did good things."
After Reimold's injury rehabilitation assignment ended last year at Bowie, the Orioles decided to put him on waivers with the hopes of sending him back to the minors. But he was claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays in July. He batted .212 in 22 games with the Blue Jays, missed time with a calf strain and then was claimed off waivers by the Arizona Diamondbacks in August. He finished the year with five hits in 17 at-bats (.294 average) with Arizona and became a free agent after season's end.
When Reimold left for Toronto, it was widely believed he needed a fresh start elsewhere. What he learned, though, was that other clubs weren't as invested in his future as his original team was. It's a pretty typical awakening for players who previously had been in just one organization.
"I still felt wanted here," said Reimold, who has maintained a close relationship with club vice president Brady Anderson. "I went to two other organizations. I got a taste of how short of a leash or how quick [they'll move on] or how much they don't care, to be honest. So I felt like coming back here, they care a lot more than any other organization would about what happens to me and where my career is going."
It's hard to walk away from his history and the relationships he forged, Reimold said.
"I also feel like they still have a high opinion of me as far as playing and that I can still get out there and do it. And they are the most familiar with what happened and my recovery and my ability to get back on the field this year," he said. "There are just a lot of things that went into it and when you add them up it was a pretty easy decision for me."
In the past, Reimold said the idea of heading back to the minors no matter how well he did in spring would be frustrating. Now, he's focused only on being on the field.
"It's been so long, I'm just ready to play," he said. "Obviously, I want to make the team and be in the big leagues, but I need to get my at-bats and play every day. And, wherever I am at, the end game is to get back to Baltimore. If I do my part, hopefully I'll get another opportunity."
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