Orioles observations on Cole Irvin overcoming rough first inning, DL Hall taking next step in return from injury and more

SARASOTA, Fla. — Despite giving up two runs in the first inning Thursday, Cole Irvin was still satisfied with the way his opening frame went.

No, not the four hits he gave up to the first four batters he faced, but instead the way he got out of that inning and settled down after against the Toronto Blue Jays.

“It’s just part of the process,” Irvin said. “Those innings are good to get through and work through, and I still came out of that 20 pitches or less. I was able to get out of damage spots and just made good pitches.”

Irvin, the left-hander the Orioles acquired from the Oakland Athletics this offseason, gave up just two more hits and zero runs after the opening barrage. He ended his night allowing two runs in 4 1/3 innings while walking none and striking out three against a lineup filled mostly with minor leaguers. The 29-year-old threw 66 pitches — 47 for strikes — and was pleased to start the fifth inning while being on a 70-pitch limit.

“He threw the ball well, got a couple of ground balls that kind of went through there in that first inning,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “But I thought he really settled down nicely. The offspeed stuff worked well. It was nice to get him back out there for the fifth inning.”

Irvin said his outing, his third start of the spring, was his final one in which he can focus more on things other than purely how he gets batters out. In 9 1/3 spring innings, Irvin has allowed 10 hits and three runs with just one walk and six punchouts.

“These next couple starts leading up to season are full tilt, now it’s attacking lineups and getting ready for the season. I’m done kind of playing around,” he said. “This is kind of the last start I could actually do that.”

Irvin said he was working on the movement on his curveball and sinker and saw positive results. In 2022, Irvin allowed a .278 batting average against his sinker and a .504 slugging percentage versus his curveball — both ranking as the worst in those categories among his four main pitches.

Also in the Orioles’ 7-4 win, Nomar Mazara broke out of his slump with a two-run single and Austin Hays continued his hot spring with a 2-for-3 day and a two-run home run.

Hall sharp in two-inning simulated game

DL Hall took another crucial step Thursday toward his return to game action.

Hall pitched a two-inning simulated game on a back field before the Orioles’ contest against the Blue Jays. The 24-year-old left-hander was mostly sharp against the 11 batters he faced, throwing 42 pitches (30 strikes, 12 balls). While it was only a two-inning simulated game, he recorded more than six outs to get him to that pitch limit.

Hall, the Orioles’ No. 2 ranked pitching prospect behind Grayson Rodriguez, is recovering from right lumbar discomfort in his lower back that he experienced a few weeks before spring training began. He said in mid-February that the injury was “nothing too crazy,” and he’s spent the last few weeks ramping up with live bullpens.

Hyde said before Hall pitched that the lefty would “hopefully” be ready to pitch in an exhibition in a few days.

Against Orioles hitters Thursday, Hall flashed the stuff that has him ranked No. 75 on Baseball America’s prospect list. Velocity measurements weren’t shown for the media, but he recorded four strikeouts — two against both Mark Kolozsvary and Heston Kjerstad.

Hall was sharper in his second inning, starting the frame with 11 straight strikes. In his minor league career, Hall has averaged 5.1 walks per nine innings. Outfielder Daz Cameron was the only hitter to have success off Hall, as the former Houston Astros first-round draft pick hit a high fly ball off the wall and then roped a liner to right-center field.

Hyde said two weeks ago that Hall wouldn’t progress enough to be a candidate for the starting rotation out of camp. The team’s options for Hall, who pitched 13 2/3 innings in the majors late last year between one start and 10 relief appearances, are to either put him in the bullpen or send him down to Triple-A to build up as a starter.

Hyde not ready to name opening day starter

The Orioles know what pitcher they’re facing on opening day, but Hyde is remaining tight-lipped on who the Boston Red Sox will be seeing.

Hyde said he’s “not quite ready” to say who the Orioles will hand the ball to on March 30 at Fenway Park, adding the announcement would come “pretty soon.”

“I think it’s a little bit different with every team,” Hyde said when asked for his criteria for selecting a Game 1 starter. “You want it to guys with experience, I don’t know, guys that you feel like can handle it well and guys that have kind of earned it. It’s a big thing for these guys. It’s always a pleasure with those, it’s a fun day to tell a guy he’s going to start opening day.

“You try to line up your rotation from a competitive standpoint, and then you name a guy an opening day starter that you feel like has earned that honor.”

Veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson could be seen as a frontrunner to headline the rotation. His 1,504 career innings are more than Irvin, Rodriguez, Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish combined, and the team gave Gibson a one-year, $10 million contract this offseason to make him the highest-priced free agent signing since the rebuild began.

Gibson, 35, is also the only pitcher on the roster to start opening day, doing so in 2021 for the Texas Rangers. He allowed five earned runs and recorded just one out in that outing. Last season with the Philadelphia Phillies, Gibson posted a 5.05 ERA with 144 strikeouts in 167 2/3 innings.

Baumann to bullpen

In February, Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said 12 pitchers would vie for the team’s five rotation spots. Included in that lengthy list of names was Mike Baumann, but that’s no longer the case.

Baumann, who has been a starter and reliever during his time with the Orioles, pitched one inning in relief Thursday instead of the longer outings he had previously. Hyde said after the game the Orioles are now looking at Baumann as a reliever instead of a starter, perhaps to consider him for a role in the big league bullpen. Baumann retired the side in order in the eighth.

“Right now, we’re going to take a look and see in more of a short relief role,” Hyde said after the game. “That was impressive tonight. High-90s fastball with a good slider, cutter. So right now we’re taking a look at a shorter spurt for him.”

Baumann, the Orioles’ co-minor league pitcher of the year in 2019 with Rodriguez, began last season in the Orioles’ bullpen before being sent down to Triple-A Norfolk, where he was converted back into a starter. In September, he was recalled and started four games, allowing three or fewer earned runs in three of them.

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