3 Up, 3 Down – 2022 Spring Training Edition

Welcome to ‘3 Up, 3 Down’, the weekly column breaking down the three hottest and three coldest Orioles players based on their performance during the previous week. It has proven to be an interesting exercise and good opportunity to highlight the highs and lows of a long baseball season. This week will highlight the performances during a rushed Spring Training following a resolution to the CBA as we get ready to kick off the season on Opening Day this Friday.

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3 Up

Ramon Urias – .385/.429/.808 (1.237), 8 R, 2 doubles, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 26 AB

Urias had a bit of breakout in the second half of last season once he was given everyday at bats following a demotion to AAA Norfolk. He started 2021 on the major league roster but posted .154 batting average and .496 OPS in April causing him to be shuttled up and down over the next couple months. Once Freddy Galvis was out of the picture he had another chance at everyday at bats and he made the most of it, ending the year with a .773 OPS, 115 wRC+, and 1.6 fWAR. He can stand at any infield position defensively but is below average up the middle. Third base is his best position but his versatility made me think he has a chance to be a utility player on the next good Orioles team. He came into spring training this year looking to be in the mix for a starting infield position in what was a crowd of not so exciting options. He locked his spot in quickly by showing off his carrying tool, his bat, hitting for average and power in the shortened exhibition schedule. Of course spring training stats are mostly meaningless in a normal year let alone an abbreviated, rushed version but its still always more encouraging when guys find success right away. Expect to see Urias starting on the left side of the infield in the opening day lineup.

Jorge Mateo – .381/.458/.857 (1.315), 4 R, 4 doubles, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 SB, 21 AB

Speaking of that bunch of infielders that doesn’t inspire much confidence when looking at the roster sheet… Mateo was claimed off of waivers late last season from the San Diego Padres as a former top 100 prospect in the Yankees system. He immediately brought some excitement to the team with his 99^th percentile sprint speed and performed fairly well over 107 at bats with the Orioles before ending the season on the injured list with lumbar inflammation, putting up a .748 OPS and five stolen bases. His position on the team was less sure than Ramon Urias’, anywhere from starting shortstop to last man on the bench that can provide speed on the basepaths. But he came out this spring on fire, showing off not only his speed but some power with four doubles and two homeruns. Most encouraging was that he walked twice and also only struck out twice over 24 plate appearances. This is a guy who had a 4.3% walk rate and 26.3% strikeout rate in 2021. New hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte are focusing on swing decisions throughout the organization so maybe he is connecting with their lessons or maybe its just a very short sample size. Defensively he can play all over the field but will mostly play at shortstop where he can make some spectacular plays but will botch the occasional routine one. He did narrowly avoid a trip to the IL to start the year after taking a hit by pitch off of his hand but has been cleared for opening day where he will most certainly be in the starting lineup.

Tyler Wells – 0-0, 1.59 ERA, 11.1 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 14 K, 1.15 WHIP

When Orioles manager Brandon Hyde first mentioned that he was going to stretch out both Tyler Wells and Jorge Lopez during spring training to give himself more options I was skeptical that it was anything other than helping to bridge the innings gap until the starting pitchers were able to be fully stretched out. I do think that was the case for Lopez who will start the season in the bullpen but it turns out Wells will start the season as the number three starter in the rotation. It makes sense, he was a starter throughout his minor league career (career 2.82 ERA over 255.2 innings) before getting injured and then subsequently drafted by the Orioles in the 2021 rule 5 draft. But he was so good pitching out of the bullpen last year that it made sense to me to leave him in that role, maybe even as the closer. My mind has since changed with how good he looked in spring. Not just the results which are very good but in his last spring outing he struck out seven Blue Jays over 3.2 innings with 37 of his 50 pitches going for strikes. It was the Blue Jays regular season lineup and included strikeouts of Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Teoscar Hernandez, and Matt Chapman. The great stuff Wells showed last year is clearly translating over longer outings so it will be interesting to see how he does. At least to start the year he will be on a pitch count and piggybacked by another multi-inning arm but the Orioles might’ve had another fine dish in their pitching depth covered all along and not even noticed.

3 Down

Cedric Mullins – .167/.242/.300 (.542), 3 R, 1 double, 1 HR,  2 RBI, 2 BB, 11 K, 1 SB, 30 AB

Mullins was of course the biggest story for the Orioles in 2021, on the field at least, as he ditched switch hitting and went on to start in centerfield for the American League in the all-star game en route to be the teams first 30-30 player. All season long it seemed like the discussion was “how sustainable is this?” and it was a fair question but at the time it was easier to just enjoy what was happening and worry about that the following season. Well here we are. If you take spring stats into any consideration then you might be starting to get a little worried but keep in mind that Mullins only batted .260 with a .749 OPS last spring over 50 at bats. I still think the improvement was real but at the same time 2021 will be a career year for him. I’m looking at him as a great fielding center fielder (albeit with a weak arm) that should put up between a .750 and .850 OPS which is still a great player to have on the field every day. This season will go a long way towards determining what the Orioles will decide to do with him in the long term with a wave of outfield prospects coming up the system led by 2021 first round pick Colton Cowser. In the short term he is a clubhouse leader that should be the starting center fielder for at least the next two seasons.

Rougned Odor –.130/.167/.174 (.341), 1 double, 1 RBI, 23 AB

One of the few signings the Orioles made over the offseason was a confusing one. The first thing the O’s did to prepare for 2022 was sign Odor for the league minimum after he was released by the Yankees to clear up space on their 40 man roster in November. It was a curious move considering he has struggled mightily of late between Texas and New York and really hasn’t been good since 2016. He batted .202 with a .665 OPS last year with the Yankees splitting time between second and third base. It was and is a position of need for the Orioles but Odor has already come out and said he wasn’t comfortable playing third so now you have admittedly a plus defender (95^th percentile in outs above average according to Baseball Savant) that doesn’t give you any versatility and is basically endgame Chris Davis with the bat. He still has power from the left side but has only ever put up an on base percentage starting with the number three twice in his career, the last time being in 2018. His cumulative batting average since the start of the 2017 season is .213. He looked terrible all spring and only hit one extra base hit, a double. I was honestly surprised he made the team but he is at least an easy option to DFA if and when a better option comes along.

Dean Kremer – 0-2, 8.00 ERA, 9 IP, 15 H, 3 BB, 11 K, 2.00 WHIP

Kremer had a nightmare 2021 season. After leading the minor leagues in strikeouts in 2019 and giving the Orioles a glimpse of potential at the end of the 2020 campaign it was assumed he would be locked in to a rotation spot last year. That didn’t last long as he got completely battered around to the tune of a 7.55 ERA and 1.64 WHIP over 53.2 innings. Things didn’t much better after he was demoted to AAA Norfolk. Barely salvaged by a strong finish that happened to coincide with pitching to Adley Rutschman, he had a 4.91 ERA and 1.30 WHIP with the Tides over 62.1 innings. It seemed like mostly a mental issue more than a lack of stuff for Kremer as much as we could tell from the outside so there was some hope for a rebound coming into 2022. And if you watched him pitch this spring you could see some improvements, not that you can tell from his stat line. He only walked three batters over his nine innings and he was getting swings and misses. The problem was he was leaning too much on his cutter again and more importantly leaving the ball out over the middle of the plate. I don’t care how good your stuff is major league hitters are going to take advantage of that. But despite continuing to struggle he has been included on the opening day roster and is potentially in line to be a tandem option with the previously mentioned Tyler Wells. Time is running out for him to make the most out of a wide open opportunity on the Orioles pitching staff.