SARASOTA, Fla. — Brandon Hyde has never wavered on his stance about Jorge Mateo’s value.
As a defensive shortstop, base runner and even as a hitter against left-handed pitchers, the Orioles’ skipper has backed Mateo, who struggled at the plate for much of last season, at every turn.
But with Jordan Westburg establishing himself as a big leaguer last year and top prospect Jackson Holliday banging on the door, Mateo’s spot on the roster isn’t as secure as it was a year ago. So, instead of having him just play shortstop — a position he plays at a high level — the Orioles will be moving around Mateo this spring. He’ll get time in center field, a spot he’s played in the past, including for a brief time last year, and second base, Hyde said.
“I’m ready for it,” Mateo said.
Hyde said while the vast majority of Mateo’s experience has come at shortstop, he believes the 28-year-old can be an untraditional utility player for the Orioles.
“He just adds so much versatility to us because he can play so many other positions and he is so athletic,” Hyde said. “I’m definitely going to expose him to some other spots, as well, whether it’s outfield, he’ll obviously stay at shortstop, as well, maybe move to second base a little bit. We just kind of want to keep our options open with him.”
Mateo said he worked on his center field defense five days a week this offseason, noting he also played center and left field during winter ball in the Dominican Republic. When he was with the San Diego Padres, Mateo served as a defensive replacement in the outfield. He started two games in center field last year, including in August against the Houston Astros when he made a leaping catch at the wall — earning a standing ovation from the Camden Yards crowd — and then failed to make one late in the game in a loss.
“He’s done it in the big leagues before and that’s really helpful,” Hyde said of Mateo’s outfield defense. “I remember when he first came off waivers [in 2021], I think I played him at third base a couple games. [He] played second base in winter ball this last year. So he’s done a little bit of everything.”
Mateo was one of the American League’s best hitters last April with a 1.062 OPS and six homers. But he hit just .179 over the season’s final five months despite mostly playing versus left-handed starting pitchers, failing to hit a single homer over the fence. He ended the season with a .607 OPS.
Despite his struggles in 2023 and Holliday’s impending arrival, Mateo didn’t question where he’d be playing in 2024. He was one of the first players the team signed to avoid arbitration, and it appears the club has plans for him to attempt to be valuable in more ways this season.
“I never thought that I wouldn’t be back with the team,” Mateo said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “I just tried to stay positive with what I could control.”
Monday it was Ryan Mountcastle. Tuesday was Cedric Mullins’ turn.
After Mountcastle smacked a long ball off the center field scoreboard during Monday’s live batting practice at Ed Smith Stadium, Mullins one-upped him Tuesday. The Orioles center fielder deposited a pitch from prospect Justin Armbruester off the top-left corner of the scoreboard.
There isn’t Statcast tracking data during relaxed live batting practices, but it appeared the long ball was en route to traveling upward of 450 feet.
Mullins, a new dad to a 2-month-old girl, is coming off an up-and-down 2023, during which he was the club’s best player through two months and then spent the rest of the season either injured or hampered from the ailments. His big fly Tuesday was, he hopes, the first of many.
“I did see where it hit off of,” Mullins said. “I look back and was like, ‘That dad strength is kicking in a little bit.’”
Armbruester pitched three innings, showing well in his first — striking out James McCann — before giving up hard hits to McCann, Mullins and Anthony Santander in his second. Mateo singled off Armbruester, earning an “atta boy Jorgie” from Hyde watching in the stands. Cole Irvin was the first pitcher to take the mound, giving up a double to Santander and a single to Mullins in the first before striking out Austin Hays in his second frame.
Seth Johnson, an intriguing pitching prospect in the Orioles’ minor league system, was hit hard, allowing a double to top prospect Jackson Holliday off the center field wall and a single to Heston Kjerstad. Johnson, who has pitched just three innings above High-A in his career, is not a candidate for the opening day roster despite being on the club’s 40-man roster. He missed almost all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John elbow reconstruction — a procedure he underwent just a few days after the Orioles acquired him in the Trey Mancini trade.
Kaleb Ort has seen firsthand the rise of the Orioles.
Baltimore entered 2022 expected to be one of the AL’s worst teams and ended it in a wild-card hunt. In 2023, the Orioles once again exceeded expectations and won 101 games and an AL East crown.
Ort pitched against those Orioles teams as a member of the Boston Red Sox’s bullpen, and he’s looking forward to not having to in 2024.
“I’m glad to be on this side of the fence now,” said Ort, who arrived in Sarasota on Tuesday after joining the organization Monday when the Orioles acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies for cash considerations.
“Everybody knows how good of a team it is,” he added. “The team camaraderie is a big family it seems like in here already. I’m definitely excited for it.”
Ort, like several of the recent moves Baltimore has made to fill out the last few spots of its 40-man roster, has gone through an odyssey this offseason. He’s been designated for assignment four times, and the Orioles are his fourth team since the regular season ended. He’s bounced from Seattle to Miami to Philadelphia and now Baltimore. The 32-year-old has a career 6.27 ERA in 51 2/3 innings.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” Ort said.
