Weekend Bird Droppings: The prospects are headed to Orioles camp

Good morning, Birdland!

The Orioles 60-man roster is inching closer to actually having 60 players on it, and we are beginning to see some of the young players join the fold.

Ryan Mountcastle joined the squad earlier this week and has taken part in a few exhibition games. Where he begins the regular season has not been determined, but odds are that he will not be a big leaguer just yet, although that could come later in the summer.

Keegan Akin, Michael Baumann, Isaac Mattson, Cedric Mullins, Taylor Davis and 2019 top pick Adley Rutschman were all added to the 60-man on Friday. However, they won’t be in Baltimore for long. All of them will be headed to the secondary site whenever it is ready.

Also expected to join them is lefty D.L. Hall, who posted on social media recently that he was in town. However, the team is apparently holding off on officially adding him until they can ensure they have all of their possible major league candidates in the fold. As good as Hall could be one day, he isn’t going to play in the bigs this year.

Links

Orioles announce John Means as Opening Day 2020 starter - Camden Chat
John Means is the best pitcher on the Orioles staff, and he gets to pitch in the first Opening Day of his career. While it may lack the pageantry normally associated with such things it is still an honor.

Cobb sharp in debut before pitch limit; Martin, Tate banged up - School of Roch
It would be cool if Alex Cobb could be serviceable this season. His first two seasons in Baltimore have been rough. If he can pull things together he may become the team’s best trade piece over the winter as he will be entering a contract year in 2021.

Long getting Oriole hitters ready for season - Baltimore Baseball
It’s typical for pitchers to be ahead of hitters in spring training. Will that remain true in this abbreviated campaign?

Baseball is back...maybe (Ep. 48) - The Warehouse Podcast
I’m not saying you should listen to this podcast, but maybe you could put it on in the background while you do chores around the house. Maybe you hear it, maybe you don’t. Still counts as a download.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday this weekend? Happy birthday!

• UMBC alum Zach Clark is 37 today. The right-hander spent parts of nine seasons in the Orioles organization, but pitched in just a single game, which came during the 2013 season.
• The late Jack Harshman (d. 2013) was born on this day in 1927. He played in two seasons with the O’s, 1958-59. His 1958 was the highlight of his career. Over 34 games he tossed 236.1 innings, accumulated a 2.89 ERA and finished 24th in MVP voting.

This day in history

1968 - Earl Weaver manages his first game with the Baltimore Orioles. They beat the Washington Senators 2-0 and go on to win 11 of his first 15 at the reins.

1987 - O’s manager Cal Ripken Sr. becomes the first person to manage two sons in the major leagues as 22-year-old Billy Ripken joins his brother Cal Jr. in the O’s starting lineup in a 2-1 loss to the Twins.