masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgSARASOTA, Fla. – He shook a lot of hands and exchanged a few hugs. He wasn’t doing that because he’s running for office. He was just renewing friendships.
Orioles lefty Zach Britton was a big leaguer only in name yesterday when he pitched in a Single-A game and threw two pretty dominant scoreless innings against some Minnesota Twins youngsters.
After he pitched, Britton was in no hurry to get back to Ed Smith Stadium. He spent quite a while talking with several minor league staff members and…

SARASOTA, Fla. – He shook a lot of hands and exchanged a few hugs. He wasn’t doing that because he’s running for office. He was just renewing friendships.

Orioles lefty Zach Britton was a big leaguer only in name yesterday when he pitched in a Single-A game and threw two pretty dominant scoreless innings against some Minnesota Twins youngsters.

After he pitched, Britton was in no hurry to get back to Ed Smith Stadium. He spent quite a while talking with several minor league staff members and coaches. If a player had a question, he had time to answer it. When I asked him about that after his outing he said, “We’re all Orioles.”

Pretty classy stuff.

Zach Britton throwing gray.png“It’s awesome,” Britton said of being at the Buck O’Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park. “I know just about everybody here. A lot of these guys helped me get to where I am. I still keep in contact with these guys and I want them to know I really appreciate what they’re doing. Nothing has changed about me since they had me here when I was a little kid. Good to see so many familiar faces.

“I remember how important it was when I saw a big league guy come down (to the minors) and talk to me just like a normal guy. I try to keep that in mind when I come down here.

“I’m not bigger or better than any of these kids down here. We’re all baseball players and we’re all Orioles. I respect everybody here. These guys have been here since I was 18 years old. They really took me under their wing and allowed me to get to the big leagues.”

Yep. Classy.

* Meanwhile, Orioles director of player development Brian Graham provided some updates and other information Wednesday, which was the first day of minor league spring training games.

The O’s 19-year-old infield prospect Jomar Reyes has lost weight. Plenty of players say they are in the best shape of their lives. Reyes can say it and mean it, down from about 260 to 235 pounds.

“Jomar looks great,” Graham said. “He is working really hard. There is definitely a much more mature player on the field right now. I think he is going to make big strides this year. I look forward to exciting things from Jomar.

“It was a progressive weight loss. And it was through healthy eating habits as well as a really good workout by our Latin America staff in the Dominican Republic. They did a really good job with him. We saw a commitment from a young kid to transform your body to where he is right now.”

Now the Carolina League is calling for Reyes, who hit .278/.334/.440 in 84 games for Single-A Delmarva in 2015.

“He did a great job last year and he’s going to get challenged at the next level this year. Certainly, being 19 years old in the Carolina League, it will be a challenge for him,” Graham said.

* It doesn’t seem like it took O’s pitching prospect Hunter Harvey long to shake off a poor outing in a big league spring training game.

Just three days after Harvey allowed five runs in 1/3 of an inning Sunday against the Minnesota Twins, he was back on a mound throwing a side session yesterday at Twin Lakes Park.

“Hunter is going to start. We don’t know where yet,” Graham said. “He threw a great bullpen today. It was really good. Let’s get him locked in, get him in a game and continue moving forward.

“He might have the most maturity of any young pitcher I’ve seen at his age. Tremendous maturity.”

* The O’s have two minor league injuries keeping players out of games right now. Infielder Logan Uxa has a sprained thumb and infielder Stephen Wilkerson has a tender shoulder. Graham described Wilkerson as day-to-day and Uxa’s injury as more week-to-week.