Ward wants leadership role in Orioles' clubhouse

Taylor Ward is about three weeks away from celebrating his 32^nd birthday and four months from the start of his ninth major league season. He’s changing his address from Anaheim to Baltimore but keeping the responsibilities that come with age and experience.

None of the Orioles’ hitters bring as much of it except for outfielder Tyler O’Neill, who’s only 30 but also made his debut in 2018. Ward was chosen 10 picks ahead of Ryan Mountcastle in the first round of the 2015 draft, but the homegrown first baseman is entering his seventh season and is 28.

Reliever Keegan Akin, awaiting his 31^st birthday on April 1 and with six major league seasons, inherited a leadership role in the bullpen after the deadline trades.

Ward will tackle the job with the same enthusiasm that he brings as a middle-of-the-order bat and left fielder.

“Yeah, absolutely,” he said yesterday during his video call with the media. “Even with the Angels having a young core that they have right now, too. Yeah, anything that they need, any questions that they have, I’m absolutely available to tell them how I do things and just try to educate them the best I can to just speed up their development.

“Of course, anything that they have, I’m all ears and ready to help.”

Ward will get to know his teammates in spring training. He’s friends with pitcher Zach Eflin dating back to their high school days at Paul J. Hagerty in Oviedo, Fla., but the right-hander is a free agent. Mountcastle attended the same high school but was a few years behind Ward, who graduated from Shadow Hills after his family moved to Southern California.

“We’re familiar with each other,” Ward said of Mountcastle, “so I’m looking forward to playing next to him.”

Ward said he asked Eflin “a bunch of questions and things like that.”

“I’m looking forward to getting down to spring training and starting relationships with the guys and getting to know them.”

Now that Ward has gotten used to the idea of playing for a different team after 11 years in the Angels’ organization, he needs to find housing for his family in Sarasota and Baltimore.

“And going out and winning some games,” he said.

“Nothing is going to change once I step into the building. Just going to work my hardest, continue to work my hardest, do my routine and keep things simple.”

Also staying the same will be Ward’s approach at the plate, though he’s hoping to improve on a .228 average and cut down on a strikeout total that reached 175 this year in 663 plate appearances.

The Orioles preach patience and waiting for pitches in the hot zone, and Ward saw an average of 4.21 per plate appearance this year that ranked among the leaders in the majors.

“Yeah, I think seeing the most pitches, gathering the most information during your at-bat is the best thing you can do,” he said. “If you’re solid with your game plan and going up there 0-0 and being ready to hit, that just depends on the pitcher. That wasn’t by design. I’m very selective, obviously, and I’m looking for pitches in the heart of the plate. I think that gives me the best chance to have the most success.

“Again, like I’ve said, just keeping things simple and getting it in the middle however I can funnel it to the middle with being able to hit multiple pitches. I just think that’s just something I’ve done over my career. Who knows, this year could be different. I think there’s no telling what that could be at the end of the year. Just going up there with a plan, and if I need to gather information early, then that’s what I’ll do.”

* Baseball America chose a breakout prospect for each team and assigned right-hander Michael Forret to the Orioles.

Forret, 21, was drafted in the 14^th round in 2023 out of State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota and given a $450,000 signing bonus. He registered a combined 1.58 ERA and 0.824 WHIP in 19 games with High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Chesapeake. He struck out 91 batters in 74 innings and allowed only three home runs.

Two trips to the injured list limited Forret’s time on the mound. He missed a month while pitching for Aberdeen and all of  September with Chesapeake due to back injuries.

MLB Pipeline ranks Forret as the Orioles’ No. 11 prospect.