Orioles pitching picture more cloudy after caravan (and other notes)

Players are heading down to Sarasota ahead of the designated report dates for spring training, and not just the five hitting prospects attending the development camp that began yesterday. Gunnar Henderson’s flight landed two days ago. The five Orioles participating in the World Baseball Classic – outfielders Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander, pitchers Dean Kremer and Dillon Tate, and infielder Ramón Urías – will arrive early so they can leave camp early.

Rather than getting us closer to identifying the 26-man roster for opening day, it feels like the Birdland Caravan has created more confusion over its composition.

DL Hall may not fit in the mock bullpens, with executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias suggesting that the left-hander could be sent down if unable to make the rotation in spring training.

“That part hasn’t been decided,” Elias said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

We knew that Hall would arrive in camp as a starter and be stretched out, that the Orioles would keep developing him to occupy a spot in the rotation, but the ‘pen seemed like a solid and logical alternative following his 10 appearances last September. A weapon for the later innings.

And, at the least, a second lefty to join Cionel Pérez.

This scenario could happen. We’re a long way from March 30 and introductions at Fenway Park. But Hall in the rotation, whether with the Orioles or Triple-A Norfolk Tides, raises two more questions:

Who gets bumped from the major league rotation if Hall joins Kyle Gibson, Cole Irvin and Grayson Rodriguez? Kremer and Kyle Bradish make six. Tyler Wells makes seven. And the Orioles seem to prefer five.

Who benefits from Hall’s absence in the bullpen? Keegan Akin was optioned late in the season, but his chances of returning improve with Pérez the only lefty. Perhaps it bodes well for local product Bruce Zimmermann if he can’t regain his place in the rotation.

Or, and this is where the caravan’s stop Saturday at Checkerspot Brewing Company in Baltimore proved informative, Nick Vespi could wind up heading north. Hernia surgery was supposed to remove him from the competition, but Vespi told the assembled media that he’s throwing and intends to be ready.

Vespi can’t uphold his commitment to pitch for Italy in the World Baseball Classic, but opening day is the real goal and he believes that it’s attainable.

At the same brewery event, infielder Terrin Vavra told the media that he’s working out at first base ahead of his arrival in Sarasota. He’s been paying attention and knows that a left-handed hitter must back up at first base.

“I want to be able to show that I can do that,” Vavra said, “and I want the coaching staff to be confident if they had to send me out there, Day 1 of spring training even.”

Vavra stays on my mock opening day roster, though he’s probably the 26^th man. He concedes that Adam Frazier brings a similar skill set, which further motivates the highlighting of his versatility. He's likely the one in trouble if the Orioles keep a non-roster first baseman or bring in an outsider.

* Ryan McKenna is trying to break camp again as an extra outfielder. He appeared in 104 games last season and batted .237/.294/.340.

“I go out every day and try to learn and execute as much as I can,” McKenna said Friday in Salisbury. “I’m pretty confident in the experience that I’ve had so far, so bringing stuff that I’ve learned from that and coming into camp just ready to go and ready to contribute to this team in any way.

“I’m excited. It’s going to be such an awesome year and everybody’s looking forward to it here. … We’re excited to go.”

The winter work centers on a lot of hitting repetition and getting his body ready for the grind.

“The first couple months are always the recovery process,” he said.

“I think there’s a little hitting session going on now early in the camp, so I’m excited to get going on that.”

McKenna said players are taking away the positives from last season and trying to improve the negatives, which is done through the copious amounts of data available to them.

“We broke down some things analytically that we can improve on,” he said. “I think scoring early in games is something we could do to get better, and I know that we’re going to be doing.

“We had I think three guys finish close to Gold Glove status. The defense is always there. I think just continuing to build on that is going to be something that we’re excited to do.”

McKenna said he’s aware of the club’s offseason moves. None seem to directly impact him, since he’s a right-handed hitter who backs up at all three outfield spots.

“I don’t religiously follow any of this stuff,” he said. “I mostly focus on stuff that I can do to get better and work really hard on trying to recover stuff that I need to and just prepare for the season.”

* Reliever Joey Krehbiel was removed from the active roster in late September while the team was in Boston, his season taking a dramatic and startling dive after he posted a 2.18 ERA and 0.970 WHIP in 32 appearances leading into the All-Star break.

Krehbiel pitched in 24 games in the second half and registered a 6.20 ERA and 1.581 WHIP. Opponents slashed .188/.248/.325 in the first half and .304/.365/.559 in the second.

The Orioles will carry eight relievers on opening day, assuming that they resist going to a six-man rotation. Krehbiel sounded confident Sunday that he’d be in the group.

“I really don’t have an answer for like comparing the first and second half,” he said while taking a break from his bartending duties at Crooked Crab Brewing Company in Odenton.

“Obviously, I didn’t try harder in the first than the second. I gave it my best effort for both halves. I think I just need to do what I did in the first and be more consistent, trusting my stuff, throwing the pitches that I think will work instead of trying to overdo it and be too perfect. I think I’m going to be all right.”

Competition will be stiff and vacancies scarce with Pérez, Tate, Félix Bautista, Mychal Givens and Bryan Baker pretty much guaranteed to break camp.

“As you guys know more than I do, the guys that are coming up, position players or pitchers, are the real deal,” Krehbiel said. “I have to do what I can do, and I think what I did in spring training last year, the year before, and in the first half of last year, I definitely can see myself getting one of those spots. Nothing is ever locked in, but in my head, I think it’s locked in, and I need to be focused and prepared to do so.”

Last year’s bullpen shocked the industry by ranking ninth in ERA at 3.49 with its collection of unheralded relievers, and with closer Jorge López traded to the Twins at the deadline. Givens has returned after signing as a free agent.

“I don’t know how we can be much better,” Krehbiel said. “The guys were incredible. Cionel, Félix, Tate, Baker, everybody. Keegan (Akin), me, all of us at one point were doing really, really well. We weren’t pitching better than we thought we could. We were doing what we practiced and prepared ourselves to do. So honestly, we just need to repeat.

“That’s the hardest thing is being able to repeat and be consistent, so I think that’s all we need to do.”

Is there pressure that goes with it?

The Orioles will be hugely dependent on the unit again to support a rotation that’s short on pitchers with full major league seasons.

“I can’t speak for anyone else, but no, I don’t feel the pressure,” Krehbiel said. “And if I could speak for everyone else, I don’t think they would, either, because we’re so relaxed, we’re so calm down there, we’re such a tight-knit group that we’re not thinking about that stuff. We’re going in and saying, ‘OK, (John) Means just came out of the game, bases loaded in the fifth inning, how can we get in there, clean it up and get the game going?’ So no, I don’t think so.”

* Hall has changed his uniform number from 49 to 24, which belonged to outfielder DJ Stewart.

Frazier is wearing No. 12, Gibson is No. 48, James McCann is No. 27 and Irvin is No. 19 – last worn by Chris Davis, as pointed out by @NumbersMLB.

Givens reclaims No. 60.

Bradish has switched from 58 to 39, and Spenser Watkins has changed from 80 to 52.

The more you know …