SARASOTA (SNN-TV) – The Baltimore Orioles have made their way to the Suncoast to start Spring Training.
After just missing the playoffs with an 83-79 record, good for a 4th place finish in the AL East, the Orioles are back in Sarasota for the spring with heightened goals and expectations.
The Orioles enter the 2023 season with the rebuild mentality in the rearview, with emerging stars like Adley Rutschman and Cedric Mullins, and top prospects like Gunnar Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez poised for big-league impacts, the Orioles hope to contend for a playoff spot more so this year. O’s manager Brandon Hyde has also emerged as a top-coach in the league, finishing 2nd in last year’s AL Manager of the Year voting just behind Cleveland’s Terry Francona.
While the outlook of winning is new this season, a revert to normalcy in terms of the Spring schedule is also welcomed by the team per Executive Vice President and General Manager, Mike Elias.
“I was joking all winter that unless we get attacked by aliens we should have a normal Spring Training, looks like we can’t totally rule that out at this point, unfortunately. But, we’re all very happy to be here. It’s nice to have the lengthy Spring Training calendar, feels like we haven’t had that in a while. It feels like a more leisurely pace leading up to game, which is great.” – Mike Elias
The Orioles get their Spring schedule started next Saturday when they host the Minnesota Twins at Ed Smith Stadium.
