When manager Buck Showalter wanted to catch a glimpse of last year’s first-round draft pick Cody Sedlock, he made sure he did so at a distance, going to Short-A Aberdeen the night after an Orioles day game to watch him throw a side session.
“I didn’t want to get too close,” Showalter said. “I don’t like doing that with high-expectation guys. And I wanted to make sure I got there on a day he wasn’t pitching.”
Sedlock is no doubt on the fast track, set to open the season at High-A Frederick just 10 months after the Orioles made him the 27th overall pick out of Illinois. Showalter said he wants to ensure Sedlock doesn’t receive added pressure during his progression through the minors, but at the same time believed he was ready to get his first taste of big league spring training Tuesday.
Sedlock was among the group of minor leaguers added to the Orioles’ travel squad for the team’s road Grapefruit League game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Spectrum Field. Showalter hoped to get him an inning late in Tuesday’s game.
“We felt like Sedlock was ready,” Showalter said. “We brought him in here with the idea that it would be good to not try to bring him into actual camp [but bring him for a game]. … It’s time. He’s ready. He’s been down [at minor league camp] for a while, but that’s why they’re here. We’re going to get to see all of them before it’s over.”
Last week’s annual minicamp at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota focused on a group of minor league pitchers, most of whom are working their way up to the top rungs of the Orioles minor league system. But the organization’s next group of talent is coming on fast right behind them.
It’s a…
Last week’s annual minicamp at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota focused on a group of minor league pitchers, most of whom are working their way up to the top rungs of the Orioles minor league system. But the organization’s next group of talent is coming on fast right behind them.
It’s a…
Sedlock, who is attending the early minor league camp, has just 27 professional innings under his belt after going 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in nine starts for Aberdeen in 2016. But he’s the most heralded player in last year’s draft class, which the Orioles are excited about, a group that includes second-rounder Keegan Akin, a left-handed pitcher, and outfielder Austin Hays, the team’s third-round pick.
“The things they say about him are intriguing,” Showalter said. “… The stuff, all that other stuff [he’s got]. It’s the other parts of it — the athleticism, the makeup, the lack of anxiety. We’ll see if that plays here. It’s a step. Everything’s a step — instructional league after the draft, Aberdeen before that, minicamp instead of major league camp. Gives him an inning here or there. Go out and pitch, see where it takes him. It doesn’t make someone a fast tracker.”
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