BRADENTON, Fla. — Leaving the back fields last week, Terrin Vavra laughed and shook his head after hitting a home run off right-hander Andrew Politi during a live batting practice session.
“I used my one for the year,” Vavra joked, nodding to his traditional lack of power.
The next day, though, the Orioles utilityman rounded the bases at a jog after hitting a homer in his first spring training outing of the season. He added a ground-rule double and hasn’t stopped hitting since then, closing his third game of the spring Tuesday with another base knock.
The Orioles lost to the Pirates at LECOM Park, but Vavra only bolstered his spring resume with an opposite-field line drive single while playing a third position in as many games. As Vavra pushes for a place in Baltimore once opening day arrives, it’s the combination of those two factors that gives him an inside track.
“I know we have a great group and there’s a lot of competition going on,” Vavra said. “I’m just trying to show that I can play wherever and try to get on base and help the team win.”
Vavra said he can play eight positions, including the emergency catching role.
In 40 games last season, Vavra was a proficient defender at second and both corner outfield spots. In spring, he has played second, left field and third base, the last of which he had played for just one inning as a professional before last week.
He also proved capable at the plate. Vavra hit .258 with a .340 on-base percentage. The Menomonie, Wisconsin, native hit one home run on the final day of the 2022 season, which left his slugging percentage (.337) three points lower than his on-base percentage.
Maybe the 25-year-old will have a few more this year; his fast start to the spring bodes well, with five hits in nine at-bats. But however he reaches base, he’ll take it.
“I hope so,” Vavra said. “The more you play, the more pitches you see, the better off you’re gonna be. And I think just trying to learn how to take more aggressive swings in the right situations, and show that I can do that. Ultimately, if it’s a double, it’s a homer, it’s a single, I get on base, anything that can get runs on the board, I’ll try my best to do it.”
A strong start for Bradish
Kyle Bradish was so efficient during his two-inning appearance Tuesday that he needed to return to the bullpen to throw 13 more pitches. The Orioles wanted the right-handed starter to get up to 40 pitches, but he breezed through the Pirates, six up, six down.
His slider, especially, fooled his opponents. Bradish struck out two Pittsburgh batters with that offering. The 26-year-old worked on that pitch this offseason, hoping to rediscover some of the sweep he felt he lost as last season went on.
It should be a useful weapon in a spring training full of competition. Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said before camp began that the Orioles have 12 rotation candidates, and while Bradish has a head start given his experience last year, his place isn’t solidified.
But he’s been here before.
“I got a little bit of it last year. I had a longshot of making the team out of camp,” Bradish said. “My mindset was coming in and trying to make a name for myself and put it into the coaches’ hands. So I didn’t want to do anything to mess that up. And kind of the same thing this year. I’m going to do what I do, and then it’s up to them.”
Bradish upped his performance after a trip to the injured list midway through last summer. He returned in late July, and in his final 13 outings posted a 3.28 ERA. That’s the level he wants to make standard.
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