[ad_1]
Asked hours before his first opening day in the Big League about his retained eligibility on his meteoric debut last season, Ryan Mountcastle was primarily a diplomat. He “won’t insist on winning awards,” Mountcastle said, stressing he just had to “go out and play my game”.
The rest, implied, would take care of itself.
It was only then that he stepped away from the script a bit, letting a pinch of confidence shine through.
“What if I do that,” says Mountcastle. “I think I have a pretty good chance of getting it.”
It’s a possible certainty if Mountcastle continues to contribute as he did on Friday, when he teamed up with John Means to lead the Orioles to their 3-0 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Throwing a two-run brace on the Green Monster in the sixth, Mountcastle completed seven sterling innings of Means on the mound to cement a clinical victory on a cold day in Boston.
Making his first opening day start of his career, Means came through the Red Sox lineup to outperform Nathan Eovaldi. He only allowed two baserunners throwing 97 shots, the one shot going to his first hitter, Enrique Hernández. After Xander Bogaerts hit an error to start the second, Means sent 18 straight hitters to end his day, striking out five and walking none. For the 2019 All-Star, it was, objectively, the best start of his career.
“It was the best I’ve seen him throw,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “I thought he did an amazing job. It was just a clinic, pitch wise.
It was also one of the best opening day starts in Orioles history. Means became the first O pitcher (since at least 1901) to make seven or more innings on opening day, allowing a hit or less. He also became the third pitcher in baseball history to do so without also giving a walk, joining Irv Young in 1906 and Jordan Zimmermann in 2019. Means has now allowed one run or less in five consecutive starts since last season, tied for the second longest streak in O history (Jim Palmer holds the record, with six starts in 1978).
“It was pretty special,” said Means, who made his MLB debut at Fenway in 2018. “It was amazing having my family there. Fenway Park holds a special place in my heart. It was a really cool experience, something I’m going to have to tell my kids forever.
It was Mountcastle, who threw a 3-2 fastball Matt Andriese over the Green Monster to break a scoreless tie. By this point, Means had spent much of the afternoon trading zeros with Eovaldi, who overwhelmed the Orioles in their first game of 2020, then held them to four hits in 5 1/3 of sleeve Friday. Pedro Severino’s first single on the pitch helped chase Eovaldi in the sixth, before Andriese stepped on Trey Mancini and Hernández started a potential double play ball to charge the goals.
The error opened the door for Mountcastle’s free-kick, and Anthony Santander’s eighth-inning RBI single gave Tanner Scott and César Valdez some reassurance to save the last six strikeouts. Means also enjoyed three defensive games highlighting converted third baseman Rio Ruiz in second, in his third career start at the post.
“And that?” Means said. “It was amazing.”
Subjected to emergency second base duties due to the Orioles’ last-minute spring decision to part ways with Yolmer Sánchez, Ruiz found himself in Friday’s roster largely for the same reason as Mountcastle: his bat. Getting him to start cleanup on opening day shows how the Orioles see Mountcastle, their MLB Pipeline No.5 prospect, having hit 0.333 with five home runs and 0.878 OPS in 35 games in 2020. The season 20 shortened him left four half-hearted attempts to lose rookie eligibility; Regardless of whether he claims rookie of the year gear or not, Mountcastle could easily become the rare player to receive votes for the award in two separate seasons.
All of that however, as Mountcastle hinted at on Friday morning, is the order of the day much later in the summer. But that’s part of the conversation around the Orioles as they jump into 2021 because of how they’ll use this season to lay the groundwork for their rebuild that’s been going on for several years. If nothing else, Friday provided a snapshot of what an Ideal 21 might look like if all went well: Mancini back in the fold, signifying flourishing into a legitimate ace and Mountcastle becoming a mid-point pillar of the ‘order.
M & M… & M? He has a ring.
“Because he’s got balance, because he’s got confidence, he’s going to be a really good hitter in this league,” said Hyde. “He’s a threat when he swings the bat.”
[ad_2]
Source link