Mountcastle at ease now that priority is first base

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Ease of mind for Ryan Mountcastle this spring could have been easy to come by. After all, he’s coming off a sixth-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting that saw him pace all first-years in long balls (33), fall one short of the RBI crown (89) and overall find success in his first full season in the Majors (with a roving positional status).

But the absence of that last aside might be another boost.

Mountcastle is focused on exclusively first base this spring, as manager Brandon Hyde has made clear, for the most part formally setting aside the outfield role Mountcastle learned the past two seasons and the left-infield role he was drafted into. On Saturday, in a 3-3 tie against the Yankees at Ed Smith Stadium, Mountcastle got his first chance to put cleat to infield dirt in game action this spring.

He responded with a 2-for-3 showing, lacing a game-tying RBI in the fifth.

“Feels like the first spring I've had where it's one position that I’m going to try to lock down,” Mountcastle said. “And yeah, it feels good.”

"He's just getting more and more comfortable every day," Hyde said. "He's one year into this, he works extremely hard defensively to get better every day, and it's a priority for him. It's huge for us, too. If he can improve over there, it helps our defense all around. But I'm really happy with the progress he's made."

It’s arguable that this is simply the natural career progression laid out for Mountcastle, who was drafted as a shortstop but was projected to pan out at first base if not in the outfield. By the time he reached Double-A Bowie in 2017 he made the shift to primarily third. In 2019, at Triple-A Norfolk, Mountcastle found himself at first and in left field. In the Majors, he’s played twice as many games at first as he has in the outfield and as designated hitter.

In 2021, albeit in a small sample, Mountcastle was toward the bottom of left fielders (minimum 25 attempts) in Outs Above Average, at minus-six. He was praised for his willingness to learn a new position as he tried to find a path into the big leagues, but the results there were yet to come in tow.

“Yeah, a little bit,” Mountcastle said of his ease of mind focusing on first base. “Just honing in on my first-base defense instead of trying to get two different positions in there.”

The O’s will find at-bats for Mountcastle no matter how his defense pans out. The strikeouts were an issue in 2021, towards the top with a 27.5 percent punchout rate, but it’s one more item he can pour focus into this offseason, outfield gloves in storage.

Small step forward for López
For Jorge López, one seemingly insignificant play on Saturday was of great importance. It came when he induced Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka to ground a ball up the first-base side. Mountcastle fielded it and López covered first.

A year ago, a similar play ended López’s season.

“I told Mountcastle for a little bit, ‘Thank God we didn’t get that ankle going,’” López smiled, now fully recovered from the brutal ankle sprain that ended his 2021 season on Sept. 6. “Even practice, the first couple days … I was already prepared to do that stuff.”

Instead, López’s attention is now purely on his role. One of the many pitchers the O’s are stretching out as a starter this spring so that they can remain flexible, López said he’s preparing mentally as a reliever, a role he found success in last season. He doesn’t have much preference in that regard, just one desire.

“I want to be the best out there,” López said.

Bird seed
• Anthony Santander and Ramón Urías were not in the lineup for Saturday’s tilt, a crop made up mostly of regulars as the O’s gave each expected regular-season starter a blow before they open exhibition action. Santander is coming off a rash of injuries in 2021, including knee and ankle sprains, and is looking to rebound from an overall down year offensively.

Urías was slowed into the offseason by a right adductor (groin) strain that landed him on the injured list on Sept. 22. He’s in line to compete for an infield job, with third base perhaps his best chance at regular playing time.