For Mets rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez, becoming a better receiver is his primary focus. He wants Mets pitchers to say, “I want Francisco back there when I am pitching.” PAGE 41
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Rodriguez Prepares To Take Flight
All winter long, Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was open about his desire to see top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez in the club’s Opening Day rotation.
Rodriguez shares that vision.
“Personally, yes, but we’ve got to show up to Sarasota, make sure we take care of our business there by going out and throwing a lot of strikes,” Rodriguez said at the team’s Birdland Caravan event in February.
Drafted in the first round in 2018, Rodriguez was added to the 40-man roster last November after succeeding at Triple-A in 2022. Those two factors mean that taking care of business in spring training might be the only thing required for him to win a spot in the Orioles’ rotation.
Rodriguez ranked as the top pitching prospect after a 2021 season in which he struck out 161 in 103 innings between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie. His dominance in the first half of 2022 at Triple-A Norfolk—with 80 strikeouts in 56 innings—was interrupted by a lat strain that kept him out until September.
The 23-year-old Rodriguez said he spent the winter doing more dynamic arm care to strengthen the lat area and ensure he’s healthy all season. He also has been honing his cutter, a recent addition to a repertoire that also features a mid-to-high-90s fastball, a double-plus slider and a plus changeup. He also throws a curveball to give him an additional look later in games.
The Orioles added Kyle Gibson in free agency and traded for Cole Irvin in late January, and Elias said those two seem locked into the rotation entering camp. Fellow top prospect DL Hall will also be competing in a wide-open rotation mix.
Rodriguez’s candidacy would be strong even without the potential benefit of the Orioles gaining an extra draft pick after the first round in 2024 if he’s on the Opening Day roster and wins American League Rookie of the Year.
As it stands, he hopes to win the job on merit.
—JON MEOLI
Casas’ New Approach Prioritizes Damage
For Triston Casas, the transformation of power potential into games always seemed a matter of “when” rather “if.”
While the first baseman had prioritized contact through his amateur career and first three years with the Red Sox, his size—a mountainous 6-foot-5—and strength, along with an ability to hit occasional moonshots long suggested the possibility of future middle-of-the-order production.
In 2022, Casas made adjustments intended to increase his frequency of damage while maintaining his plate discipline.
Casas took more chances in narrow areas of the zone in hitters’ counts, accepting more frequent swings and misses. With two strikes, rather than employing an extremely spread-out approach and focusing on contact, he remained more upright while looking to do damage.
On the surface, his numbers altered little. In a season when he missed two months due to a high right ankle sprain, Casas hit .272/.383/.481 with 11 home runs, a 21.5% strikeout rate and 14.5% walk rate in 72 games for Triple-A Worcester.
Those numbers were similar to his .279/.394/.484 line with 14 homers, a 19.1% strikeout rate and 15.4% walk rate in Double-A and Triple-A in 2021.
Yet the 22-year-old’s average exit velocity jumped from 89 mph in 2021 to 92 in 2022.
A September callup in which Casas hit .197/.358/.408 with five homers in 27 games added to that impression. Increasingly, he looks capable of above-average to plus on-base percentage and slugging numbers.
“Hitting the ball hard, no matter if it’s with a negative launch angle or a really positive one doesn’t really matter to me. As long as I’m hitting the right part of the ball, timing it up, squaring it up, I don’t really care where it goes,” Casas said.
“Hitting the ball hard is the objective. People love home runs. People love contact. And I try to generate that as often as possible. I’m in the entertainment business.”
—ALEX SPEIER
Colas’ Glove Could Land Him In Right Field
When the White Sox signed Andrew Benintendi to a five-year, $75 million contract in early January, Eloy Jimenez lost his starting spot in left field.
Jimenez was Chicago’s DH for his final 28 games last season, and the White Sox hope he’ll embrace the role to stay healthy.
That would leave right field open to potentially be filled by 24-year-old Cuban Oscar Colas.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily too much of an ask,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said.
After signing with Chicago for $2.7 million in January 2022, Colas started his first minor league season with High-A Winston-Salem and quickly took off.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Colas was promoted to Double-A Birmingham and finished the year with Triple-A Charlotte. In 117 total games, the lefthanded hitter batted .314/.371/.524 with 23 home runs.
“He’s a guy who has really good hands at the plate, certainly has power,” White Sox farm director Chris Getz said. “He has the ability to make adjustments at the plate just because of how talented his hands are. He loves to compete and plays passionately.
“He has a chance to be an impactful major league player. We feel like he really has a chance to help our major league club soon.”
Colas played center field for much of 2022 but also played 34 games in right and should have no trouble making the position his regular home.
“He can impact the game in a lot of different ways, in a positive way,” said Justin Jirschele, who managed Colas at Birmingham last season. “Everything he does is next level.
“There were nights when he wasn’t really clicking with the bat, but
