SARASOTA, Fla. — When Tomoyuki Sugano met his new teammates on the field Saturday, reporting late to spring training after waiting on his visa for a few days in Japan, he had one thing to say to the circle of Orioles players and coaches standing in a circle around him.
“Let’s go win a world championship.”
The Orioles’ new right-hander arrived at Ed Smith Stadium with a large contingent of Japanese media waiting for him. A legend in the Nippon Professional Baseball league who spent 12 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants, Sugano is already one of Japan’s most accomplished and famous baseball players. Now, he’s making the switch to MLB at the ripe young age of 35, taking aim at a championship after a Japan Series title eluded him in the NPB.
“When I first met with the Baltimore Orioles before I signed, they had strongly expressed their desire to win the world championship,” Sugano said through team interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “So, that has been my goal throughout.”
Sugano hit the fields for some conditioning and light throwing Saturday morning. He’s scheduled to complete his first bullpen session Monday as he begins ramping up to be a member of the Orioles’ rotation. He will be tasked with making a load of adjustments this spring, from tweaking the way he attacks opposing hitters, to getting used to the size of the baseball, to settling into a foreign country.
“It’s great to see him,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I just met him in person about an hour ago, long trip. So, he looks great. I know he’s really anxious to get out there. He was going to play some catch before I came inside, just kind of get his feet underneath him because he’s been traveling. But it’s great to see him and we’re welcoming him with open arms.”
Though he typically pitched out of a six-man rotation with Yomiuri, he said the Giants utilized a five-man group several times throughout his career and he’s comfortable working with four days’ rest between starts. Sugano pitched 156 2/3 innings last season, his highest total since clearing 200 in 2018.
Sugano’s biggest strength — and one the Orioles believe will translate to the majors — is his ability to pound the strike zone. He walked only 0.9 batters per nine innings last season, a figure that would’ve led all qualified starters in MLB last season. Between him and Zach Eflin, who ranked second in that category at 1.31, Hyde sees the Orioles’ abilities to limit walks and force weak contact as some of the biggest strengths of their pitching staff.
“When we were doing our free agency stuff this offseason, [we were] stressing to potential guys that would come here how well we play defensively and how athletic we are and how versatile we are defensively,” Hyde said. “We saw what ‘Ef’ could do for us last year. Second half, he was unbelievable. … ‘Tomo’ is a huge get for us and we’re going to play good defense behind him.”
McDermott sidelined with lat injury
The Orioles entered camp down a starting pitcher after Trevor Rogers dislocated his kneecap in January, and now another will be sidelined for at least the next week or two.
Pitching prospect Chayce McDermott suffered a “mild lat/teres strain” just before the start of spring training, Hyde announced Saturday. The right-hander will shut down his throwing program for the next 10 to 14 days and won’t be expected to make any Grapefruit League appearances until late in camp.
“In his last bullpen, live BP, before he got here, felt a little soreness,” Hyde said. “So, reported it, we got him checked out. He’s going to be not throwing. … It’s going to be a while before you see him on the mound.”
McDermott, 26, is the Orioles’ consensus top pitching prospect heading into this season coming off a 2024 campaign in which he posted a 3.78 ERA in 22 games (21 starts) with Triple-A Norfolk and made his MLB debut. His season was cut short by a stress reaction in his right scapula, limiting him to one start with the Tides after July 30.
With McDermott and Rogers sidelined, Hyde said the Orioles will stretch out a couple extra nonroster invitees as starting pitchers to help cover innings. Albert Suárez might be ticketed for a bullpen role if the Orioles’ five projected starters stay healthy, but both he and recently graduated prospect Cade Povich are being stretched out as well.
O’Neill saw Orioles as a destination
Tyler O’Neill didn’t have many connections with the Orioles before signing with them in free agency this offseason, but he does share hockey fandom with a significant chunk of the Baltimore sports faithful. O’Neill, a Canada native, grew up a Vancouver Canucks fan before converting to the Washington Capitals because of Alex Ovechkin.
O’Neill played hockey until he was 15, when he decided to make baseball his primary sport and focus on that. He appears to have made the right decision, joining the Orioles on a three-year, $49.5 million deal this winter to bring a new source of power to the Baltimore lineup. O’Neill, who played for the division-rival Boston Red Sox last year, saw the Orioles as a potential fit months before his contract was up.
“Man, it was always chasing Baltimore last year,” O’Neill said. “Playing in the AL East, I’m familiar with the division. So, Baltimore was the team to beat so obviously when they had interest in me early in the offseason I was really excited about that and, again, just really excited to join these guys and get going.”
After consecutive injury-plagued seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022 and 2023, O’Neill arrived in Boston in an offseason trade and hit .241 with 31 home runs and an .847 OPS in 113 games. A known power lifter, O’Neill said he’s in a “transition” phase of his workout program to get his body ready for the long season.
If he can stay healthy, O’Neill’s bat would go a long way toward replacing the production of the departed Anthony Santander, who hit 44 homers last season before signing with the Toronto Blue Jays.
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