Baltimore Orioles: So Far, So Good For Joey Rickard

Baltimore Orioles outfielder Joey Rickard is making the most of his time this spring.

Let me clear something up before I start with this piece. Joey Rickard is still Joey Rickard. He hasn’t unlocked a secret door which will lead him to an All-Star game. He isn’t going to be a 3.0 fWAR player or even be an everyday outfielder. But he doesn’t need to be any of those things to make a positive contribution to the 2019 Baltimore Orioles.

Every returning player on this roster has to prove themselves to Mike Elias and his staff at the top of the organization to Brandon Hyde and his ensemble of coaches at the field level. The days of sticking around in hopes of a magical turnaround are over. For fringe players like Joey Rickard, this spring training means a lot. It’s their last chance to make it with the Baltimore Orioles.

Rickard still has a minor league option, so he isn’t quite in the same boat as Mike Wright. But with plenty of outfielders fighting for a major league job and many more up and coming, younger outfield prospects rising through the ranks, Rickard will need to show his worth. Otherwise, why waste a roster space with him, even a AAA Norfolk outfield spot?

Joey Rickard’s hot spring start with the Baltimore Orioles.

In four games this spring, Rickard is already one hit away from matching last year’s total of five spring training hits in 15 games. After Thursday’s contest against the Philadelphia Phillies, Rickard is 4/8 with a 2B, 3B, RBI, SB, and three runs scored. He has yet to strike out while drawing two free passes.

It isn’t just his production at the plate. Rickard has already had the opportunity to show off his arm from right field, gunning down a runner at third base in the O’s first spring game against the Minnesota Twins.

Brandon Hyde has repeated over and over again that he wants versatility. Rickard can play all three outfield positions. According to Baseball Savant, Rickard ranks in the 80th percentile in sprint speed, covering 28.2 feet/second in the outfield. Only Cedric Mullins and the man now known as Stevie Wilkerson had a fast sprint speed last season (well, Jace Peterson did as well but does anyone really care about Peterson as a baseball player?)

His speed has translated well on the basepaths throughout his career. In parts of seven minor league seasons, Rickard swiped 76 bags at a 77% success rate. That includes a 30 stolen base season back in 2013 with the Bowling Green Hot Rods of the Midwest League and 23 stolen bases in 2015 between A, AA, and AAA ball in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.

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Once the Orioles claimed Rickard off waivers, his stolen bases came to a halt. In just over 330 games between the major and minor leagues, Rickard has just 19 stolen bases but has been successful 83% of the time. Hyde wants his team to be aggressive on the basepaths so this lineup can manufacture runs, versus relying on the longball. Letting Rickard run loose could help that.

The problem will be getting Rickard on base. He doesn’t walk very often and has posted OBP rates of .276 and .300 over the past two seasons. He also doesn’t hit the ball very hard (average exit velocity was 3 mph slower than league average in 2018) and he’s downright dreadful against breaking pitches (.200 BA/.158 XBA), which opposing pitchers threw to him much more often in 2018, as compared to his previous big league seasons.

Rickard hit left-handed pitching about 30 points higher than he did right-handed pitching, but is a .263 average and .314 OBP good enough to ensure he is in the lineup every time the Orioles face a lefty? Until Yusniel Diaz and/or Austin Hays cements their place in the big leagues, it may be. While Yusniel Diaz is the hot name right now, we aren’t going to see him in the bigs, at least early on. Unfortunately, service time and that extra year of control are going to be utilized, especially for hitters. If we’re talking pitchers, harness their value as early as you can! But for the rebuilding Orioles, that extra year of control for their top hitting prospect will certainly come into play.

This new regime is going to play smarter baseball in 2019, putting players where they will excel on the field and in the lineup. Let’s not overreact, even if it is the time of year to do just that, but maybe Joey Rickard has a role. Maybe.