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Baltimore Orioles: Andrew Cashner Is Looking A Little Better

By Nick Stevens |
BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 25: Starting pitcher Andrew Cashner #54 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches in the second inning against the New York Yankees during game two of a doubleheader at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 25, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. All players across MLB will wear nicknames on their backs as well as colorful, non-traditional uniforms featuring alternate designs inspired by youth-league uniforms during Players Weekend. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 25: Starting pitcher Andrew Cashner #54 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches in the second inning against the New York Yankees during game two of a doubleheader at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 25, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. All players across MLB will wear nicknames on their backs as well as colorful, non-traditional uniforms featuring alternate designs inspired by youth-league uniforms during Players Weekend. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Detroit Tigers on Monday afternoon and Andrew Cashner looks pretty solid.

Over the course of his first three spring training starts, Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Andrew Cashner struggled, to say the least. While he produced eight strikeouts in eight innings, he allowed eight earned runs on 12 hits, getting hit particularly hard (and often) with two outs.

Cashner climbed the hill on Monday afternoon against the Detroit Tigers, working five innings of one-run ball, appearing to be much more prepared for the upcoming regular season.

Cashner’s outing didn’t start out on a very high note. Surrendering a lot of hard contact and opposite-field hits, on top of a solo home run by Nicholas Castellanos, his Monday outing appeared to be going just as his previous three had.

Once he worked his way through the second inning, it was smooth sailing for Cashner. Twelve straight Tigers’ hitters failed to reach base as Cashner’s offense poured on six runs in the top of the fifth inning, to give their starter the spring training win.

Cashner’s final line read: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.

While he was able to locate the fastball well, I wasn’t overly impressed with the pitch. On the other hand, Cashner’s offspeed stuff was able to produce weak contact and swings and misses across all five innings of work. His slider was particularly impressive on Monday afternoon, but it was the curveball that Cashner was positive about after his outing, per MASNsports’ Roch Kubatko,

“I thought it kind of finally all came together today,” he said. “I thought I slowed my pace down a little bit. Thought the biggest thing was made an adjustment out of the bullpen, keeping my chin quiet.“I thought I spun the ball a lot better today. Kind of made some tweaks with my curveball. Kind of got a little late start on the curveball. Just didn’t feel right in the beginning. Hadn’t thrown it much and I thought today was big progress with that.”

Word out of camp is that the only player guaranteed of a roster spot is 2019 Opening Day starter Alex Cobb, meaning that the competition for starting rotation spots and positions around the diamond hasn’t been decided, yet. Cashner has no cause for concern about not making the starting rotation, but in a spring where the returning starters have been largely unimpressive, Cashner’s solid start is as comforting as a positive Andrew Cashner start can be.

Baltimore Orioles bats heat up to take down the Tigers.

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Just two baserunners reached base for the Orioles through the first three innings against Tigers’ starter Jordan Zimmermann. Then the bats woke up.

The Orioles scored six runs in the fifth inning, adding three more in the seventh, and three in the eighth before closing the contest with two runs in the ninth. A bases-loaded triple from Jonathan Villar, followed by another triple from Trey Mancini, kicked off the scoring, as the top two hitters in the O’s lineup combined to reach base four times.

Chance Sisco, Hanser Alberto, Jace Peterson, Zach Vincej, and Dwight Smith Jr. all put in multi-hit performances, including Smith’s two-run home run in the 7th inning. In total, the Orioles put up 18 hits against Tigers’ pitching.

Here are a few more positive notes from today’s outing.

  • Nate Karns finally went longer than one inning, barely. In 1.1 innings, Karns struck out three and didn’t allow a hit. Working the 6th, Karns produced three straight strikeouts, including getting Miguel Cabrera to go down looking, argue the call, and get ejected in a practice contest.
  • Miguel Castro, Richard Bleier, and Mychal Givens also threw scoreless outings, combining for two strikeouts and zero hits allowed.

Next. Sunday's Roster Cuts Cause A Stir. dark

The Orioles are back in action on Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins. The game can be streamed on MLB.com.

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