Terrin Vavra among Baltimore Orioles spring training standouts

We are officially in the full swing of things for the Baltimore Orioles' spring training, with almost constant Grapefruit League action until opening day on March 30. While a lot of talk in camp so far has been on the O's pitching staff, infielder Terrin Vavra is having a dominant start to spring at the plate and also in the field.

In the first game on the Orioles' Grapefruit league slate, Vavra showcased a rare jolt of power, doubling and homering to get the spring started. The next day, Vavra had two singles and two RBI's, making him 4-for-6 with four RBI's through two spring games.

Vavra went 2 for his next 5 after that, currently standing at 6-for-11 in four games entering play on Saturday. That's a .545 batting average. He has one triple, one double, one home run, four RBI's, and three runs scored at the plate this spring, which is certainly a strong case to get a bench spot on the roster to start the season. Brandon Hyde talked to MASN about Vavra, saying this:

We have spots open. We like what he did last year. Got a little bit of a taste of the big leagues and now he’s back and having a great camp. He’s definitely added some versatility to us, the left-handed bat’s a big thing. If he can take at-bats like that against left-handed pitching, that’s enormous. He’s showing well right now.

It's pretty clear from last season and this spring that the Orioles are molding Vavra into a swiss army type utility player, able to play all over the diamond. He's been taking ground balls at first base, which is a spot of competition at Orioles camp. In game action, he's played second base, third base, and left field this spring.

He's had quite a showing defensively at the hot corner, the first time he's played there since a rehab assignment last year with High A Aberdeen. Vavra took away hits from Riley Greene of the Detroit Tigers twice in a game last Sunday, making both a diving backhand grab and a lunging grab to his left.

There is still a lot of work left for Vavra despite the pretty encouraging early returns. The competition for the final bench spot is pretty fierce, with a lot of players vying for one spot. Vavra has certainly put himself in a good position to start the spring, but there's a lot of time left for either someone to overtake him or for Vavra to run away with it convincingly. This is a situation to monitor this spring for sure.