As veteran Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Todd Frazier stood on second base after his first-inning double off Félix Hernández in the first inning of Thursday’s Grapefruit League game, he offered an insight to the Pirates’ broadcast that represents the crux of the problem that the former Cy Young Award winner could run into as he tries to continue his career with the Orioles.
“You have more time than you think when a guy’s throwing slow,” said Frazier, who was wearing a microphone as part of the broadcast. “Let the hands work.”
Hernández, 34, showed in his first spring training outing that he was working with diminished fastball velocity from his last time in the majors, when he averaged 89 mph in 2019.