Good morning Birdland,
We have our first taste of spring training hype, and it comes from one of the new faces in camp: Tomoyuki Sugano! The 35-year-old comes to Baltimore with moderate expectations. His numbers in Japan have been great throughout his career, but there are questions about his ability to translate that into MLB success. If his first bullpen is any indication, he should be just fine.
Orioles’ pitching coach Drew French described Sugano as having “80 command” on the 20-80 scouting scale. That is as good as it gets, folks.
New backup catcher Gary Sánchez, who caught Sugano in his debut bullpen, was shocked at how good Sugano looked.