Notes: Harvey in midseason form; Hardy's return

SARASOTA, Fla. -- At this point in Spring Training, the Orioles are making no decisions regarding the back end of their bullpen. They can stick Mychal Givens in the ninth and build the rest of their late-inning alignment backwards from there. They could keep Givens’ role flexible, deploying him as a fireman type regardless of inning. They could choose to mix and match based on matchups and bank on bounce backs/steps forward from Richard Bleier, Miguel Castro and others, perhaps truncating Givens’ multi-inning duties as a result.

It will be weeks before the O's come to any sort of conclusions, and the reality is, the makeup of their 'pen is likely to permutate throughout the season. But it’s clear the key to those decisions is Hunter Harvey, whose injury history also makes him the bullpen’s biggest question mark. It’s also what made the uneventful nature of Harvey’s spring debut in Monday’s 3-3 tie with the Rays such welcome news for he and the club.

“I’ve been waiting for the fully healthy season and offseason for a long time,” said Harvey, who is ranked as the club's No. 12 prospect by MLB Pipeline. “To finally do that, and to come into spring healthy and ready to go, it’s good.”

For Harvey, though, spring has not arrived completely without complications. His debut was delayed due to the flu bug that’s run through the Orioles’ clubhouse, which has also affected Givens, Trey Mancini and others. But Harvey's mullet is in midseason form and his right arm is fine. The scoreboard radar readings indicated so against the Rays, when Harvey’s first pitch buzzed in at 97 mph. He then eclipsed 95 mph at least six more times to the next four hitters, compiling a three-pitch strikeout and a weak flyout over a scoreless inning.

In doing so, Harvey flashed the high-octane arsenal he showed pitching to a 1.42 ERA in seven games as a rookie down the stretch last season.

“Hunter threw the ball good,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I thought he’s right where he needs to be. The velo was there. The secondary stuff was pretty good, and I think it’ll get sharper as we go along.”

Asked to speculate on Harvey’s potential role last weekend, Hyde was noncommittal. But he reiterated his belief that Harvey “has closer stuff,” as he has often since Harvey debuted last August. Baltimore’s bullpen ERA improved by more than two runs -- 6.26 to 3.63, according to Fangraphs -- in the month Harvey was active given how he allowed Givens, Bleier and others to fall into roles around him.

This season, sticking Harvey in the ninth would theoretically free up Givens for high-leverage situations regardless of inning, while also lessening the burden on him. Or the O's could keep Harvey in a setup role and play matchups before and after. Either way, Harvey profiles as the kind of weapon they didn’t have for most of last season.

“They haven’t really told me anything,” Harvey said. “I enjoy getting that rush when the phone rings.”

Welcome back, J.J.
Hoards of hugs and handshakes greeted J.J. Hardy when the former Orioles shortstop returned to Ed Smith Stadium for his first day in a planned week of work as a guest instructor. An All-Star, Silver Slugger and three-time Gold Glove Award winner, Hardy was a fixture on competitive O's teams of the mid-2010s. He spent seven of his 13-year MLB career with Baltimore, last playing in 2017. He has spent the two-plus years since raising his two young sons in Arizona.

“It’s great to have him rub elbows with our guys who are in camp, and hopefully they enjoy it as well,” Hyde said. “I just want them to enjoy the experience they have here, and I’m sure our guys are going to learn a lot just from having him around.”

On the airwaves
Monday also featured the on-air debuts of new O's broadcasters Melanie Newman and Brett Hollander, two fresh faces of the club’s reshaped broadcast team for 2020.

The Orioles have a multifaceted hybrid role carved out for Newman, who called play-by-play in the radio booth with Geoff Arnold on Monday. She will work in that capacity as well as in the TV booth and as a sideline reporter this season, after previously holding similar positions with the D-backs, Rangers and Red Sox farm systems. Newman is believed to be the first female play-by-play announcer in O's franchise history, and she becomes one of three active female broadcasters in MLB, joining Jenny Cavnar of the Rockies and Suzyn Waldman of the Yankees.

“Every other opportunity I had came with having to choose,” Newman said. “Do you want to be in the booth? Do you want to be on the sidelines? To do a little bit of everything here and really bring out those stories, that’s what excites me the most. That box doesn’t have to exist anymore.”

Up next
The Orioles will board the team bus and head east early Tuesday morning, when they embark on a two-day road trip that begins at 1:05 p.m. ET with a matchup against the Nationals in West Palm Beach. The O's will hand the ball to non-roster invite Ty Blach, while right-hander Max Scherzer starts for the Nats. Listen on Gameday Audio.