SARASOTA, Fla. -- Vance Honeycutt was never going to hit a home run every at-bat for the rest of his life. So, his homer streak -- which reached four consecutive spring at-bats on Wednesday -- was guaranteed to end eventually.
The day came Friday, when Honeycutt made his fifth appearance for the Orioles this Spring Training in a 10-2 Grapefruit League loss to the Cardinals at Ed Smith Stadium. When the 22-year-old outfield prospect stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the eighth, he did not homer.
However, Honeycutt also did not get out. He knocked a single into center field, improving to 5-for-5 in Grapefruit action. Not a home run, but also not too bad for a player who isn’t in big league camp this spring, only suiting up for games in which he’s brought over from Minor League camp to serve as an extra fill-in.
Throughout the streak, Honeycutt insisted he wasn’t trying to hit home runs. But he took another big hack at an 0-1 cutter from right-hander Chris Roycroft that was over the middle of the plate, a cut that surely made the fans in attendance (and those watching on TV) think that he could be swinging for the fences.
After falling behind 0-2 -- just as he did prior to his fourth home run on Wednesday -- Honeycutt took an inside sinker for a ball. He then connected on Roycroft’s 1-2 cutter, which caught too much of the plate, earning a hit that preserved his 1.000 spring batting average (even if his OPS dropped to 4.400 in the process).
“That was a great piece of hitting by Honey right there,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “That was a really great [pitch], and he did a great job of adjusting to it and still keeping his speed and his posture back through the middle. That was a really impressive swing.”
Maybe he’s no longer “Home Run Honeycutt.” But he could still be referred to as “Home Game Honeycutt,” with all five of his hits during his perfect start to spring coming in Sarasota. (Of course, the former still works as well, considering his four at-bat homer streak would have matched the AL/NL record if it had happened during the regular season.)
Honeycutt’s four home runs came over a span of 10 days. He homered three times last week, going deep in a pair of games vs. the Braves (Feb. 23 and 28) and one against the Rays (Feb. 25). The University of North Carolina product kept the streak going on Wednesday, when he crushed a Statcast-projected 471-foot home run.
There should be more opportunities for Honeycutt to get at-bats in Grapefruit play. His unblemished batting average may not stay that way the entire time, but regardless, this spring could give him positive momentum heading into his second full professional season.
It’s a strong starting point for Honeycutt after he hit .171 with five home runs and a .559 OPS in 101 games for High-A Aberdeen last year. His spring showing could earn him a promotion to Double-A Chesapeake to open the season.
“I just think it builds confidence,” Honeycutt recently said. “Did some good work in the offseason and coming out here, just things going well, I think that’s important. I think that’s just a confidence builder. So continue to build on it and just try to keep working.”