After strong '24 finish, Povich ready to 'earn a spot' in O's rotation

SARASOTA, Fla. -- At home in Omaha, Neb., over the offseason, Cade Povich had a throwing setup featuring a nine-pocket square target resembling a strike zone. The 24-year-old left-hander repeatedly focused on hitting his spots, trying to accurately locate each of the offerings from his five-pitch mix.

Povich knows how much command correlates to his results on the mound. He also knows it’s a big reason why he showed so much improvement during the final month of the 2024 season.

That taste of success -- a 2.60 ERA over five September starts that earned Povich a spot on the Orioles’ American League Wild Card Series roster -- is what fueled the southpaw this winter.

“Going into the offseason, I was able to approach it knowing what I needed to improve on for the big leagues,” said Povich, who had a 5.20 ERA over 16 starts during his rookie campaign. “In years past, it’s been, ‘What can I do to help show that I can throw up there? Or to help me get there.' I think now, it’s more of, ‘What adjustments can I make to have a whole season like the last month that I had?’”

Most projections for Baltimore’s 26-man roster this Spring Training indicate that Povich is on the outside looking in. The O’s rotation could consist of righties Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer and Tomoyuki Sugano -- a group so deep that righty Albert Suárez may be shifted to the bullpen.

But Povich, who will make his first Grapefruit League start on Sunday vs. the Phillies in Clearwater, isn’t thinking about a potential return to Triple-A Norfolk. He describes his mindset this spring as “less anxiety” and “a lot calmer” than in years past due to the fact he has been a big leaguer.

Considering Povich has now experienced the Majors, he is motivated to do anything he can to potentially force his way onto the Opening Day roster.

• An early look at O's potential Opening Day roster

“Motivated, for sure,” Povich said. “I got a good taste of it last year. Obviously, it’s a place I want to spend the rest of my career. And we have a lot of great starters, a lot of great pitchers, up and down in this locker room. It’s fun competition. We’re all pretty close, we’re all friendly. There’s good vibes all around with the pitchers. ...

“Personally, just kind of going out and, like last year with trying to make the postseason roster, just putting together a string of good starts in Spring Training and good outings and trying to force their hand and make myself earn a spot.”

So far this spring, Povich appears to be off to a strong start. He was locating his pitches well during a bullpen session on Wednesday, after which he exclaimed, “Hell yeah,” upon shaking hands with bullpen catcher Ben Carhart and meeting with pitching coach Drew French.

There’s a bit of a different swagger with Povich that emerged when he introduced his alter ego, “Slim” -- an aggressive strike-thrower with a more intense attitude -- last summer. That has carried over with the momentum the 6-foot-3 former prospect established late in the season.

“Cade had some good starts for us, and I think he’s taken that into this year,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “He’s put some good size on, he looks different physically. It looks like he’s walking around here with a lot of confidence right now. I’m looking forward to watching him pitch this spring. ... I think he’s come a long way.”

Povich still has areas of his game where he can improve. Although he allowed two or fewer earned runs in four of his five September starts in 2024, he again struggled with control, issuing eight walks in 20 1/3 innings over his final four outings.

While Povich has made minor adjustments to some of his pitches, his primary focus has been on sequencing, game-planning and the mental side of the game. He’s also trying to figure out where he best likes his catcher set up behind the plate to get the most out of his stuff. All of these are aspects of pitching that Povich believes he’ll get better at when given the opportunity.

“What I did last year, there were ups and downs, but there were obviously bright sides to it,” Povich said. “So overall, when I get a chance -- hopefully, I get many of them -- [my goal] is just to improve on last year and continue trending in the right direction for what I would hope to be a long big league career.”