Jackson testing the waters at various positions

LAKELAND, Fla. -- They say the ball will find you at a new position, which means Drew Jackson needs to stay readier than most. Take Monday afternoon, for example: when Jackson -- starting in right field for the first time in his career -- suddenly found himself chasing a line drive sinking to his feet.

Jackson slid, but he couldn’t corral the Jordy Mercer liner slicing toward the right-field line. Then, like the shortstop he is by trade, Jackson instinctually barehanded the ball before firing a one-hop strike to second. The ball beat lead runner Mikie Mahtook to the bag, completing a rare 9-6 force out.

“That was the first ball hit to me,” Jackson said. “It was kind of a funky one.”

Though the play meant little in the scope of Baltimore’s 14-1 win over the Tigers, it underscored a lot of what this spring has held for Jackson, a Rule 5 Draft pick who has spent the last month foraying all over the field. He’s played second, third, short and center. Now Jackson has played right, all in an effort to crack the Orioles’ Opening Day roster in a super utility role.

“It’s fun, I like it,” said Jackson. “It makes baseball more exciting when you get a new look from a different position every day.”

Consider it music to the ears of the Orioles, who’ve preached versatility ad nauseam this spring. In a perfect world, they see Jackson's speed, arm strength and ability to hit for power and hope he can blossom into a Kike Hernandez/Chris Taylor type. But for now, Jackson is largely just an athlete who has never played above Double-A, and sports just eight games of professional experience in the outfield. All of those came in center.

“He’s going to continue to get opportunities in different spots,” Hyde said. “We want him to be exposed to stuff so that when it happens in a game that matters, he’s ready.”

That’s looking more likely now that the Orioles will head north without Austin Hays or Anthony Santander and could open the season without a true outfielder on their bench. It wasn’t a coincidence that Jackson’s first start in right came a day after Hays and Santander were optioned to Triple-A Norfolk; he’s the leading candidate to absorb some of those duties unless Baltimore finds a way to wedge non-roster invitee Eric Young Jr. onto the Opening Day roster. That Jackson is hitting .333 in Grapefruit League play hasn’t hurt his chances, either.

Third time not the charm?

Andrew Cashner deemed himself “ready to go” for the season after completing five innings Monday, despite stretching out to only 76 pitches. But that may jibe just fine with how the Orioles are planning to use him this year.

Though the team has not decided whether to slot Cashner into the second or third spot in its rotation, it does sound like the O's have committed to limiting his exposure to hitters a third time through the order, when possible. And while that’s become commonplace in today’s data-driven landscape, Monday was the first time Brandon Hyde shared his feelings on the approach.

“I want all that information,” Hyde said. “I want projected numbers and I want projected third time through the order stuff, and I want projected splits and all these types of things.”

That the Orioles believe Cashner can benefit is hardly surprising. Even elite starters become less effective the third time through; teams have limited the workloads of everyone else for years now precisely for that reason. But Cashner’s splits in that area last season were particularly pronounced. Hitters posted a .812 OPS against Cashner the first two times through in 2018; that number spiked to 1.027 when they faced him a third time.

On Monday, Cashner faced 18 hitters -- two full turns through the Tigers’ lineup. He allowed one run on three hits, struck out five and walked none. And left with a five-run lead.

“I thought today was a big step in the right direction as far as all my pitches coming together,” Cashner said. “I felt like it all came together today.”

Worth noting

? The Orioles rolled out most of their regular relievers during Monday’s game, including rehabbing lefty Richard Bleier (lat surgery), who made his fourth appearance of the spring and appears on track for Opening Day. Nate Karns also made his first multi-inning appearance of the spring, striking out three of the four batters he faced across the sixth and seventh.

? Ryan Mountcastle was a big-name borrow from Minor League camp, Hyde slotting the club’s No. 2 prospect, per MLBPipeline, into the No. 3 spot in his lineup Monday in place of Renato Nunez (general soreness). Mountcastle finished 1-for-5 with an RBI single.

Up next

After a rainout Tuesday, the Orioles will next take on the Red Sox on Wednesday at 6:05 p.m. ET at Ed Smith Stadium.