It's Mountain Time: Bautista returns with perfect inning

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Each of the fans lined up along the railing in front of the Orioles’ bullpen understood the magnitude of the moment as Félix Bautista stood and started to warm up on Monday afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium.

“Is that Bautista?” one casual fan asked another.

“Look! It’s Bautista,” a family of diehards pointed out to their young child.

No matter the level of fandom, everybody watching knew what time it was.

It was finally Mountain Time again.

For the first time in 556 days, Bautista threw his final warmup pitch, exited through the bullpen gate and trotted onto the field. The 6-foot-8, 285-pound All-Star closer took the mound for Grapefruit League action vs. the Red Sox and proceeded to pitch in a game for the first time since Aug. 25, 2023, when he sustained a right UCL tear that led to Tommy John surgery six weeks later.

Bautista’s return went as well as it possibly could. The 29-year-old threw 13 pitches (nine strikes) while retiring Trayce Thompson, Nate Eaton and David Hamilton in order in the fifth inning of Baltimore’s 6-6 tie with Boston. He struck out both Thompson and Eaton swinging -- the former on a 96 mph fastball, the latter on an 85 mph splitter -- before getting Hamilton to ground out to third to end his day.

As the inning concluded, the fans behind the first-base dugout rose to their feet and showered Bautista with applause. He hugged catcher Adley Rutschman, pointed to the sky and tipped his cap to the crowd, smiling his way into a sea of O’s teammates.

A tone of appreciation later radiated from Bautista’s voice.

“That was very exciting. I missed my fans. I missed hearing them every time I stepped onto the field,” Bautista said via team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “It was very gratifying being able to go out there today and hear them once again.”

It’s difficult to measure who missed Bautista most when he was sidelined for the 2024 season. It may have been manager Brandon Hyde, who leaned heavily on the dominant hurler in ‘23, when Bautista further emerged as one of baseball’s top closers (a 1.48 ERA and 33 saves over 56 appearances).

It could have been his best friend Yennier Cano, a fellow Orioles All-Star reliever. Or maybe it was the fans, who greatly embrace Bautista and eagerly await his closer’s entrance featuring Omar’s whistle from “The Wire” and flickering lights at Camden Yards.

When Bautista sustained the injury, there was initial hope that he could return before the end of the 2023 season because it was only a partial tear. That didn’t happen, and the thoughts of returning fueled Bautista during his rehab process over the past 18-plus months.

“It’s something I thought about every day, and it’s something that kept me going throughout my rehab process, throughout the recovery,” Bautista said. “Having that thought in my mind kept me going.”

The Orioles have been cautious with Bautista’s recovery, knowing it could take some time for him to fully return to form. His fastball -- which has often hit triple digits during his MLB career -- sat around 96 mph on Monday, maxing out at 97. His splitter velocity was also a tad lower, sitting in the mid-80s rather than hitting the 90s.

The expectations for his first appearance back were kept modest.

“I want him to walk off that mound feeling good. That’s all I care about,” Hyde said before the game. “Walks off the mound, he looks like Félix, and I want him to feel great.”

Mission more than accomplished.

“That’s the highlight of the camp so far in a big-time way,” Hyde said. “Just the smile on his face and throwing 97 and feeling great. Another box checked for him. Just great to see him out there.

“Credit to the crowd for recognizing how awesome a moment that was for him personally.”

Bautista should be ramped up in time to be included on Baltimore’s Opening Day roster. He expects his fastball to be sitting around 99-100 mph at that point, assuming everything goes well over the final three weeks of Spring Training.

Hyde knows he’ll need to be careful with how much he uses Bautista early in the season. That means no pitching on consecutive days, no pitching more than one inning and limiting how often Bautista gets up to warm up without then being put into the game.

Seranthony Domínguez, Andrew Kittredge and Gregory Soto were among the relievers named by Hyde who could be candidates for save opportunities on days when Bautista will be down.

But those are decisions that can be made later. Monday’s biggest takeaway was solely Bautista’s presence 60 feet and 6 inches in front of home plate during an actual game.

So now that Bautista is back, what did he miss most?

“Everything,” Bautista said. “Warming up in the bullpen, trotting to the mound, getting into the game, hearing the fans and having Adley catch me.”

And how about that trademark post-outing hug from Rutschman?

“I missed it, too,” a smiling Bautista said.