SARASOTA, Fla. — For years, Ramón Urías was one of the most underrated players on the Orioles.

Urías was consistently a valuable player — a league-average hitter and a solid defender — during his time in Baltimore. He won a Gold Glove Award in 2022, spent much of 2023 as a starter on a team that won 101 games and then got hot at just the right time to save the offense in 2024.

Urías is no longer an Oriole, but his replacement could be just as valuable — or perhaps even better.

Blaze Alexander, like Urías, is a utility player, and with that is a certain connotation. Utility players are seen as less talented and scrappy — a jack of all trades and a master of none. But Alexander put his talent on full display Wednesday during live batting practice. Alexander turned on a Cade Povich fastball and clobbered it over the left field fence at Ed Smith Stadium, earning cheers from Pete Alonso and the other players in the dugout.

The Orioles acquired Alexander late in the offseason in a surprising trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Baltimore gave up reliever Kade Strowd and two prospects to get Alexander, proving how much they coveted him.

Through the first week of spring training, Alexander looks a lot like the type of player Mike Elias and company would have drafted. The 26-year-old is athletic with a twitchy swing, power and speed.

“Blaze Alexander is a very talented player, a lot of physical tools, can play basically every position on the diamond except for catcher, and hits from the right side of the plate,” Elias said after he acquired Alexander. “So it’s a very good roster fit for us. It’ll help us at every single infield position, has an ability to go out and spell in the outfield as needed. … I think Blaze is going to be a really big part of our team.”

For much of this decade, the Orioles have had Urías and Jorge Mateo as utility players, though they’ve also spent time as starters. While Alexander isn’t as fast as Mateo and has yet to display the offensive ability that Urías often showed, he does have a skill set that could serve as a replacement for both.

Alexander can play every infield spot (except first base), and his defense at second and third appears to be above average. He can also play shortstop, serving as a backup for Henderson if the superstar needs a day off. While he hasn’t played much outfield, the Orioles are confident they can ask him to play there, including center field. He has plus speed. And he’s a right-handed hitter with better numbers against lefties, meaning he’s an option to platoon with Colton Cowser in center field or Jackson Holliday at second base.

“Position versatility is always valuable in this game. With Blaze, he’s proven it at the big league level,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “For us as a coaching staff and also for the team, it’s such a huge piece.”

Blaze Alexander bomb.

Blaze takes Cade Povich deep down the left field line during live BP.

Alexander could be Baltimore’s starting second baseman on opening day with Jackson Holliday injured. pic.twitter.com/VIMkYSBfnv

— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) February 18, 2026

A focus on situational hitting

Throughout spring training, the Orioles have dedicated one of their hitting stations to a drill that’s similar to one done at high school baseball practices across the country.

A hitter steps in the box during batting practice, and instead of swinging away, a coach yells out the situation and the hitter must swing with that approach in mind. For example, a runner on second with no outs would result in the hitter focusing to hit the ball the other way, if possible.

This is just one of many hitting drills the Orioles have done during spring training, and only a fraction of them are on the backfields where fans and media can see. The most important work is done inside the club’s massive player development facility, which includes high-tech cameras.

But the drill was noticeable given the Orioles’ offensive struggles last season. In addition to finishing 24th in MLB in scoring last year, the Orioles ranked in the bottom half in Baseball-Reference’s productive out percentage. They were also in the bottom half in advancing runners from second to third with no outs, and the club hit .198 with runners in scoring position and two outs.

Albernaz said the point of the drill — even though it’s difficult to replicate a game-like scenario — is to make sure hitters know what “approach” they should have in certain situations.

“You can have conversations and prep, but nothing beats actually going out and practicing it and put in that environment,” Albernaz said. “It’s not the same, right? But it’s just more of just flipping their mindset of having an intentional, purposeful practice. We have a field where we call it ‘show BP,’ where you take your regular BP, but we have the other portions of the fields are intentful, purposeful practice.”

Orioles are doing a modified batting practice with situational hitting. Coaches are calling out the number of outs and runners on and players are changing their approach accordingly.

Ryan Mountcastle goes the other way with “two outs and a runner on third.” pic.twitter.com/eLeVdEhl9m

— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) February 16, 2026

Albernaz’s plea about spring lineups

Friday is a momentous day for Albernaz. The skipper will write his first lineup as a big league manager.

Sure, the Grapefruit League opener is not a real game. But it’s still the first time Albernaz will decide how to line ‘em up.

Ahead of Friday’s opener, Albernaz asked for people (media and fans alike) to not put any stock into his lineups to try to decipher what they could look like during the season.

“The lineup, actually who’s hitting where in the lineup, is not going to dictate where they’re going to hit during the season,” he said. “There’s a rhyme and a reason to it — guys getting at-bats and who’s playing.”

This is standard practice during spring training. Brandon Hyde would roll his eyes at the first lineup question he was asked every spring. Cedric Mullins hit leadoff all spring in 2024, only for Gunnar Henderson to be atop the lineup on opening day.

With that said, whether it’s Taylor Ward or Henderson leading off Friday will be difficult for fans not to read too much into. But they can’t say Albernaz didn’t warn them.

Around the horn

• Jackson Holliday stood out at second base during infield practice, but he didn’t field any grounders. The 22-year-old had the cast taken off his hand earlier this week and should have the stitches removed next week. He isn’t expected to start taking swings until March as he recovers from a broken hamate bone.

• The pitchers have dominated most of the live sessions so far this spring, but the hitters won Wednesday’s tilt. Facing lefty Cade Povich, prospect Luis De León and reliever Andrew Kittredge, the group of hitters struck out only once in 18 plate appearances. Ward hit a hard line drive to the outfield against all three pitchers, while Leody Taveras smacked a single off Povich and a double against De León.

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.