SARASOTA, Fla. — With their Orioles’ home ballpark in Baltimore undergoing renovations, Camden Yards South got a makeover too.
The Orioles officially opened the doors of their revamped Ed Smith Stadium player development complex Monday, welcoming in players reporting for spring training to the sprawling 47,700 square-foot facility that includes a brand-new biomechanics lab, indoor batting cages, classrooms, a covered bullpen, a players lounge and an agility field painted with the first 40 yard markers of a football field.
“This is maybe the best indoor facility in the world right now,” president of baseball operations Mike Elias said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “The technology that’s available here, the space, the comfort, this is something that’s a huge advantage for us as we train and try to get out players better.”
Orioles owner David Rubenstein was in attendance to cut the orange ribbon, marking the completion of a yearlong project that cost the franchise $23 million to complete. The team plans to use the facility year-round for players throughout its organization, from its major leaguers during spring training to its prospects who play in the Florida Complex League.
Fans will also see an added benefit, gaining more behind-the-scenes access of players working out on the backfields and throwing in the covered “eight pack” bullpen during spring training, beginning Wednesday when Orioles pitchers and catchers hold their first workout of the season.
“While we created this brand-new facility for our athletes, one of the things we wanted to do was help our fans be even closer than they were before,” Orioles president of business operations Catie Griggs said from behind a roped off area in the center of the complex. “As soon as the players come outside, these spaces will be open for our fans to come watch what’s going on, watch our athletes training, engage with them when possible.”
The Orioles have played their Grapefruit League games in Sarasota since 2010, and both Elias and Griggs said the investment in the facility was further commitment to staying at Ed Smith Stadium long term. It’s already become a selling point to free agents and the team plans to use the complex even more now that weather conditions won’t be a factor.
In the past, the Orioles had to cancel batting practice and throwing sessions when it rained because they didn’t have the indoor batting cages, coined the “aviary,” or covered pitching mounds — expanded to an “eight pack” that will allow more pitchers to throw at the same time. The agility field was also constructed using Astroturf filled with a blend of sand and rockfill, rather than the crumb rubber that can become unbearably hot during the middle of the summer.
Baltimore painted football yard markers on the field both to help measure distances for agility drills and throwing sessions, and to help their tracking cameras make more precise measurements of players’ biomechanics. Technology was a consistent theme throughout the facility, particularly in the hitting and pitching lab that will utilize 37 cameras and two sets of metal plates for motion capture and force data tracking.
“From the time players step in this door, this is the first place they end up going after they get drafted,” Orioles assistant pitching coach Mitch Plassmeyer said. “To be able to assess them from the second we get our hands on them all the way to as they go up levels, if they’re rehabbing, every spring training we’re going to get a nice glimpse of where guys are at when they come in. So, provides a ton of information they’re going to be able to use at all levels of development.”
The Orioles also built out a batting cage for visiting teams, women’s locker rooms, offices and conference rooms. Their players lounge, which will serve as an extension of the clubhouse for players looking for more of an open space, included two TVs with the newest generation Xbox and PlayStation hooked up, a pair of foosball tables, a ping pong table and a nutrition center stocked with food and drinks.
Though a few early reports to spring training had already snuck a few peaks at the new facilities, the Orioles held their first unofficial workouts in the new areas of the complex Monday morning and Elias said players gave “rave reviews.”
“This is the dream setup,” Orioles pitching strategy coach Ryan Klimek said. “It’s incredible.”
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