McCann brings veteran presence to ‘exciting’ young O’s team
When James McCann came upon he’d been traded from the Mets to the Orioles late on Dec. 21, it started a whirlwind vacation season for the 32-year-old catcher. He’s now spending the primary week of 2023 by transferring his household and getting ready for a recent begin along with his fourth crew in six years.
In the 2 weeks since studying he was heading to Baltimore, McCann’s pleasure has grown, particularly as he’s came upon extra concerning the O’s. He didn’t face the membership whereas enjoying for New York in 2022, however he has shortly acquired some intel from pals round baseball.
“Guys around the league have reached out to me that saw them, especially down the stretch [in 2022], and talked about how talented of a roster the Orioles have and that we’re going to be a good team,” McCann mentioned throughout an introductory Zoom name with reporters on Tuesday. “I hadn’t seen these guys in person, just because we didn’t play the Orioles. But seeing them in highlights, seeing what they accomplished down the stretch — I think there’s a lot of things to be excited about in Baltimore.”
Even if that comes with much less time on the sector for McCann than he’s had in earlier years.
Prior to showing in solely 61 video games for the Mets in 2022 — a season that featured two journeys to the injured checklist — McCann had performed 105 or extra video games in six of his first seven full large league campaigns. The solely exception was when he performed 31 within the pandemic-shortened 60-game season in ‘20.
It’s much less probably McCann exceeds the century mark within the upcoming season, as he’ll be serving because the Orioles’ backup catcher behind Adley Rutschman. McCann mentioned the crew mentioned with him the potential of getting some begins at first base and designated hitter, however Rutschman ought to deal with a considerable quantity of labor behind the plate.
That doesn’t imply McCann can’t make an excellent impression on the crew. He’ll get his alternatives to be within the lineup, and when he’s not, he’ll be obtainable as a pacesetter in a younger clubhouse.
“I can’t control how many games I play, how many games I don’t play,” McCann mentioned. “All I can control is the kind of teammate I am and what I do when my name does get called. I’ll be prepared for whatever comes my way. And, again, I’m looking forward to meeting Adley and hopefully helping him continue to develop.”
McCann, a nine-year large league veteran who was an All-Star whereas enjoying for the White Sox in 2019, can also be hopeful he can show his down offensive season in ‘22 was an outlier. He posted career lows in batting average (.195), slugging percentage (.282), OPS (.538) and OPS+ (55). Even when he wasn’t battling accidents, McCann could have been the sufferer of some dangerous luck.
Not solely was McCann putting out at his lowest price since 2017 (24.1 %), however he had a hard-hit proportion of 40.8, which was the third-best mark of his profession, per Statcast. He believes he mounted a number of dangerous habits he developed on the plate in ‘21 (his first year in New York), even if other numbers didn’t present it.
“Things really just didn’t bounce my way in ‘22, whether it was injuries or hitting balls right at people,” McCann mentioned.
The extra productive McCann may be on the plate, the higher Baltimore’s lineup can be on the times when Rutschman is on the bench. McCann is assured he can get again to the offensive type he confirmed in 2019, when he posted a .789 OPS and slugged a career-high 18 homers in 118 video games.
If for any cause he doesn’t, McCann is aware of his worth to the Orioles can transcend what exhibits up within the field scores.
“I’ve experienced failure at this level and I’ve found a way to succeed after. I was non-tendered after 2018, and I was an All-Star in 2019,” McCann mentioned. “I’ve been there, I’ve skilled failure. And I do assume that that’s a part of considered one of my strengths as a participant, is having the ability to talk with different gamers that could be experiencing failure and having the ability to simply form of get them by means of these powerful instances.
“Because at the end of the day, you’re going to have a lot more tough times than you do good times, and that’s just the nature of this game.”
However, if the O’s construct off their robust 2022 season and take one other step ahead in ‘23, McCann could have his fair share of good times in Baltimore soon — which he’s already heard is a definite chance.
