Taylor Ward belts sixth home run in win Saturday

And he got to stay in left field the whole way through. That wouldn’t typically be noteworthy, but the Orioles needed someone to play third base after Blaze Alexander got hurt in the third inning tonight. The seemingly obvious move with Jackson Holliday unavailable would have been to lose Coby Mayo as the DH and play him at his natural position, but the Orioles instead galaxy-brained using Leody Taveras at the hot corner, even though Taveras had never played any infield as the pro. Ward, on the other hand, has started at third 42 times as a major leaguer and 101 times as a minor leaguer. Still, Ward stayed put and all worked out in the end. Taveras played five innings at third without incident, and the Orioles did finally sacrifice the DH and stick Mayo at third for the final two innings of a 6-1 win.

Ward’s home run was just his third of the year. He hit a two-run shot off Kevin Gausman in the fifth inning. Ward’s power is noticeably down this season as his .105 ISO would be the lowest of his career in a single season where he’s reached 200 at-bats. He has a career .185 ISO so Sunday’s home run could be the beginning of Ward finding his power stroke this year.

It’s been a fascinating season for Ward, whose walk rate has exploded as Baltimore’s leadoff hitter. He was at 11% with the Angels last season, and it’s now near 20%. His strikeout rate has also fallen, but it has cost him in the power department, as he has just two home runs through June 3. Ward has started all but one game for the Orioles, consistently hitting first or second. As a result, he has 37 runs scored compared to just 17 RBI.

Ward took Tampa Bay starter Griffin Jax deep to left field to open the contest. It was his first round-tripper since April 19. It also wound up being Baltimore’s lone run of the contest as Jax and four relievers combined on an three-hit shutout the rest of the way.

Ward got the O’s on the board with a 394-foot (107.4 mph EV) three-run blast off of Joey Cantillo in the fifth inning, trimming their deficit to two runs at 5-3. The 32-year-old outfielder also singled in the contest. He has done a very nice job in his first year with the Orioles, slashing .295/.388/.445 with a homer, 11 RBI and one stolen base in his first 103 plate appearances.

Ward smacked a two-out single off of Adrian Houser in the fifth inning then raced around to score on Pete Alonso’s two-run double. He also singled to lead off the seventh and scored on an infield single off the bat of Colton Cowser. Ward is still looking for his first home run of the season, but is slashing a terrific .356/.435/.525 with 10 doubles, seven runs scored and eight RBI in his first 69 plate appearances with the O’s.

Ward had 36 homers and 31 doubles last year. Through 11 games this season, he has zero homers but an MLB-high nine doubles. A bit of a reversal was expected there with Ward trading Angel Stadium for Camden Yards, but it’s not a ballpark thing at all so far; none of Ward’s doubles would have been homers in any ballpark. In fact, his farthest pulled flyball to date this season was a 260-foot single. It’s probably all pretty meaningless at this point. Ward is hitting .383/.464/.574 and has eight RBI despite hitting only first and second.

As a team, the Orioles had eight hits in the contest, with Ward the only member of the O’s to tally more than one. He led off the fourth inning with a double off of Braxton Ashcraft then scored his club’s first run on an RBI double off the bat of Pete Alonso. While he has yet to hit a home run, Ward is off to a nice start with his new ballclub, slashing .343/.429/.457 with five RBI and a 9/6 K/BB ratio in his first 42 plate apperarnces.

Ward didn’t seem like the ideal choice to open as the Orioles’ leadoff hitter, but he done just fine there so far, batting .300 with a 4/3 K/BB. He is still looking for his first homer. Last year, he had 36 of those for the Angels, though he hit .228 with 175 strikeouts in the process.

Even against a right-handed pitcher, Ward will man the top spot in the lineup. That figures to be a valuable place in the order, given the caliber of hitters behind him. Ward was likely going too late in drafts and could be in for a big season in Baltimore. The rest of the Orioles’ lineup is: Taylor Ward LF, Gunnar Henderson SS, Pete Alonso 1B, Adley Rutschman C, Samuel Basallo DH, Tyler O’Neill RF, Colton Cowser CF, Coby Mayo 3B, and Blaze Alexander 2B.