The Baltimore Orioles saw their star closer return to the mound for the first time in nearly two years on Monday afternoon, and the results were about as good as they could have hoped for.
Felix Bautista suffered an elbow injury late in 2023 that kept him out all of 2024. He made his first appearance this spring training against the Boston Red Sox and sat the batters down in order.
Bautista did so with two strikeouts and a groundout.
When walking back to the dugout, he was met with a standing ovation from the home crowd filled with Orioles fans.
Félix Bautista strikes out two in his spring debut.
— Underdog MLB (@Underdog__MLB) March 3, 2025
Set to return from Tommy John surgery this year.pic.twitter.com/Ua6DOvqcUT
It was mentioned on the broadcast that his fastball has been gaining speed with every throwing session. He sat at 96 mph during his outing and even got up to 97 twice later in the inning.
When Bautista was last healthy, he was averaging 99.5 mph so there is still a little bit to go before he his back to that level of dominance.
Still, this was a good sign.
What was very promising is the fact that his splitter is looking dominant again. Pulling the rug out from underneath batters with that off-speed pitch in the mid-80s while having a high-90s fastball is what makes him so successful.
When healthy, the 29-year-old is one of the best closers in all of baseball.
He will look to quickly re-establish himself at the top, and outings like this will help his case.
Baltimore can let out a huge sigh of relief that he was able to go out, pitch a great inning and walk off the mound healthy in the spring as he gets ready for Opening Day.
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