Orioles catching prospect Chance Sisco will headline a list of 12 non-roster invitees who will report to Sarasota for spring training next week.
The group includes several veterans with major league experience such as infielder Robert Andino and outfielder Chris Dickerson — who both served previous stints with Baltimore — but Sisco will receive a look in major league camp for the second straight spring. Considered the Orioles’ catcher of the future, the 21-year-old is projected to begin the 2017 season at Triple-A Norfolk where he hit two home runs in 18 plate appearances at the end of last season.
With free agent Matt Wieters not expected to return, the Orioles signed veteran Welington Castillo to a one-year, $6 million contract with a player option for 2018 in mid-December. Incumbents Caleb Joseph and Francisco Pena will compete for the backup job behind Castillo, but Sisco’s offensive potential makes him a possibility to be promoted to the majors sooner than later if he can make strides defensively.
In 479 plate appearances for Double-A Bowie last year, the left-handed batter posted a .320 average with four home runs, 28 doubles, 44 runs batted in, and a .406 on-base percentage. That production earned him an invitation to the All-Star Futures Game in San Diego where he hit a homer.
The non-roster invitee list includes four pitchers: right-handers Nate Adcock, Richard Rodriguez, and Zach Stewart as well as lefty Jed Bradley. Catchers Yermín Mercedes and Audry Pérez, infielder Johnny Giavotella, and outfielders Logan Schafer and David Washington round out the list of 12.
The Orioles will hold their first official spring workout on Feb. 14.
