SARASOTA, Fla. — Albert Suárez set the bar high for the Orioles’ nonroster invitees last season, grabbing coaches’ attention with his high velocity and overpowering pitch mix to earn a roster spot out of spring training after pitching overseas for a few years. This spring, another right-handed pitcher in his 30s is looking to follow a similar path.

Rodolfo Martinez, 30, has been an early standout at Orioles camp, turning heads with his upper-90s mph fastball and arsenal of pitches that includes a slider, splitter and sinker. The former San Francisco Giants prospect has never pitched in the major leagues and he bounced between the Dominican Republic, Japan and Mexico since being cut in 2020, but he returned to the U.S. this year amid offers from multiple teams interested in seeing whether he can unlock his potential.

“There were several teams, including the [New York] Yankees, but I decided to sign here because I felt like I had a good opportunity to perform and help the team win,” Rodolfo said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones.

“I want to demonstrate my talent, do a lot of good work and just be a part of the team.”

Martinez threw his second live bullpen session of the spring Wednesday and fared well against a group that included several Orioles starters. With the caveat that pitchers are usually ahead of hitters this early in spring, Martinez struck out Colton Cowser, Gunnar Henderson and Ramón Laureano. Adley Rutschman hit a groundball to the right side that might have been a single in an actual game and Jordan Westburg walked on a 3-2 count.

He had already performed well during his first session against fellow nonroster invitees on the back fields Sunday, but his outing Wednesday came on the main field at Ed Smith Stadium with manager Brandon Hyde and executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias watching from the stands.

“I think he offers a great challenge for those guys,” said catcher Maverick Handley, who was behind the plate for him Wednesday. “That’s a big league arm. So, yeah, you’re going to see some backwards Ks. He made some outstanding pitches today.”

Martinez still has plenty left to prove. The Orioles’ first Grapefruit League game is scheduled for Saturday and he’ll have to translate that success into results during exhibition play to get a real, hard look from Baltimore’s front office. He also faces a crowded roster with no obvious spots being decided by an open competition.

It might take an injury for him to break camp with the team, but the Orioles are already hopeful they’ve found something in the journeyman reliever.

“You never want to get overly excited in spring training, especially early, but when a guy is throwing high 90s with a split like that and a slider he can throw for strikes, that does open your eyes,” Hyde said. “So, I’d never seen him throw before and that was exciting.”

Zack Britton is back … sort of

For the first time since they traded him to the Yankees in 2018, Zack Britton put on an Orioles jersey this week as a guest coach helping pitchers. While he isn’t working full-time like his brother, Buck, the two-time All-Star has been a frequent presence during bullpen sessions and a sounding board for some of the club’s young pitchers this week.

“I was wanting to get back into the organization a little bit, but I was just waiting to see where my brother ended up,” Zack said. “I just want to be around my brother and, wherever he was going to be, whether it was here or somebody else, I wasn’t really sure. You never know how that stuff’s going to shake out. But now that he’s back, it’s obviously a perfect fit for me to get involved.”

Zack, 37, retired following the 2023 season after Tommy John elbow surgery limited him to three appearances with the Yankees in 2022 and he never latched on with another team. One of the best relievers in baseball in his prime, the left-hander won the American League Reliever of the Year Award and finished fourth in the league’s Cy Young Award voting in 2016.

Now that he’s stepped away from the game, he’s had the chance to watch his brother break into the majors as a coach. The Orioles promoted Buck, their Triple-A Norfolk manager since 2022, to Hyde’s staff this offseason. He holds the title of “major league coach” and said Sunday he’ll have a “Swiss Army knife” role that includes working with the infielders and being a bridge of communication with the organization’s minor league staff.

“We got to spend some time on the field together in Triple-A when we were playing, but he was a little more serious back then. I think now — he’s unemployed, so I’m the guy who’s still hanging on here, but it’ll be fun,” Buck joked before Zack arrived. “I’ll get to tell stories. Probably lie a little bit about him, but in my favor. No, it’ll be fun. I just want to see him hit a fungo [bat] because I don’t know if he can handle that.”

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