SARASOTA, Fla. — Tomoyuki Sugano’s answer about his success so far this spring — and his mastery Sunday — was humble and confident at the same time.

The Japanese superstar knows it’s just spring training. He knows these games don’t count. He knows this is the first time any of these hitters — any American hitters, really — have faced him.

That’s why he said the following after he tossed three more scoreless innings Sunday to bring his total this spring to seven: “It’s early to decide whether it’s working or not because these are all new hitters that I’m facing,” he said through team interpreter Yuto Sakurai.

But the results Sunday against the visiting Minnesota Twins were undeniable: zero base runners and five strikeouts in three innings.

“Overall,” he said, “I’m doing what I’m able to do, so everything’s working out.”

The Orioles signed Sugano, one of the most decorated pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball history, for $13 million this offseason to bolster the club’s rotation depth. With Grayson Rodriguez’s injury, though, Baltimore will rely even more on the 35-year-old rookie to overcome the adjustment period coming over from Japan and produce right away.

The way he looked Sunday against half of the Twins’ starting lineup imbued confidence about Sugano’s ability to do just that.

“I thought the fastball command was excellent to both sides of the plate, really good split, worked ahead of hitters the entire three innings he was out there,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I thought the fastball had life to it. I thought he was really, really sharp.”

While he tossed four scoreless frames across his first two spring starts, Sugano wasn’t nearly as sharp as he was Sunday. He allowed six base runners across those four innings and struck out only two batters.

Sunday, the only hard contact he surrendered were high fly balls, and he displayed how his six-pitch mix can generate punchouts even if that’s not an integral part of his style. Three of Sugano’s five strikeouts Sunday were looking. Even more impressive, all three were against left-handed batters who should, in theory, perform better against a righty.

The first was a back-door cutter that got Trevor Larnach looking. The second was a front-door two-seamer that froze Edouard Julien. The third was a slow back-door breaking ball that Mike Ford watched flutter into the strike zone.

Sugano isn’t a strikeout pitcher. He struck out just 18.3% of batters last season in Japan, though he posted a sparkling 1.67 ERA en route to being named NPB’s Central League MVP. Ryan O’Hearn, who watched Sugano carve up the Twins from first base, spoke highly of his new teammate’s style and stuff.

“Today was beautiful,” O’Hearn said. “It’s a ton of strikes. It’s a great tempo. It’s a great pace to play defense behind. He throws harder than I thought he did. I’m really excited about him, and today he looked great.”

Still, it’s just spring training. None of this will matter in a few weeks when Sugano takes the mound for his first official MLB start. But, for now, this is all Sugano has, and he’s happy with it.

“Overall, I’m having a great day on a daily basis,” he said. “The team, everybody’s welcoming. I’m having fun every day.”

Party like it’s 2023: Last year, the Orioles were one of the best power-hitting teams in baseball. Anthony Santander, Gunnar Henderson and the rest of the Orioles’ sluggers combined for 235 homers, ranking second in MLB.

Despite the power surge, it felt at times as if the offense was lacking one of the defining features of the 2023 team that won 101 games. Those Orioles were scrappy, frequently extending innings with two-strike hits, opposite-field line drives and an aggressive style on the basepaths that put pressure on opposing defenses. The 2024 Orioles didn’t have that same pluck.

The club is hoping to marry both strategies in 2025, combining the stick-to-itiveness of 2023 with the thump of 2024. Sunday provided a flashback to two years ago when the Orioles scored three runs off Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson thanks to some pesky small ball.

“It was my favorite inning so far this spring,” Hyde said. “We ran the bases really well. We put the ball in play with runners in scoring position. Shortened swings with two strikes. Singles to drive in runners.”

All three runs they scored were unearned because of two errors by Minnesota’s first baseman, but those were a result of the Orioles putting the ball in play and utilizing their speed. Jackson Holliday attempted to bunt for a hit, and while the ball barely trickled foul, he later put the ball in play, forcing an error that put Ramón Laureano on third base. Holliday then stole second base — his latest swipe as he looks to make that a bigger part of his game — and then raced home from second after another throwing error. O’Hearn and Colton Cowser then both smacked opposite-field singles to cap off the rally that brought home three runs without the Orioles striking an extra-base hit.

Hyde hopes to see more innings like that one, hoping it will cure what ailed the offense in 2024’s second half.

“That’s something we didn’t do as well last year that we need to get better at,” he said. “We have the athletic ability to put pressure on defenses and do what we did that inning, so I’d like to see more of it.”

O’Hearn agrees and said he’s advocated for a more contract-focused approach during hitter’s meetings this spring.

“From the defensive point of view, for me, it’s when teams are striking out a lot, it’s an easier, less stressful time on defense,” he said. “When guys are putting balls in play and you know they’re going to put the ball in play, a ball finds a hole, first to third less than two outs, and here we go, runs are going on the board. For me, putting the ball in play is probably the biggest thing we can do.”

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer @baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.