Nearly 48,000-square-foot facility debuts at Ed Smith Stadium ahead of pitchers and catchers reporting tomorrow

SARASOTA, Fla. — Spring training is right around the corner, but this year things will look a little different in Sarasota — especially for the Baltimore Orioles.

The day before pitchers and catchers were set to report, the team revealed its new player development complex at Ed Smith Stadium. It’s a nearly 48,000-square-foot facility designed to enhance movement, conditioning and rehab while modernizing the club’s spring training home.

Some of the names to watch out for this spring training, if you’re coming to an Orioles game at 2700 12th Street, include Taylor Ward, newly plucked from the Los Angeles Angels’ outfield, hoping to add some pop to Baltimore’s scoreboard. Plus, Trey Gibson, the righty, was named the organization’s 2025 Minor League Pitcher of the Year. With those new faces on the roster, the team’s spring training setup is also getting a new look.

The complex made its debut Monday with new batting cages, a covered bullpen and a modern player lounge. Orioles staff said the upgrades are aimed at improving player performance and attracting young talent to one of Florida’s 13 spring training sites.

“There is a lot of intentionality, allowing them to better train and hopefully get either better feedback loops or just the ability to train more efficiently,” said Matt Blood.

Blood, the Orioles’ vice president of player and staff development, said the design reflects a deliberate focus on functionality.

“There is a lot of intentionality in just the way the cages were designed, and our classrooms, the lab, or the eight-pack outside. All the things around, there is a lot of intentionality, allowing them to better train,” Blood said.

A 33,430-square-foot athletic development area focused on speed, movement, conditioning, rehab and injury prevention is now part of the outdoor turf agility field that is double the size of the previous agility area, the team’s director of Florida Grounds and Operations, Drew Wolcott, said.

The new layout allows players to move more seamlessly between training areas.

“Players can warm up on the plow mounds and have a real nice flow to either in here or out to the turf field to do long toss and warm up that way. Again, optimal functionality, optimal flexibility,” said Trevor Markham, senior director of Florida Operations.

The roof over portions of the facility, especially the eight-pack bullpen, is designed to mitigate weather impacts and protect technology used in training that can roll through even during Floridian winters.

“The roof being just weather-neutral, environmentally neutral, is going to help with just the tech component of things. Keeping devices cooler, help with the workload these guys are taking on every day,” Ryan Klimek, pitching strategy coach, said.

The upgrades come after an active offseason for Baltimore.

The team, which was in the basement of the American League East last year, signed Tampa native Pete Alonso, a product of Plant High School, in December. The slugging first baseman signed as one of the biggest moves during Baltimore’s offseason at $155 million for five years.

The team opens its spring training slate Friday, Feb. 20, at 1:05 p.m. at Ed Smith Stadium against the Yankees. For their full schedule, click here.