When he wasn’t working on an almond farm, Orioles minor league catcher Brett Cumberland had a unique choice to make on where he would get his hitting work in during the 2020 minor league shutdown: barn or chicken coop?
Back home in Turlock, California, instead of enjoying what could have been a breakout season for the under-the-radar catching prospect, Cumberland continued his development in a place he says “keeps you in your roots.”
Now, he’s one of a handful of young players at Orioles camp this spring who are trying to make an impression on manager Brandon Hyde and the coaching staff without much meaningful baseball experience in the past 18 months.