Kinney, Bordick get ready to start spring training Bangor righty seeks spot in rotation

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Baseball spring training begins in the next couple of weeks and that means two eastern Mainers will report to their major league clubs. Both are coming off memorable seasons.

Winterport and Hampden Academy’s Mike Bordick was traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the New York Mets on July 28 and received the opportunity to play in the first Subway (World) Series since 1956. The Yankees prevailed, however.

The 35-year-old Bordick became a free agent in the offseason and signed a two-year deal with the Orioles. He will make more than $4 million per year.

Former Bangor High School ace righthander Kinney, who turned 24 in December, made his major league debut for the Minnesota Twins last season and compiled a 2-2 record and a 5.10 earned run average in eight starts.

Bordick and Kinney are looking forward to spring training.

Kinney realized a lifelong dream last season by pitching in the major leagues and he followed that with an impressive stint in the Arizona Fall League where his ERA was in the 1.50 range for his 22 innings of work.

“I concentrated on throwing my off-speed pitches for strikes,” said Kinney, referring to his curve and changeup. “I got to work on things against quality competition. When I’d get into a jam, I’d resort to what I knew I could do.”

What he knew he could do was go after the hitters with his 94 mph fastball and nasty slider.

Kinney met with Twins general manager and vice president Terry Ryan in Minneapolis for Twinsfest recently and Kinney is hopeful of a starting role.

“He basically told me there is a spot for me in the starting rotation but not to feel too comfortable because there are some guys right behind me,” Kinney said.

“I’m excited about it. But I’m not taking anything for granted,” he added. “There’s no question in my mind that I can pitch in the big leagues. It’s now a matter of becoming more consistent and learning something every day.”

This will be his third spring training with the Twins “but this will be the first time I’ve had a legitimate shot to make the team.”

Kinney had five quality starts among his eight last season. A quality start requires a pitcher to go at least six innings and hold the opposition to three earned runs or less.

He held righthanded hitters to a .194 batting average. The 1995 Bangor High School graduate struck out 24, walked 25 and allowed 41 hits, including seven homers, in 42? innings.

“Last year felt like a blur. It was the best year I’ve ever had. Now I’ve got to settle in and use the experience I received to take into this year. My confidence and concentration are better,” added Kinney.

The 6-foot-5, 224-pound Kinney has been working out at a gym and at the Twins’ training facility in Fort Myers, Fla.

He said playing in state championship basketball and baseball games at Bangor High School have helped prepare him for his pro career.

“Playing in a state championship game, at that point in time, was as big to me as pitching against Roger Clemens in Yankee Stadium like I did last year,” said Kinney. “Playing in those games made a [positive] difference. I got a lot of good experience at a young age.”

Kinney also played on a state championship Bangor West Little League All-Star team in 1989.

The sixth-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 1995, who was traded to the Twins in 1998, had bone chips removed from his right elbow in 1999.

Bordick is coming off a year during which he set personal highs for homers (20) and runs batted in (80) and hit a solid .285.

“Last year was a fun year,” said Bordick. “I had a great time and a lot of personal things happened that surprised me. I never thought I’d hit 20 homers in the big leagues.”

Bordick, who committed 16 errors in 156 games and played errorless ball in the postseason, has worked out regularly in preparation for the season.

“I always want to get better every offseason. I want to improve physically and mentally and learn from what happened last year,” said Bordick. “I want to build on last year. That was the approach I took into the offseason.”

Bordick works out with Orioles strength and conditioning coach Tim Bishop and he said he has increased his speed for the third straight year.

That not only helps his base-running, it also improves his range at shortstop.

He has stolen 23 bases in 33 attempts over the past two seasons.

The former University of Maine star continues to seek consistency in all facets of the game.

He doesn’t consider himself a power hitter but said, “I’ll try to keep hitting doubles in the gaps and maybe a few will fly out.”

And how does he expect his Orioles to do after they traded away several veterans and saw ace right Mike Mussina sign a free agent deal with the Yankees?

“We’ll be counted out by a lot of people. With the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays in our division [American League East], it’s going to be hard,” said Bordick. “But maybe we’ll surprise some people. Some of the young guys who were here for the second half of the season played really well.

“Hopefully, a couple of guys can have breakout years and there will be some surprises out of the pitching staff. I think [righthander] Sidney Ponson has the potential to be a 20-game winner; Jason Johnson has a great arm and Pat Hentgen is a great veteran pitcher. Hopefully, things will fall into place.”