Since the middle of February, there’s hardly been a day in which the Orioles batters haven’t picked up a bat and swung at live pitching. The grind through spring training led to a 162-game marathon and an American League East title at the end of it.

And suddenly, as a reward for the top overall postseason seed, Baltimore has five days without a baseball game for the first time in eight months.

There’s a fine line, though, between the much-needed rest and equally vital preparation for the American League Division Series against either the Tampa Bay Rays or Texas Rangers. So the Orioles took the field Tuesday night under the lights at Camden Yards, attempting to strike that balance before their first postseason series since 2016.

“We want to give them as many live at-bats as possible,” Orioles co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller said.

The approach is more or less what is becoming commonplace for teams with a bye through the wild-card round. Last year, the postseason format changed to introduce an expanded wild-card round. With a three-game series, there’s more downtime for the first and second seeds. Last season, the second-seeded Atlanta Braves lost in four games to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Braves opted for rest in those five off days. They might’ve been hit with rust instead.

This time, Atlanta is engaging in more vigorous postseason workouts ahead of its National League Division Series. And Baltimore is following suit.

Monday was an off day, and while right-hander Grayson Rodriguez threw two simulated innings against live batters Tuesday, it was a relatively light day for most of Baltimore’s players. Wednesday and Thursday, meanwhile, will ramp up in intensity somewhat.

“You’ve gotta have some kind of game influence,” outfielder Aaron Hicks said. “You’re hitting, hit the ball, run to first, do something where it’s more game-like. It’s tough when you have a long time off. The more you make it more game-like, the better.”

Last year, when Hicks was with the New York Yankees, he doesn’t remember the same intensity during their five-day gap between Game 162 and the beginning of the ALDS. The Yankees threw simulated games, but they didn’t run the bases or play in the outfield, Hicks said. New York went on to lose in the American League Championship Series.

The postseason, of course, is a toss-up. Whether it’s rest or rust, it’ll be credited or blamed for whatever the Orioles wind up doing in the ALDS.

“We just gotta practice game-speed as much as possible,” infielder Ramón Urías said, “so whenever the games do come, we’re ready.”

There will be more live bullpen sessions on the field over the next few days. And when pitchers aren’t throwing, Fuller said Baltimore’s coaching staff will mimic the arms on the Rangers and Rays to prepare the Orioles for both teams.

In that way, the Orioles are making the most of these five days.

“When they can’t see arms, we’ll be in the cage giving them velo work on the machines, we’ll be giving them spin ball work with sliders, curveballs, every angle possible,” Fuller said. “We have an idea of what the Rays and Rangers have, and we’ll be able to simulate as best we can with arms and machines what they’re going to see, to make sure they’re seeing the speed and shapes they’re going to see come Saturday.”

andy.kostka@thebaltimorebanner.com