SARASOTA, Fla. – Mychal Givens threw 10 pitches this morning in his simulated game on the stadium mound, walked away from it gingerly and fired his glove against the railing as he neared the dugout. He shouted in frustration, the pat on his shoulder seconds earlier from head athletic trainer Brian Ebel unable to comfort him.

Givens experienced more pain in his left knee and returned to the trainers’ room for treatment and further evaluation. The Orioles aren’t ready to pronounce him unavailable for Opening Day, but all signs point to a stint on the injured list.

Anthony Santander lined Givens’ second pitch into left-center field. Jordan Westburg and Franchy Cordero also were in the hitting group before the session shut down.

Manager Brandon Hyde spoke to the media a few minutes later and didn’t have many details to share.

“He walked off with some knee discomfort this morning throwing his sim game,” Hyde said. “Just getting checked out right now.”

The Orioles sent out their list of non-roster invites to spring training yesterday with the understanding that other names could appear later. Thirty wasn’t a set number. There’s always room for Jell-O and more lockers at the Ed Smith Stadium complex.

Within hours, left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez cleared outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. He, too, will be in Sarasota, giving the Orioles 38 pitchers in camp, including 12 of the non-roster variety.

The possibility still exists that the Orioles make a waiver claim, sign a free agent or consummate another trade. They aren’t shutting down.

“We’re still working on stuff,” executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said yesterday during a Q&A with fans at Wilde Lake High School.

Could be pitching, an infielder or an outfielder. And it could be a major league contract.

The 2022 season is winding down, except that the Orioles want to get it cranked up again after the last game on Oct. 5.

Playoffs? Yes, we’re talking playoffs.

Reflection can come later, when bodies sink into recliners and every minute of time spent at ballparks and long flights is felt from head to toe.

But enough about the beat crew.

Here are three more early reflections, as I try to avoid the winter rush:

The Orioles continue to play a series of low-scoring close games at Oriole Park, with the new wall dimensions this year no doubt contributing greatly to that. Last night the teams combined for just three runs on 11 hits as the Twins beat the Orioles 2-1 to start a four-game series.

The Orioles went 2-4 versus the Twins last year and have now lost 17 of 20 to Minnesota since 2018. The Birds are 14-33 against the Twins since 2014.

The Orioles (8-15) scored nine runs – a season-high – in winning Sunday against the Red Sox. But they have scored just one, two and one run in the other three games around that one recently. So the offense remains remarkably inconsistent. This series the offense is matched up against a pitching staff that ranks second in the American League and fifth in the majors with a team ERA of 3.06. The Twins' rotation ERA of 2.58 is first in the AL and second in the majors.

The Twins (14-9) lead the AL Central by 3 ½ games over the Guardians and by 4 ½ games over the White Sox. Minnesota began the year going 4-8 but have now won 10 of 11 games, allowing just 23 runs in that span. In those 11 games, the Twins have a plus-33 run differential.

Tonight’s game features a marquee pitching matchup between two somewhat unheralded pitchers that have put up excellent numbers to begin the 2022 season. It’s O’s left-hander Bruce Zimmermann (1-1, 0.93 ERA) against Twins right-hander Joe Ryan (3-1, 1.17 ERA).