The Orioles made another big splash in the international signing pool by securing 22 agreements on the first day.

The class includes 11 players from the Dominican Republic, six from Venezuela, four from Cuba and one from St. Thomas. Eight are pitchers, five are infielders, five are catchers and four are outfielders.

Highlighting the class are shortstop José Luis Peña, outfielder Johanse Gómez, shortstop Meykel Baro, shortstop Ronald Terrero, catcher Yeison Acosta, outfielder Lisandro Sanchez, left-hander Kelvin Zapata and catcher Jose Flores.

"I am very ecstatic to welcome these remarkable individuals and their families to Birdland,” Koby Perez, Orioles vice president of international scouting and operations, said in a statement. “We believe that we were able to introduce a new wave of exciting, young players this signing period. These efforts continue to be made possible only through the hard work and commitment of our staff, as well as the continued support of our international operations from Mike Elias and the partnership group.”

The Orioles had $6,908,600 in international bonus money.

DENVER - The Orioles are in Colorado for three games against the last-place Rockies, who are a bottom-three team in the majors. They are polar opposites of the Dodgers. It’s like drinking San Pellegrino or straight from the garden hose.

The clubs met at Camden Yards last summer and the Orioles won two of three, with each game decided by a single run. The Rockies won two of three in 2019 at Coors Field during the infant stages of the Orioles’ rebuild.

Known as “infant” because it made you cry every hour.

In the Orioles’ lone victory, Keon Broxton played center field and Stevie Wilkerson was in left. Hanser Alberto batted leadoff. Josh Lucas tossed three scoreless innings for his only major league save.

My only memory of that series isn’t Josh Lucas. It’s Broxton swinging at the first pitch thrown to him as an Oriole, by former prospect Jeff Hoffman, and hitting it 474 feet onto the left field concourse. Jaws dropped in the press box simultaneously, creating a sound louder than the home run.

The Orioles live by the next-man-up credo. Outfielder Austin Hays referred to it Friday night as a “mentality.” Manager Brandon Hyde and starter Cole Irvin used the phrase multiple times yesterday.

“We just rally together, we stick together,” Hays said, “and guys continue to just step up for one another.”

How many steps on the ladder before a hard fall?

The attitude is admirable but eventually can be overwhelmed by the reality of the situation. We didn’t know the severity of Kyle Bradish’s elbow injury until yesterday. Some soreness would have been the best news, though still a reason to put him back on the 15-day injured list and let it calm down.

The fan base would do the same.

PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Orioles are inching closer to a potentially tough roster decision. It won’t be their first or last.

Jorge Mateo is eligible to return from the seven-day concussion injured list on Monday. Connor Norby had his contract selected last Monday. The team could just reverse it and option Norby, who singled yesterday and is 3-for-14 with a home run since his promotion.

The bolder move would be to option Cedric Mullins, who went 0-for-3 with a walk yesterday and is 0-for-24 and 1-for-31.

We don’t know whether the Orioles have reached that point or gotten anywhere near it.

Mullins fell behind two strikes in his first at-bat, worked the count to 2-2 and struck out on a 97.6 mph fastball from Taj Bradley. He struck out on three pitches in the fifth, the last a 97.1 mph fastball, and popped up in the seventh with the count 2-2. He was down 1-2 in the ninth before walking, and he scored on Gunnar Henderson’s three-run shot.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The final exhibition start for Corbin Burnes was more of a tune-up for Opening Day. Get a few more innings and pitches under his belt and get him out of Florida healthy.

Burnes worked 5 1/3 innings tonight before Tyler Wells replaced him, allowing two runs (one earned) and five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He totaled 57 pitches, 44 for strikes in his fifth spring training appearance, and did more throwing in the bullpen.

Other work in camp was done on the back fields. Not everything that happens is for public viewing.

Burnes finishes with a 6.75 ERA in 16 innings.

“We’re in a great spot,” he said. “We were kind of at the point early on where we were trying to find the cutter a little bit, just the command of it. Off-speed stuff’s been great the whole camp, which usually comes pretty quickly for me. The last thing is as you kind of ramp up throwing, it’s all about finding the cutter and we did the last two, which has been really good.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – The first wave of John Means’ news in camp arrived on the first day, with executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias indicating to the gathered media that the former All-Star was a month behind the other starters and probably would begin the season on the injured list.

Nothing with the elbow that qualified as a setback. Just a lengthy delay in clearance to begin his throwing program.

At that time, the Orioles seemed to be aiming for an early April return to the rotation.

The next splash came earlier this week with manager Brandon Hyde confirming that Means wouldn’t pitch in an exhibition game.

The club is arranging live batting practice outings for Means, who also could start in simulated games on the back fields. But he’ll need to go on an injury rehab assignment before the Orioles activate him.

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles used the day that they could begin moving players to the 60-day injured list by deepening an outfield that wasn’t lacking in players.

Peyton Burdick was acquired from the Marlins this afternoon for cash considerations. The 40-man roster remains full after closer Félix Bautista, recovering from Tommy John surgery, was placed on the 60-day IL.

Burdick, who turns 27 in a few weeks, is a former third-round draft pick in 2019 out of Wright State University who’s batted .200/.281/.368 over parts of two seasons with the Marlins totaling 46 games. He has six doubles, five home runs, 13 RBIs and 53 strikeouts in 139 plate appearances.

Burdick appeared in 14 games last season and went 6-for-33 with two doubles and a homer. He’s a career .235/.353/.457 hitter in 396 minor league games who can play anywhere in the outfield.

The raw power, graded plus-plus by scouts, produced 24 home runs last summer in 114 games with Triple-A Jacksonville.

The Dominican dateline has disappeared. Back to business in the U.S.

It’s been pretty slow for the Orioles, who are busy trying to make deals but still have two openings on their 40-man roster. No additions to it since pitcher Jonathan Heasley in a trade with the Royals on Dec. 18. Closer Craig Kimbrel is the last major league signing on Dec. 6.

Here are a few random thoughts and observations as we reach another weekend and the latest snowstorm.

* Teams are checking on the availability of 19-year-old catcher Samuel Basallo. However, executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias doesn’t seem eager to move him.

No wonder.

Gunnar Henderson is due to receive another award.

It’s been an entire week.

Henderson, the Red Sox’s Triston Casas and the Rangers’ Josh Jung are finalists for Major League Baseball Players Association’s Outstanding Rookie in the American League.

Winners will be announced tonight during the 6 p.m. edition of SportsCenter on ESPN, reducing the odds that the program will drag out like the Oscars. Or any of the shows on MLB Network.

Cut out the song and dance numbers and get to the nominees.

The Orioles haven’t clinched the American League East, and that’s the item on manager Brandon Hyde’s mind. That’s where his focus lies this week. The unfinished business before the playoffs begin.

Has he thought about specific roles for players during the postseason?

“No,” he said.

Short and to the point.

I’m sure that the club has considered various options regarding the roster, who might be added depending on health, how the rotation could line up. But Hyde, while trying to be accommodating to the media, doesn’t want to get too far ahead of himself.

Ryan Mountcastle drew a painful walk tonight in the bottom of the first inning.

Losing him could severely hurt the Orioles.

Mountcastle fouled off a sinker from Cardinals' starter Drew Rom to leave the count 2-2, took two pitches out of the strike zone and headed to first base. He was grimacing and rotating his left arm as if experiencing shoulder discomfort.

Head athletic trainer Brian Ebel and manager Brandon Hyde checked on Mountcastle, who swung the arm back and forth and stayed in the game. But the pain was lingering.

He paced after every pitch in the top of the second, rubbed the shoulder, rotated his arm a few more times and at least twice removed the mitt. He followed Ebel down the dugout tunnel, but returned to the field in the top of the third.

Jordan Westburg stays in the Orioles lineup tonight and is batting fifth against left-hander Drew Rom.

James McCann is catching again, with Adley Rutschman serving as designated hitter. Gunnar Henderson is playing third base and Jorge Mateo is the shortstop.

Aaron Hicks is in center field, with Cedric Mullins on the bench.

For the Orioles
Adley Rutschman DH
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Anthony Santander RF
Austin Hays LF
Jordan Westburg 2B
Gunnar Henderson 3B
Aaron Hicks CF
James McCann C
Jorge Mateo SS

Kyle Gibson RHP

The Orioles aren’t ready to shut the door on Félix Bautista’s season. They don’t feel the urgency to make a declaration with 20 games remaining before the playoffs.

Bautista isn’t in their bullpen, but time is on their side.

Executive Vice President/General Manager Mike Elias confirmed today in a media session that Bautista has a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. An MRI revealed the damage, which is termed “acute-on-chronic.” A sudden injury that also results from use over a period of time.

Surgery to replace the ligament, or a Tommy John procedure, remains a possibility down the road, but the Orioles aren’t traveling it this month.

“The question is when and how to deal with that,” Elias said.

After going 7-2 on their road trip, the Orioles begin their penultimate homestand of the season with a three-game series against the Cardinals.

This is the first Cardinals visit to Baltimore since 2017, when the Orioles lost the first game 11-2 and won the next two 15-7 and 8-5.

Jordan Westburg came out of Saturday’s game in the seventh inning and wasn’t in yesterday’s lineup. He’s on the bench again tonight.

"Everybody's got little things going on right now," manager Brandon Hyde said on Saturday, adding yesterday that he didn’t have any other updates.

Austin Hays also is a reserve. Aaron Hicks is in left field.

BOSTON – Jack Flaherty walked to the bullpen for his pre-start warm-up this afternoon, reversed his tracks and headed back to the clubhouse. The claps of thunder, bolts of lightning and a warning for fans to leave the lower seating area and seek cover told Flaherty that he wasn’t going to throw his first pitch at the allotted time.

Any disruption could be unsettling for a guy with an 8.35 ERA in his previous four outings since an impressive debut with the Orioles. He was seeking calm, not the storm.

Justin Turner hit a two-run homer in the first inning, the damage lessened by Ryan Mountcastle’s diving stop and throw to rob Alex Verdugo. Flaherty got a new ball and stood halfway between the mound and second base to collect himself, tossing it in the air and catching it with his bare hand. He pounded his fist into his glove after Trevor Story’s fly ball to right field, the last out in a 26-pitch frame.

There’s more going on with Flaherty than the weather.

The Orioles scored five runs in the third, the last three on Aaron Hicks’ first homer since July 9, and two more in the fourth. They hit five home runs. They picked up their teammate, who was done after 3 1/3 innings. They wobbled but found their legs again.

The nine days between starts didn’t freshen Tyler Wells. The break busted his roll.

The Dodgers sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning, scored five runs and drained 40 pitches out of Wells, who didn’t return for the third in the Orioles’ 10-3 loss before an announced crowd of 22,775 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles will try Wednesday afternoon to avoid their first sweep since May 2022. A second straight loss lowered their record to 57-37.

Wells came close to duplicating the shortest start of his career, 1 2/3 innings against the Rays in April 2022. He lasted at least five in his first 18 appearances this season.

Jason Heyward hit a three-run homer with no outs in the second, lining a fastball over the center field fence for the 22^nd surrendered by Wells this season. The first five batters reached base, and Freddie Freeman and Will Smith had RBI singles.

NEW YORK – The pitcher who spun perfection in his last start knew early that he wouldn’t do it again tonight. The pitcher with the lowest WHIP in the majors tried to keep the bases clean and hold onto the lead.

Ryan O’Hearn ended Domingo Germán’s streak of consecutive outs at 30 with a leadoff single in the second inning, and he drove in a run in the third. History could take a hike.

Tyler Wells stayed stingy until surrendering back-to-back home runs to Anthony Volpe and Kyle Higashioka with two outs in the fifth. Wells stranded two in the sixth, manager Brandon Hyde went to his bullpen and the lead was gone.

Harrison Bader hit a 415-foot, three-run homer off Danny Coulombe in the eighth to shatter a tie, and the Orioles began their final road trip before the All-Star break with a 6-3 loss to the Yankees before a sellout crowd of 46,015.

Not everyone drives to the Hamptons for the holiday.

Don’t be fooled by the smile.

Logan Gillaspie knows when it’s appropriate to be a nice guy. Like, for instance, when teammates, club employees and reporters walk over to his locker. When he’s around his family or is approached by a fan.

Pretty much anytime except when he’s pitching.

The Orioles recalled Gillaspie from Triple-A Norfolk Monday morning and gave him another chance in their bullpen. They kept him busy after taking him north, with appearances made on March 30 and April 1, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12 and 15.

Gillaspie didn’t allow a run or hit in his first three games over 1 2/3 innings. Four of the next five were harsh, including his final outing in the 10^th inning in Chicago. The automatic runner scored, and so did pinch-runner Seby Zavala after back-to-back singles by Jake Burger and Oscar Colás.

CHICAGO – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said infielder Ramón Urías is much better today after being hit on the left side of his head yesterday by a 96.2 mph sinker.

Urías is in concussion protocol, but the club is waiting on a roster decision.

“It’s a head contusion,” Hyde said. “We’re still doing some further testing, but woke up feeling a lot better, and we feel great about that.”

The ball nailed Urías behind the ear and sent him sprawling to the dirt. He was able to walk off the field under his own power with Hyde and assistant athletic trainer Mark Shires.

“He’s got a pretty big bruise and welt,” Hyde said.

CHICAGO – Orioles infielder Ramón Urías remains in concussion protocol, making him off-limits to the media. He was in the clubhouse this morning, but he’s out of the lineup for the series finale against the White Sox in rainy and windy Chicago.

There’s no sign of infielder Joey Ortiz or a roster move. The Orioles could wait through Monday’s off-day to make their decision.

Manager Brandon Hyde will provide more information during his media session.

Gunnar Henderson is the third baseman today and Adam Frazier is playing second base. Terrin Vavra is in right field.

Anthony Santander is serving as the designated hitter.