Tyler O'Neill would have been in today's Orioles lineup except he's dealing with an illness, according to manager Brandon Hyde, who met with the media in Sarasota for his daily pregame dugout session.

O'Neill hit a ball Thursday against the Blue Jays that cleared the concourse in left field for a three-run homer. He didn't make the trip to Fort Myers yesterday, but he wasn't going to play anyway. It didn't raise any red flags.

Starter Charlie Morton also was out of camp recently due to an illness and he made a quick return.

Dylan Beavers is starting in left field today as a late addition to the lineup.

Hyde also said that Jordan Westburg is feeling better and has been cleared for light baseball activities. He isn't swinging a bat because of the soreness in his lower back that's kept him out of the lineup since last Saturday's exhibition opener, but he's able to play catch.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Zach Eflin makes his exhibition debut this afternoon, with the Orioles traveling to Fort Myers to play the Twins.

Gary Sánchez is behind the plate for Eflin.

Coby Mayo gets the start at first base.

Jackson Holliday is leading off and playing second base. Colton Cowser is in center field, Heston Kjerstad in left and Dylan Carlson in right.

Liván Soto, who’s 3-for-6 with two doubles, is the shortstop.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was asked a few days ago about a drama-free camp, how the only injuries were sustained prior to the report dates. The conversation included warnings about the risks of jinxing it.

Here we are.

We learned earlier today that Jordan Westburg hasn’t played since Saturday due to lower-back soreness. And shortstop Gunnar Henderson exited today’s game after one inning with lower right side discomfort.

No further details are available. Manager Brandon Hyde will provide an update in his post-game media scrum.

Henderson made a nice running grab of Bo Bichette’s line drive in the first. He led off the bottom of the inning with a ground ball to first baseman Will Wagner, who bobbled it and flipped to pitcher Easton Lucas.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The transition is in such a young phase that some players don’t know whether changes are forthcoming in the way that the Orioles teach hitting or to what extent. Whether the general philosophy will be tweaked. If the approach will be scrambled a bit from the past.

The full squad didn’t have its first workout until Tuesday. Meetings are on the docket. But the early impressions are that the key attributes will go untouched.

Co-hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte are gone. Fuller is the White Sox’s director of hitting and Borgschulte returned to the Twins as hitting coach. The entire setup is scrambled with Cody Asche promoted to offensive strategy coach and the Orioles employing Tommy Joseph and Sherman Johnson as co-coaches. Johnson also remains in his role as upper-level hitting coordinator. Joseph is the lone outsider after spending last summer with the Mariners.

“I think we’ve got a good lineup, so I think they’re just gonna let us do most of our own thing but give us some feedback here and there and whatever information they can to help us succeed,” said first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. “I think last year they did a really good job of it and I’m sure this group will, too.”

“Obviously, one new face,” said shortstop Gunnar Henderson. “Asche and Sherm, they’ve been here It’s familiar to us. We still have kind of a core of the same teachings, but just other things we’re going to try out and continue to work at.”

The pain has faded, but it took a while. The postseason silence in a clubhouse can ring in a player’s ears.

The Orioles won the American League East in 2023 and were swept by the Rangers in the best-of-five Division Series. They earned the top Wild Card in 2024 and were swept by the Royals in the best-of-three series.

Winning 192 games in the past two seasons doesn’t lessen the disappointment of those abrupt finishes. Making the playoffs three straight years for the first time since 1969-71 won’t mean much if eyes are filled with tears again and hugs are given to console rather than celebrate.

“That’s my No. 1 goal and it’s been my No. 1 goal since I’ve been up in the big leagues is to make a strong playoff push, and it stinks that we haven’t really done that,” shortstop Gunnar Henderson said at last week’s Birdland Caravan. “That’s something that I’m really looking forward to going through this year is getting over that hump and making a strong push.”

That hump has looked 50 feet tall, with the streak of playoff game defeats reaching 10 in a row dating back to the 2014 Championship Series. The Orioles had their roster battered by injuries last year but competed into October before their championship dreams died again.

The second day of the Birdland Caravan brings 10 players to PBR Baltimore at Power Plant Live! Perhaps a few of them will be convinced to sing Karaoke. Riding the mechanical bull might not be included among permissible activities in their contracts.

That’s a difficult injury story to write. It might throw me.

Colton Cowser, Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn, Jordan Westburg, Albert Suárez, Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott will make appearances between 6-8 p.m. Seven of them seem like locks to occupy the Opening Day roster, an eighth remains a favorite but becomes more vulnerable if another pitcher arrives, and two probably need some breaks to avoid Triple-A.

Cowser

The runner-up for American League Rookie of the Year should get heavy usage again after appearing in 153 games last season.

Let’s take a look today at the longball. Hitting homers was something the 2024 Orioles did quite well, about as well as any team in the majors last year and they were among the best power-hitting teams in 71 years of Orioles baseball.

The Birds hit 235 home runs to rank second-best in the American League and in the majors to the Yankees, who hit 237.

In the 2023 season there were a whopping 13 teams that hit 200 or more home runs, led by Atlanta that led MLB that season hitting 307. That Braves team with 307 tied the 2019 Minnesota Twins for most homers in a single-season in MLB history. The only other club ever to hit 300 or more was the 2019 Yankees with 306.

In 2024, there were six MLB teams hitting 200 or more:

237 – Yankees
235 – Orioles
233 – Dodgers
213 – Braves
211 – Diamondbacks
207 – Mets

Major League Baseball’s best shortstop, right now, is the Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson. So says MLB Network during its Top Ten Right Now series that has been airing in recent days.

Well not everyone at the network feels that way but the “shredder” does which is MLB Network’s model that I presume takes all the stats and data and provides a formula for ranking the players.

It’s quite an honor when you consider who Henderson is up against.

Here is their official top 10:

1) Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles.

Four NFL playoffs games this weekend and a forecast calling for a wintry mix turning to snow. This is football weather. This is one reason why so many baseball fans count down the days until pitchers and catchers report.

The Orioles keep checking the pitching market with the possibility of making another move. I keep checking the mailbag and deciding when to share.

Let’s dig out a dozen questions before shoveling snow. Thanks for your participation and your patience.

Any clarity on five- or six-man starting rotation?
The Orioles don’t seem interested in breaking camp with six starters but won’t completely dismiss it. Here’s what executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias told me recently: “We’ve had kind of, I’d say, low-intensity discussions about that possibility. Right now, that is not the plan, but it could turn into the plan. We’re not in a hurry to make that decision. We’ll see where we’re at as camp’s going. I think our schedule has a lot of off-days in April and May, and that might make it a little less beneficial to do the six-man, but we want to hold off on that decision until we just get a better sense of how everyone’s throwing and the kind of things that don’t reveal themselves until much later in camp.”

Do you think Brandon Young will make his MLB debut as a starter or reliever?
The easy pick is starter because that’s what he is, but there’s always the possibility that he fills an emergency-type need in the bullpen. Maybe the Orioles suddenly need a long man and want to introduce him to the majors. Always be prepared to pivot from a development plan. But I’ll still guess starter. For instance, if a 27^th man is needed to start in a doubleheader. Yeah, let’s go there.

The important dates in the offseason are dwindling, a notable exception being the international signing period for amateur free agents that begins today. Arbitration hearings start on Jan. 27. Spring training is right around the corner, with Orioles pitchers and catchers reporting Feb. 12 and the first full-squad workout held on the 18^th.

Wedged within these milestones is the three-day Birdland Caravan that replaced the annual FanFest event in 2020 and was canceled the next two winters by the pandemic and baseball’s lockout.

Ten players have committed to the tour: Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle, Colton Cowser. Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, Ryan O’Hearn, Albert Suárez, Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde also will attend.

Elias, Hyde and Cowser have granted past media access this offseason, with the young outfielder holding a media scrum at the Winter Meetings after announcing the draft lottery results. He’s a confirmed participant with his nine teammates at the Jan. 31 Karaoke Happy Hour at PBR Baltimore in Power Plant Live!, and to appear at Bowlero Columbia, the Kids Rally in Severn and the PLAY Ball Rookie Clinic at Meadowbrook Athletic Complex on Feb. 1.

Cowser will have another chance to field questions about finishing as runner-up to Yankees pitcher Luis Gil for American League Rookie of the Year. Gil totaled 106 points and Cowser 101. He also can discuss the hand that was fractured in Game 2 of the Wild Card series and the exact nature of his surgery, his offseason workouts and attempts to become more consistent at the plate, playing left field with the wall moved in, and sharing an outfield with Tyler O’Neill.

The Birdland Caravan returns for another three-day winter tour beginning on Jan. 30 at multiple locations throughout the region, and the list of Orioles participants includes high-profile players Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle and Colton Cowser. Jordan Westburg and former No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday also are scheduled to make appearances.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde will attend select events. Other players include Ryan O’Hearn, Albert Suárez, Cade Povich and pitching prospect Chayce McDermott.

Caravan stops will be made throughout the state, including Baltimore, Bel Air, Columbia, Ellicott City, Halethorpe and Severn, plus “surprise locations” in Frederick, Harford and Montgomery counties. Fans in Pasadena and Westminster will get the chance to meet and take photos with the Oriole Bird, Mr. Splash and the Camden Franks.

A new feature is the requirement of tickets to attend several events, such as the Kids Rally in Severn, the bowling experience at Bowlero in Columbia, the Orioles PLAY BALL Rookie Clinic in Ellicott City, the Rip and Play event at Bel Air Sports Cards, and every Happy Hour.

Fans must purchase tickets in advance at Orioles.com/Caravan due to limited availability. Profits will benefit the Orioles Charitable Foundation supporting impactful community initiatives and programs.

The Orioles will play a game, a spring training game, for the first time on February 22^nd at home versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. How their lineup will look that day is not important. Can’t read anything into a spring training lineup, especially not the first one of spring.

But how might that lineup look on Opening Day, March 27^th at 3:07 p.m. at Rogers Centre against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Rather than wait for that big day, we could make a guess today. Doesn’t cost anything and no matter what we project, no one will get hurt. Unless it’s a player’s feelings that we leave out. But that’s rather unlikely too, so let’s proceed.

First the Blue Jays project to have five righties in their rotation possibly starting with Kevin Gausman or Jose Berrios. So we know it’s likely going to be a right-hander versus the Orioles that day and we’ll go with that.

Everyone’s lineup might be different for different reasons. Here is mine as of Jan. 13.

In Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson the Orioles have two young, talented players that could be considered faces of this franchise. Two players that were their first two selections in the 2019 MLB Draft. The first two players selected by Mike Elias after he was hired by the Orioles.

In the 2025 season, based off their play last year, the Orioles surely expect improvement from Rutschman after his disappointing second half. Henderson could improve too, but he had a season in 2024 that put him among the very best players in the game.

Can Gunnar find another gear?: Asking more out of Henderson based on his 2024, is asking a lot. He improved his batting line in each stat category, hitting .255/.325/.489/.814 in 2023 and last year that was .281/.364/.529/.893 as his OPS+ increased from 125 to 159.

How good was he in 2024? He was the third-best position player in baseball-reference Wins Above Replacement and ranked fifth in FanGraphs.com's WAR.

Via baseball-reference.com, Aaron Judge led all at 10.8 followed by Bobby Witt Jr. at 9.4 and then Henderson at 9.1. Juan Soto was fifth by the way, behind Jarren Duran at 7.9. Via FanGraphs, it was Judge leading the way at 11.2, Witt at 10.4 and Shohei Ohtani at 9.1 with Soto at 8.1 and Henderson at 8.0.

Today, it’s another edition, our pre-Holiday edition, of several questions for O’s fans. Per usual, answer one question or all of them. Respond to other readers' answers with your takes on their takes. 

On to the questions:

1) Where does right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano slot into the O’s rotation? And after going 15-3 with a 1.67 ERA in Japan, how well will he do for the 2025 Orioles?

2) Which player will bat leadoff the most next season?

3) Which player will lead the 2025 O’s in home runs and hit how many?

The work required to build the 26-man roster for Opening Day is a long way from completion. The surface hasn’t even been scratched.

At least one starter and reliever, a right-handed bat – likely for the outfield – and a backup catcher bring boxes that still need checking. The Orioles are on the clock but the ticking isn’t really that loud. Plenty of time remains to finish shopping before camp opens in mid-February. Plenty of names remain on the board who could fill specific needs of the club, and there are also trade talks that might produce upgrades.

This is the point in the offseason when I’m reminded of the gaps in the roster. A national publication is asking for a projected lineup, rotation, bullpen and bench. The list will be outdated in a few months, but that isn’t my problem.

The issue is coming up with 26 names.

Starting with the rotation, an Opening Day in December could line up Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, Trevor Rogers and Cade Povich, with the first two vying for the March 27 game in Toronto. Albert Suárez is a possibility, of course.

For as good a year as Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. had and same for the Yankees Juan Soto, we knew they were not going to win the American League's MVP award. On Thursday that went to New York’s Aaron Judge, who got all 30 first-place votes as a unanimous selection.

Witt was second in the voting, Soto was third and the Orioles' Gunnar Henerson was fourth. A strong showing for the Baltimore shortstop, who was eighth in the AL MVP vote in 2023 when he was the AL Rookie of the Year.

Soto finished with 229 points in the balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and Gunnar was at 208. On six of 30 ballots, the writer placed Henderson third, ahead of Soto.

What O’s fan would not celebrate that?

An Oriole being voted on a few ballots ahead of a Yankee, especially one with hot dog tendencies that has the cocky approach of Soto.

There is publicly available data from outlets like FanGraphs.com and BaseballSavant.com that can provide us some, shall we say, just beyond the basic stats information.

My curiosity yesterday led me to this question: How did opponents pitch the Orioles this season? Did they get more fastballs than other teams saw or less? Which pitches did they see more than others?

Here is what the O's batters were thrown this year and how that ranked in MLB and the ranking is from first (as in they saw the most fastballs to 30th, they saw the least) to least.

* Fastballs - 47.6 percent, 16th in MLB.

* Sliders - 20.1 percent, 30th in MLB.

Major League Baseball has reached another important deadline today, with teams required to offer contracts to arbitration-eligible players. It’s known as the “non-tender” date. Good for baseball, bad for steakhouse chefs.

The Orioles went a surprising 17-for-17 last year and they have 13 players to consider this afternoon. As usual, there are the slam dunks and the shaky on the perimeters.

The list stood at 16 before the Orioles did some whittling, including the decision to pick up left-handed reliever Cionel Pérez’s $2.2 million option for 2025. They could have declined it and negotiated a new deal.

Pitchers Matt Bowman and Burch Smith elected free agency rather than outright assignments.

At the risk of being wrong again, which never stops me from trying, I’ll predict that the Orioles go 13-for-13.

A few questions stuck to the bottom of the mailbag again.

An attendant at Sinai Hospital told me that eight ounces or more of cherry juice lowers blood pressure. The bottle must have leaked.

It never should have been inside the mailbag. That’s my fault.

You ask and I answer. Here we go.

Any new minor league signings to report?
Yes. The club announced yesterday that right-hander Robinson Martínez signed a minor league deal. Martínez, 26, pitched in the Phillies system from 2015-19 and in the Marlins system in 2021-22. He has a 4.92 ERA and 1.502 WHIP in 133 games (seven starts) and averages 5.2 walks, 9.6 strikeouts and 0.6 home runs allowed per nine innings. He hasn’t pitched above Double-A. The Orioles assigned him to the Bowie Baysox.

After producing a 44-homer season, hitting 11 more than he ever had previously, O's outfielder Anthony Santander tonight was named an American League Silver Slugger Award winner.

A finalist the last three years, Santander is a first-time winner and joins Yankees Aaron Judge and Juan Soto as AL outfield winners.

The O's had two other Silver Slugger finalists, but Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg did not win.

Santander’s 44 homers ranked second in the AL and third in the majors. He hit .235/.308/.506/.814 with 91 runs and 102 RBIs, both career bests. He became the eighth Oriole to hit 40 or more homers and first since Mark Trumbo in 2016. And the first to drive in 100 or more since Jonathan Schoop in 2017. His 35 homers starting June 1 were third in the majors.

Santander was also the eighth switch hitter (12th occurrence) in MLB history to hit at least 40 homers in a season and one of four (five occurrences) with at least 44. He became the ninth player in O’s history with multiple 30-homer seasons. His 105 homers since the start of 2022 lead MLB switch hitters and rank sixth overall in the majors.