CHICAGO – Kyle Stowers is in left field today and Ramón Urías is the third baseman, as the Orioles try to win a third consecutive game after being swept in St. Louis.

Ryan O’Hearn is in right field. Colton Cowser returns to center field after last night’s leaping catch at the fence to rob Tommy Pham of a home run and end the game.

Jordan Westburg’s RBI double last night snapped an 0-for-13 streak. He’s the second baseman today.

Gunnar Henderson and Houston’s Kyle Tucker are tied for the major league home run lead with 17. Henderson is swinging 56.1 percent of the time with two strikes, with eight of his home runs coming in those counts, per STATS.

Albert Suárez is making the start after the Orioles put Dean Kremer on the 15-day injured list with a strained right triceps. He’s made 10 appearances, the last seven in relief, and registered a posted a 1.78 ERA and 0.947 WHIP in 25 1/3 innings.

ST. LOUIS – It was just a series when a lot went wrong for the Orioles. And for the first time in over two years, they have been swept three straight in the regular season.

The St. Louis Cardinals, who entered this series with a 20-26 record, did the job today, overcoming a 3-0 deficit to beat the Orioles 5-4 and complete the sweep at Busch Stadium.

Something even went wrong as the O's tried to rally in the ninth against reliever Ryan Fernandez. Austin Hays singled and went to third on pinch-hitter Cedric Mullins' single. Then pinch hitter Kyle Stowers lined one deep to right and Lars Nootbaar made a great catch. Hays scored from third but the Cards doubled Mullins off first base. No doubt he wanted to steam home with the tying run, but the ball was caught.

"I thought it was gone off the bat," Hays said of Stowers blast, adding that Mullins made what looked like a good decision in taking off on contact. "He's got a good chance to score on that ball if it gets down."

The Birds also contributed to their demise by making two errors as St. Louis scored three in the sixth to get the lead.

Gunnar Henderson returns to the leadoff spot for tonight’s series opener against the Mariners at Camden Yards, with Jordan Westburg moving down to seventh.

Westburg hit leadoff for the first time in his major league career Wednesday while Henderson occupied the cleanup spot.

An opposing right-handed starter has returned the club to its usual order.

Kyle Stowers gets the start in left field, Colton Cowser is in center and Ryan O’Hearn is in right. Anthony Santander, who bruised his knee Wednesday, is the designated hitter.

Cedric Mullins, in a 5-for-59 slump, was on the field today for earlier batting practice. He joins Austin Hays on the bench.

Anthony Santander led off the fourth inning yesterday with a single and poked a double down the left field line to begin the eighth before the pain from a bruised knee led to his removal in right field. Colton Cowser, who shaved his beard to “change things up,” broke his bat on a fourth-inning single and snapped a 7-for-55 streak. Austin Hays played in his first game since April 20 in Kansas City and delivered a pinch-hit double in the seventh after beginning the season 5-for-45.

Cedric Mullins was removed for Hays after popping up and striking out to extend his slump to 5-for-59.

That’s the latest update on the Orioles outfield. Some promising moments that proceeded Adley Rutschman’s walk-off home run. Not a clean sweep when it comes to perhaps busting out of funks.

The Orioles improved to 27-14 heading into their off-day and are winning without everyone at peak performance. Some players are far from it. And the club must monitor Santander’s knee – he played chess in the clubhouse afterward rather than being in the trainers’ room, which seemed encouraging – and Hays’ calf that forced manager Brandon Hyde to pinch-run for him despite his reinstatement this week from the injured list.

Minds aren’t closed to certain roster upgrades. However, the Orioles don’t appear to have reached a point where they’re going to actively pursue an outfielder in trade or from the waiver wire. They seem more inclined to trust track records and their internal options.

Kyle Stowers and Austin Hays are on the bench for the start of tonight’s game against the Blue Jays, as the Orioles try to avoid their first three-game losing streak.

Colton Cowser is in left field and Ryan O’Hearn is in right.

Cowser is 7-for-54 since hitting a home run off the Angels’ Reid Detmer in the seventh inning of an April 22 game in Anaheim.

Cedric Mullins remains in center field. He grounded out to end last night’s game and is in a 5-for-57 slump.

O’Hearn has reached base in 11 of his last 12 games. He’s hitting .391 with a .783 slugging percentage against breaking balls this season after posting a .232 average and .444 slugging last season, per STATS.

The Orioles offense has produced just four runs and seven hits the last two games and they have lost both. By 9-2 to Arizona and by 3-2 in 10 innings to Toronto.

The Orioles, Cubs and Phillies are the only teams in MLB this year without a three-game losing streak. The Birds need a win tonight to avoid one now. The O's earlier had a pair of two-game losing streaks that never got extended.

The Baltimore offense began last night first in the American League in slugging, second in OPS, first in homers and in runs per game at 5.08.

But Baltimore batters have produced just 3.8 runs per game, scoring 49 runs their past 13 games. Thanks to a team ERA of 2.14 in this span, the Orioles have gone 9-4.

The pitching carried them as the offense slowed a bit – good teams find a way and they have.

Heston Kjerstad appeared only seven games with the Orioles and made the lineup four times before they optioned him today to Triple-A Norfolk.

He made 17 plate appearances. They want one of their top prospects to get busy again.

Asked earlier today whether the decision on Kjerstad was motivated by his need to play more, manager Brandon Hyde said, “That’s exactly it.”

“Just the way our outfield configuration is right now, we feel like it was important for him to go play every day, get everyday at-bats. I think this was a good experience for him, to get up here for a couple weeks, get a couple starts, get some pinch-hit opportunities. But just kind of where we are, health-wise, in our outfield, which is pretty strong, we feel like we want him to go play every day. He’s a big part of our future going forward, and somebody we really believe in. I’m sure he’ll be back up here soon.”

Kjerstad was batting .349/.431/.744 with four doubles, 10 home runs and 30 RBIs in 21 games with Norfolk when the Orioles recalled him. He went 2-for-14 with six strikeouts.

Kyle Stowers played in the bigs with the Orioles for parts of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, batting .207/.267/.331/.598 with three career homers in 131 plate appearances.

He has spent parts of the last four years at Triple-A, posting a .773 OPS there in 22 games during the 2021 season. He had an .884 OPS during part of the 2022 season and an OPS of .875 in 68 games last year. In 2024 he has hit .240/.315/.541/.856 with 11 homers and 32 RBIs in 36 games.

That is a ton of Triple-A plate appearances – 948 to be exact – and now he’d like to show he can stay in the majors.

“I feel ready. I feel ready to help this team win,” Stowers said this afternoon after his latest call-up. “Whatever, you know, my role is, whatever I’m called to do. Just going to go out there and give my all and have a good time. Play with a lot of gratitude. Just happy to be here.”

He had some rough times last year. He missed a couple of months with a shoulder injury and late in the year was hit by a pitch that fractured his nose.

The Orioles have recalled outfielder Kyle Stowers from Triple-A Norfolk today, according to an industry source. The club hasn’t announced the move.

Stowers hasn’t appeared in a major league game since May 14, 2023, after breaking camp with the Orioles. He’s batting .240/.315/.541 with 11 doubles, 11 home runs, 32 RBIs, 13 walks and 44 strikeouts in 165 plate appearances with Norfolk.

A chance to join the expanded September roster last year was ruined after Stowers was hit by a pitch and fractured his nose. He had missed two months with a shoulder injury.

Stowers was 2-for-30 with the Orioles last year, striking out 12 times in 14 games. The former second-round draft pick out of Stanford made his major league debut on June 13, 2022 in Toronto while replacing Anthony Santander, who was put on the restricted list. Stowers returned in August and finished with a .253/.306/.418 line and four doubles, a triple, three home runs and 11 RBIs in 34 games.

A spot must open on the roster to accommodate Stowers. And perhaps there are multiple moves pending with Austin Hays eligible to return from the injured list.

The question inevitably comes in casual conversations or radio and television interviews.  And the phrase “pleasant problem” is the chaser.

The constant change in Orioles lineups, with players rotating in the field as if waiting for the music to stop and plopping down, is becoming a less familiar sight. We haven’t gone back to the ‘70s. They want wide margins of victory over wide lapels. But manager Brandon Hyde isn’t gonna fix what ain’t broken and he’s found an order that’s difficult to break up.

An infielder stocked with versatile players is beginning to solidify with Gunnar Henderson at shortstop, Jackson Holliday at second base and Jordan Westburg at third. The first base options remain Ryan Mountcastle or Ryan O’Hearn, the latter serving as designated hitter in the past three games before last night and six overall.

They’ve only played 13.

Jorge Mateo might be in the tightest bind because he isn’t used at third base. It’s pretty much middle infield, which is tougher to crack than a bank safe, or maybe a token appearance in center.

We were probably impressed when the Orioles’ Triple-A Norfolk farm team scored 39 runs in their first four games. Their top prospects were spraying line drives in the gaps and hitting baseballs over outfield walls.

As it turns out, the players on the top farm club for baseball’s No. 1 ranked farm system were just warming up.

Wednesday night, Norfolk scored 17 runs from the sixth through the eighth innings at Charlotte and set several team records in a 26-11 victory.

That was a franchise single-game record for runs, breaking the mark of 23 set April 13, 1982 when the Tides were a Mets affiliate. They would not become an O’s farm club until 2007. The Tides set team records with eight homers and 29 hits and Heston Kjerstad’s 10 RBIs is a team mark, two better than any Tide ever. The nine doubles tied a club mark.

So much for some of the top prospects there being too down after not making the Orioles' Opening Day roster.

The Orioles had two Gold Glove finalists, but no winners, last season and some fans may not remember that while Austin Hays was a finalist for left fielders, Baltimore’s other finalist was Ryan Mountcastle at first base.

As manager Brandon Hyde said, “It's great to see him find a home defensively,” and Mountcastle has put in the time and work to get better there. He began his pro career as a shortstop, was moved to third base and even tried the outfield.

But based on some of the strong plays he’s made already this year – the most recent was his diving stop to his left in the ninth Tuesday night – Mountcastle has indeed found his defensive home.

Just how has he improved over there at first?

“Just like in first-step quickness,” he said Wednesday morning in the Baltimore clubhouse. “Being ready and engaged every pitch. Felt like I put a lot of work in, especially during the offseason and even during the season last year, me and Tony (Mansolino, third base and infield coach). Feeling comfortable over there.

The Orioles (2-0), who had 10 series sweeps in the 2023 season, look for their first of the new season when they host the Angels (0-2) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

It's the wrap-up game of a season-opening six-game homestand that continues Monday night when Kansas City visits the Yard.

The O's beat the Angels 11-3 Thursday and 13-4 last night. The O's have only trailed for a half-inning this year, when they were behind 1-0 after the top of the first Opening Day. They have scored two runs in each of their first-inning at-bats in this series.

They led 7-1 after the fourth inning Thursday and 3-1 on Saturday through five innings before they scored nine runs in the last of the sixth. The nine runs came before one out was recorded. Per Elias Sports Bureau, the O's had not scored nine runs in an inning before an out was made since at least 1957.

The 24 runs scored are the second-most the Orioles have scored in their first two games of a campaign in club history (25, 2006). On the mound, their 27 strikeouts are the most to begin a season since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954. The previous most was 23 in the 2016 season. 

SARASOTA, Fla. – Three months after Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias described Jackson Holliday as “definitely a very strong possibility” to make the Opening Day roster, baseball’s No. 1 prospect was told that he’s beginning the season at Triple-A.

A promotion that wasn’t etched in stone crumbled in Sarasota. The dust was thick.

Holliday was counted among seven cuts but got the bulk of the attention and fan reaction after batting .311/.354/.600 with three doubles, two triples, two home runs and six RBIs and 15 games. His comfort level expanded at second base, where he figured to get the vast majority of his work with Gunnar Henderson entrenched as the starting shortstop.

“Obviously a very tough decision on all these guys,” Elias said, making certain to include outfielders Heston Kjerstad and Kyle Stowers, who were optioned, and infielders Coby Mayo and Connor Norby, pitcher Albert Suárez and catcher David Bañuelos, who were reassigned to get the camp roster down to 38.

“We have a lot of players with a lot of really good statistics in camp, and a lot of them were sent out today, so that’s hard because these guys have put themselves in such a good position in terms of their performance and the kind of shape they came in. Making spring training evaluations, it’s more art than science, and all these guys did a great job of putting themselves in the thick of the competition and distinguishing themselves, even with this talented camp.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – Jackson Holliday will begin the 2024 season at Triple-A Norfolk.

The Orioles announced this afternoon that prospects Holliday, Coby Mayo and Connor Norby were reassigned to minor league camp and outfielders Heston Kjerstad and Kyle Stowers were optioned.

Right-hander Albert Suárez and catcher David Bañuelos also were reassigned. But Holliday is the big news.

Baseball’s No. 1 prospect batted .311/.354/.600 in 15 games, with three doubles, two triples, two home runs and six RBIs. He was vying for playing time at second base, with Gunnar Henderson entrenched at shortstop.

Today’s move with Holliday could signal that the team is keeping Ryan McKenna as a fifth outfielder or carrying second baseman Kolten Wong, whose opt-out date is today.

Orioles' manager Brandon Hyde dropped some nuggets of information on his ballclub pregame Thursday in Fort Myers, Fla. Before the Orioles played the Red Sox, he announced the order of the starting rotation to begin the year and told reporters that Jorge Mateo would make the Opening Day roster.

We already knew that new ace Corbin Burnes would start the opener on March 28. But Hyde said he would be followed in order by Grayson Rodriguez, Tyler Wells, Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin.

With an off day on the second day of the season, the Orioles could have brought Burnes back for the fifth game of the year. Now he is set to start Game 6 after the first turn through the rotation.

Some are already speculating that Mateo's roster inclusion will make it harder for Jackson Holliday to make it. I don't see it that way just yet. But I guess yes if Ramon Urias makes the roster and there are no injuries or trades, it potentially could be more challenging.

I still see the kid on the roster for the opener.

DUNEDIN, Fla. – Bruce Zimmermann will head to minor league spring training and jump into Triple-A Norfolk’s rotation.

The Orioles optioned Zimmermann this morning after he allowed three earned runs and 12 hits in 7 2/3 innings. His 3.52 ERA was paired with a 1.957 WHIP.

“We need rotation depth and so he’s going to be in the Norfolk rotation to start the year,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “It’s going to take more than five guys. He threw the ball well this spring, but we’re going to start the year with him in Triple-A and continue to build him up as a starter.”

Prospects Cade Povich, Chayce McDermott and Justin Armbruester are expected to join Zimmermann. Albert Suárez could occupy another spot if he doesn’t break camp with the Orioles.

Seth Johnson probably will be assigned to Double-A Bowie. He’s made only one career appearance above High-A.

We hear big league managers and front office types say something similar early each spring training. They hope there are a lot of tough decisions to make at the end of their camp. They hope a lot of players play well.

It doesn’t always happen. It probably doesn’t often happen.

For the Orioles, this year, it did happen.

Kyle Stowers is batting .297 with an OPS of 1.181 and seven spring homers. Colton Cowser is batting .364/1.246 with four long balls. Coby Mayo is batting .366/1.068. Even a more veteran player like Errol Robinson has gone 6-for-16 this spring. Tyler Nevin has hit .302 and Connor Norby is 6-for-20.

On the mound, the Orioles have nine pitchers with ERAs of 0.00 that have thrown at least three innings.

SARASOTA, Fla. – A second off-day of the spring provided rest and recreation to a group of players who would rather hit a golf ball than the wall.

What it couldn’t accomplish is the task of figuring out how to pare the camp roster to 26 players. That’s a higher pay grade.

Competition is great. It’s also a pain in the rear because players who should be introduced to a packed house on March 28 will be working out in Sarasota and waiting for the minor league season to begin. Seems unfair but that’s business, the kind from an organization that’s operating at a much higher talent level than in the past.

The rotation is at least close to set with Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells and Cole Irvin, whatever order beyond the ace. Let’s assume that Rodriguez and Kremer are two and three.

But what the heck is going on with the position players?

SARASOTA, Fla. – Jorge Mateo has made 10 career appearances and three starts in right field, including one with the Orioles in August 2021 against the Braves, when Max Fried pitched a complete-game shutout at Camden Yards.

Mateo was in right field this afternoon against Atlanta, making his first spring appearance at an outfield corner after seven starts at shortstop, three at second base and two in center.

“Just preparing for if it does happen in the season,” said manger Brandon Hyde. “Just want to move guys around a little bit in camp.”

The ball found Mateo with two outs in the first inning, and he made a sliding catch of Marcell Ozuna’s line drive. Starter Tyler Wells applauded by slapping his hand into his glove.

Mateo ran down Austin Riley’s fly ball in shallow right field, calling off second baseman Kolten Wong, to end the third. He moved to left field in the top of the fourth, with Ryan O’Hearn switching to right.