Samuel Basallo is serving as the designated hitter this afternoon, as the Orioles make another Sunday trip to play the Phillies in Clearwater.

Gary Sánchez is behind the plate.

Ramón Laureano gets the start in center field and is batting leadoff, followed by second baseman Jackson Holliday.

Colton Cowser is in right field and Heston Kjerstad is in left. Coby Mayo is at third base.

Dean Kremer makes his first start after giving up two runs and three hits with two walks and three strikeouts over two relief innings against the Tigers in Sarasota.

SARASOTA, Fla. – A week of exhibition games seems like an appropriate time to share some observations before the Orioles play the Pirates this afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium. Cade Povich opposes Paul Skenes in a rematch from Spring Breakout, except this one airs on MASN.

Povich went three innings and allowed two runs, but hardly anyone noticed because Skenes was the dominant figure before he threw a pitch. Skenes retired the side in order in his only inning, striking out Jackson Holliday and Enrique Bradfield Jr.

That's the distant past. Let’s move a little closer.

* Rodolfo Martinez is a camp darling, though I wouldn’t necessarily use that word around him because the scowl could melt concrete. Media became infatuated with his high-velocity fastball, impressive side and live batting practice sessions and absence from an affiliated team since being in the Giants system in 2019. Who doesn’t love a good camp story?

Comparisons to Albert Suárez were inevitable because of their similar treks through foreign countries. In Martinez’s case, he’s still waiting to make his major league debut.

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.

BRADENTON, Fla. – Jackson Holliday gave the media an interview at his locker this morning and headed down a hallway in search of former Orioles infielder Brian Roberts.

The Orioles chose Roberts as a shortstop in the supplemental round of the 1999 draft out of the University of South Carolina – their seventh selection among the top 50 and the only one that worked out. Jackson Holliday was the first-overall pick as a shortstop in 2022 out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma.

Roberts moved to second base following the 2001 season and became a two-time All-Star. The position morphed into a full-time role for Holliday last year, a 20-year-old top prospect going through the usual growing pains.

The age difference between them doesn’t matter. They have something important in common, and Roberts, 47, is in camp as a guest coach and valuable resource for Holliday.

The tutelage centers primarily on Holliday’s footwork at second.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The next wave of Tomoyuki Sugano hysteria crashes on the shore today with his Grapefruit League debut against the Pirates. Protect yourselves at all times.

The first game of catch, first bullpen session and first live batting practice session were recorded and plastered all over social media. The Japanese media that tracks his every movement didn’t miss a single minute of it. The local beat crew fell into step. The anticipation was palpable.

Pitching in Bradenton isn’t the most ideal location from a media standpoint. The press box space is limited, to put it generously. Reporters who cover the Pirates usually set up in the workroom. That leaves a free-for-all to occupy one of the three stools in the back row.

You can’t call it “standing room only” because there’s no room, though standing might improve your view.

Statcast data is available at LECOM Park, which enhances today’s coverage. Sugano throws six different pitches and tracking is made easier. Let’s be able to identify them and attach numbers. And give me exit velocities from the hitters.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Chayce McDermott still hasn’t been cleared to begin activities. However, he said earlier today that he feels “really good” after reporting to camp with a mild lat/teres strain.

“Can’t complain where I’m at,” he said, “so we’ll keep going and keep following the plan.”

McDermott is restricted to performing strength exercises and doesn’t know when he’ll be begin a throwing progression.

“It should be pretty soon,” he said. "I’m not 100 percent sure of the exact timeline. It’s just based on how I feel with everything and how I keep progressing.”

McDermott made his only major league start last season on July 24 in Miami and had an uphill climb this spring to break camp with the team. His injury likely has eliminated that possibility, but he can hop back into Triple-A Norfolk’s rotation, continue his development and try to rejoin the Orioles over the summer.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The exhibition games started today and Jackson Holliday kept working out.

He wasn't on the back fields. He was playing second base and fielding everything hit at him.

Holliday got the final out in the first inning on Darick Hall's grounder, made the play on Liover Peguero's ball in the second that Albert Suárez deflected, and handled Joshua Palacios' grounder to close out the inning.

The position no longer is new to Holliday and it seems to be coming more naturally to him.

"I'm feeling a lot more comfortable," he said. "Today was good. Got a lot of ground balls, a lot more than I think I did last spring training total, so happy about that. I'm a lot more comfortable, a lot more comfortable in practice, and to be able to get the first few ground balls out of the way is great."

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said yesterday that a “handful” of his regulars will be in this afternoon’s lineup for the first exhibition game against the Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium.

“I’m gonna give a few guys the weekend,” he said. “We’ve got some back-field stuff going, too. Not in any hurry to get any of these guys in there right now, to be honest with you.

“Couple guys going to Clearwater (Sunday), a few guys, but weekend’s gonna be … we’re slowly getting into this.”

The lineup will be posted later this morning for a game that airs on MASN. Viewers might see Jackson Holliday at second base. Viewers might have to wait a little longer.

We don’t know.

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.”

This wintery weather – snow, freezing rain, ice that’s closing schools and turning backyard decks into hazardous rinks – heats up the interest in pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training.

The wait is almost over, with the official arrival date Wednesday and the first workout set for Thursday. Gentlemen, start your bullpen sessions and PFPs.

The first day will bring a media scrum with executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias and possible injury news. Last spring’s session confirmed Kyle Bradish’s sprained elbow ligament and platelet-rich plasma injection, John Means being about a month behind the other starters, Gunnar Henderson’s sore oblique and Samuel Basallo’s elbow stress fracture.

Elias reminded reporters at the Birdland Caravan that he traditionally kind of forecasts “anybody who’s off or on an abnormal schedule when we get down to Sarasota, so I’ll probably do that in a couple of weeks.”

We already learned that Jorge Mateo and Félix Bautista will be on a lighter schedule early in camp. Bradish and Tyler Wells won’t be activated until the second half, with their move to the 60-day injured list approaching. The media finally will have access to them.

Kids say the darndest things, don’t they?

A question-and-answer session with Orioles fans at the Guinness Open Gate Brewery left the door open for all sorts of wild sound bites. For the kids asking Jackson Holliday questions, queries ranged from why the phenom wanted to play baseball to his pets at home. His dog is named Coconut, for the record.  

“Jackson, are you a grown man?” asked a fan no older than 6, as laughter filled the room. Holliday met the question with a chuckle.  

After being selected first overall in the MLB Draft out of high school in 2022, the phenom rose to the major leagues just two years later. So by major league standards, the former top prospect is far from “grown.”  

Entering the 2024 season, Holliday was the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball. The former first-overall pick had a meteoric rise through the minor leagues in 2023, soaring through four different levels of the farm in 125 total games. Expectations for 2024 couldn’t have been higher. It was almost impossible for the numbers to match the hype.  

The maturity of Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday can reveal itself in many ways.

On Friday night, it happened behind a bar at PBR Baltimore during a Birdland Caravan stop. Holliday is old enough to drink alcohol – and certainly to pour, which he was busy doing.

The kid turned 21 in December. He won’t be relegated to sipping “Bird Bath” water, unless he chooses it, if another clinching celebration erupts in the clubhouse.

Holliday will report to spring training as the favorite to win the second base job, but it’s a competition. He probably can’t afford to have a terrible camp with the team well-stocked in infielders, even after designating Emmanuel Rivera for assignment.

It would get a little trickier if Jorge Mateo isn’t ready for Opening Day, but still manageable. And there’s always the waiver wire.

Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias joined a group of players and local media this morning in volunteering at the Warehouse Collaborative, a space for Baltimore-based nonprofit organizations to share resources. Moving from station to station, Elias boxed and bagged donated items and books, assisted in building skateboards, tore tags off Orioles hoodies and shirts to be distributed.

Employees divided everyone into four groups and turned it into a contest, with the winning team posting the fastest times. Elias and Adley Rutschman left the facility with bragging rights.

Elias is eyeing much bigger victories down the road, but this was a nice start on Day 2 of the Birdland Caravan.

A 13-minute interview session followed with Elias, who confirmed that he isn’t done conducting roster business - or at least attempting it.

Asked whether he’s still targeting pitching, Elias said, “I think we’re targeting improvements to the team.”

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.

And then there were two. Just two days left to share a few thoughts here on the Orioles as I wrap up my 17 years with MASNSports.com.

I continue to stay upbeat and am embracing whatever comes next.

But in whatever manner I follow and/or cover the 2025 Orioles there are a few things I’m looking forward to.

Can the team start fast?: They did last year, and the chance is there to do that again. The 2024 Orioles won their first two games, never spent one day at or under .500 and ended April in first place at 19-10. By the end of May they were 36-19. It all set the stage for a good season and another playoff run.

The O’s open the 2025 season with four at Toronto. And while the Blue Jays won just 74 games last year, they are certainly expected to be a club capable of a playoff run this year. Then the O’s next three opponents all finished at or above .500 last season. But then they play three more series out of four against under .500 clubs from last year.

As we are now just a few weeks away from the start of spring training and the new season, today let’s take a look at the O’s roster in terms of four components.

They are the offense and defense and the pitching – starting pitching and the bullpen.

We don’t know the Opening Day roster yet, obviously, or the final roster that will start camp, but at this point it’s pretty set. Yes, we could get a change or a few of them, but today we're going with what they have right now to assess how it all looks.

If you break those four down, I see all four as solid units for the team heading into the season. I will rank them as they look today, from strongest to weakest:

Offense

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.

This is a bit random today and not related to any recent signings or O’s news at all. But today, just for the heck of it, I take a look at some random individual stats from the 2024 season.

Some may be surprising, many will probably not.

But in a game filled with stats - traditional, advanced and otherwise - here are a few more today.

In most cases the numbers are for only O’s players that had enough plate appearances last year to qualify for league leaders, and in most cases I left out players who during the year had only a couple of dozen plate appearances.

O’s 2024 leaders, pitches per plate appearance:

The Orioles entered a new week with a deeper rotation and the motivation to keep searching for pitching.

Camp doesn’t open for another six weeks.

The mailbag opened again over the weekend. You asked and I answered, leaving us with the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original.

I don’t do much editing, but I provide reminders that my mailbag owns a snow blower and your mailbag shovels the driveway with a spatula.

Even if another starting pitcher and reliever are added to this roster, the current 2025 team seems like we're starting with less than we did in 2024. The Yankees and Red Sox both improved dramatically on paper, and the Blue Jays are still frantically searching for free agents who'll accept Canadian money. The Rays always restock from within, so they can never be counted out. What must Mike Elias do to make this year's Orioles a viable contender, or is this destined to be a "regrouping" year?
There is no prize money for longest question. Just so you know. This question was submitted before the Charlie Morton signing, but I’m sure it holds up. The Orioles already consider themselves contenders based on their returning players and additions. They expect better production from hitters who slumped and they’re counting on better health. Also, the offseason isn’t over. I’m sure you’ve been reminded that they traded for Corbin Burnes on Feb. 1. I think this is a playoff team. That’s as far as I’ll go right now.

As the offseason rolls merrily along, except of course for the segment of the fan base that feels flattened by it, win projections and championship odds already have surfaced on the internet.

They seemed premature in December and remain so in the first week of January, but they always can be adjusted later.

The Orioles could or could not be done with their search for starting pitching and they must address the bullpen, but they’re graded now based on losing their ace starter and 44-homer bat. The dip is minimized by the additions of outfielder Tyler O’Neill and Japanese right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano, along with backup catcher Gary Sánchez, at a combined $71 million.

Expectations could change again after the Orioles announced Friday evening that they signed veteran starter Charlie Morton to a $15 million deal.

The consensus seems to be that the Orioles remain a playoff team, which back in the day would have been celebrated with tremendous enthusiasm. They haven’t qualified for the postseason in three consecutive years since 1969-71, reaching the World Series each time. Perceptions of a dynasty are ruined by losses in ’69 and ’71. Perceptions of the current club are marred by back-to-back sweeps.