SARASOTA, Fla. – One more day of live and cage batting practices, bullpens and fielding drills before the Orioles play their first spring training game. Overreacting to workouts can be replaced by overreacting to exhibitions.

The club seems to have avoided injuries in camp other than some knuckles bloodied from knocking on wood.

Jorge Mateo is recovering from his elbow-reconstructive surgery and won’t be ready for Opening Day. That was probably the most important news to come from executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias’ first-day media scrum, since it provided confirmation of Mateo’s status and shaped the projected Opening Day roster.

Got to be six infielders and Heston Kjerstad and Ramón Laureano as the last two outfielders with Colton Cowser, Cedric Mullins and Tyler O’Neill. Right?

Left-hander Trevor Rogers reported with a kneecap subluxation and also won’t be ready for Opening Day. That one came out of nowhere, but Rogers appeared to be a longshot based on the additions of Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano to the rotation. Pitcher Chayce McDermott showed up with a mild lat/teres strain that manager Brandon Hyde said could push him back 10-14 days. He was expected to begin the season at Triple-A Norfolk.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Scott McGregor won big games for the Orioles, including his shutout against the Phillies to clinch the 1983 World Series. He served in a variety of roles upon his retirement, including rehab pitching coordinator for eight seasons before his dismissal in 2019. He had worked as a pitching coach in the minors and fill-in bullpen coach for the Orioles. He’s seen a lot.

His eyes presently are locked onto pitchers and players at the spring training complex with his return as a guest instructor.

“When I was let go, Mike (Elias) said, ‘Listen, we know what you’ve done for the organization and we’ll always let you come back as a visiting guy,’ so it’s been good,” McGregor recalled yesterday. “These guys are the ones that I coached before. I’m very good with them and they like seeing me and I like seeing them. It’s fun to stay in touch.

“I’m just really impressed with what’s going on with the whole Elias regime and with Hyder (Brandon Hyde) and them. They’ve done a great job. So, you’ve just got to win a playoff game.”

Maybe this year.

Let Albert Suárez be clear about this again. Practice for the next time that he’s asked.

Would he rather start or relieve? Relieve or start?

Does it matter to him?

“Not really,” Suárez replied at Friday night’s Birdland Caravan stop at PBR Baltimore. “Like last year, it didn’t matter, either. I was just ready for anytime. So this year will be the same mentality.”

Bets could be won by challenging fans to name the Oriole who made the second-most starts last season behind Corbin Burnes’ 32. Súarez tied with Dean Kremer at 24, and his 32 appearances tied Burnes for first among pitchers who didn’t work exclusively in relief.

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.

The passing days bring us closer to spring training and the resolution to some burning issues, but other answers aren’t forthcoming until much later. Until games are played and the summer months lead us to fall.

Here are a few more.

How will Tomoyuki Sugano adjust to the majors?

Sugano also must adjust to life in the U.S. This isn’t only about baseball.

Speaking of baseball, it’s going to be different from the one used in Japan. It won’t be tacky, it’s slightly smaller and the seams are smaller.  

I emptied the mailbag over the weekend, but a question arrived yesterday that I wanted to address and expand on rather than save it for later.

It pertains to one of the most important members of the 2024 team, an unexpected development that can’t be disputed. It’s just fact, and further proof that minor league signings can’t always be downplayed or ignored.

They can bail out a team.

Does A. Suárez have a preference for being a starter or a reliever? One way to add a significant bullpen arm would be to get starter(s) in the rotation and nudge Big Al to the 'pen, but what would he think of that? Would he see it as a demotion?

To be clear, we’re talking about Albert and not Andrew. I can’t imagine that it caused any confusion, but you never know.

I’m about 2 ½ weeks past my open-heart surgery and progress is slow but steady.

I just typed that sentence without having to lie down.

The heavier lifting comes as we move into December, into a new year and to Sarasota for spring training. The 40-man roster has 39 players and the Orioles have multiple items remaining on their shopping list. They also need to hire a bench coach and major league coach.

Let’s look at four more topics and decisions hovering around the Orioles, with you, the reader, telling me how they’re going to turn out.

John Means is rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery and he’s a first-timer on the free-agent market. He has a second child on the way and the same desire to pitch.

The Orioles had an off-day in Detroit yesterday because Passaic, New Jersey was booked.

OK, let’s get serious.

The penultimate road trip of the season is close to a wrap – I’ll be on the next one - and the Orioles are two games behind the Yankees. They have three against the Tigers beginning tonight and three more next weekend at Camden Yards after hosting the Giants.

This could be the penultimate mailbag, but they aren’t on a set schedule. I can only promise today.

Here’s the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original. No need to edit myself for clarity because I’ve been quite clear about my disdain for editing.

The Orioles gave up 15 hits, four homers and 12 runs. They went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Their bullpen allowed eight runs. They left eight men on base and that was just in the first four innings.

Monday was a mess.

Tuesday was a step in the right direction.

If ever there was a night the Orioles needed to win, this was it.

Not so much for the pennant-race math with games dwindling and being 1.5 games out of first, but they needed to clean it up. They had lost three in a row and fans were wondering if the AL East was slipping away. They were losing confidence in their team. Some confidence in the clubhouse maybe even was eroding a bit.

NEW YORK – Players changed into their home white uniforms last week at Camden Yards and filed out of the clubhouse and onto the outfield grass for the annual team photo. Closer Félix Bautista was there despite the elbow surgery that cost him the entire season. Danny Coulombe joked with Jordan Westburg, wondering if they’d be asked to leave.  

An agreement was reached.

“If you’re going, then I’m going.”

You’ve gotta laugh to keep your pennant hopes from dying.

The roster has undergone so many dramatic changes that some players might be hard to identify without a scorecard or elite facial recognition skills.

The Orioles are home tonight for the first time since July 31, one day past the trade deadline. They split four games in Cleveland, lost two of three in Toronto and won two of three in St. Petersburg, Fla., though the finale made it appear much worse. Strange how that works. Win a series and eat and dress in a quiet clubhouse.

The roster has changed. The knack for handling adversity, whether injuries or performance based, is the same. Let’s see how far that goes.  

Let’s also hit the pause button again coming out of the off-day and collect some thoughts.

* The Craig Kimbrel reset lasted longer than expected.

It’s still happening.

When the O’s lose, as they did yesterday, and I host a postgame radio show, as I did yesterday on WBAL Radio, I can usually guess what will stir up Birdland.

This one was easy.

Why did skipper Brandon Hyde take out right-hander Albert Suárez when he had a shutout through 6 2/3 innings? Suarez was at 94 pitches, three off his season-high, but he was rolling and the bottom of the order was coming up.

Sure, I could see him staying with Suárez there. But even if he gets that last out, the O’s are headed to the bullpen in the eighth with no one on base – the same move they made going for Cionel Perez yesterday with two down in the Tampa Bay seventh. He and Craig Kimbrel didn’t get the job done. Plus, the O’s scored just one run.

Fans were disappointed Suárez didn’t get a win there and stay longer in the game and I get that. But a bullpen that wasn’t going to use Yennier Cano and Seranthony Dominguez after they had pitched back-to-back, needed to put up zeros and could not do it.

HOUSTON - In baseball, you are riding high one day and not the next. Or you have plenty of momentum and you are winning series against two of baseball's best teams one day and getting swept by a team starting to play well again the next.

When the Orioles rallied from 11 runs down to get within three late in the game at Houston Friday night, we were marveling at this team's effort and fight and ability to come back even when down double digits runs.

Now two losses later - games that were not close at the end - we are left wondering if the Orioles are a tired team? If they are now suddenly having pitching issues and if the injuries finally caught up to them?

The real question to answer here - and it may take days, weeks or even longer to begin to figure out - is has this team hit a bump in the road or a real big pothole? Is this just a few losses or the beginning of a longer downward trend? Are the Orioles not as good as they looked just, what seemed like hours ago?

My guess is this too shall pass, and this club will return to winning soon. They have bounced back so many times the last couple of years, what is another?

NEW YORK – The Orioles are two-thirds into a series hyped by media as a do-or-die matchup. Lose two games or get swept and don’t bothering playing out the rest of the season.

The club tried to downplay it after the last homestand. Manager Brandon Hyde and his players can read the standings. They also can read a calendar.

If you’re still reading this, here are a few thoughts and opinions about what’s transpired at Yankee Stadium.

* The fuss over the hit-by-pitches in the first game was over the top.

Not unexpected, mind you. Just way over the top.

One pitcher tonight will be making his third MLB start while the other has made 300. One will be looking for his first major league win while the other has 145. O's rookie Cade Povich pitched 11 1/3 innings his first two starts while the Yankees' Gerrit Cole has 1,859 innings under his belt.

Povich can't even think about winning Cy Young Awards. He just wants to establish his MLB career. Not only has Cole finished in the top five for the Cy Young Award six times, he's been in the top two three times and was the AL Cy Young Winner just last year when he went 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA. Tonight, it's Povich against Cole in Game 2 of this series.

Reverse lock anyone?

The Orioles have gone 21 straight AL East series without losing one. But if they are to keep that streak going, they need to win the next two nights in the Bronx against the defending Cy Young winner in the American League one night and the next beat the pitcher in right-hander Luis Gil, who leads the AL currently in ERA.

Hey, the Orioles won their series at home with Philadelphia after losing the series opener on Friday night.

NEW YORK – If Cade Povich made a previous trip to New York, the memory isn’t sharp enough to cut through the fog.

“Maybe one time for like a night,” he said, “but other than that, no.”

Povich isn’t a tourist this week. His third major league start is coming tonight and he’s facing the team that’s blocking the Orioles from first place.

“It’s definitely going to be cool,” he said, certain that he hadn’t stepped inside Yankee Stadium before yesterday. “Knowing from watching games and growing up around baseball, it’s probably going to be a rowdy atmosphere, but at the same time probably pretty fun.

“We played in Regionals at Arkansas and it was pretty rowdy there, and I had a blast pitching there. Honestly, just real excited for it.”

NEW YORK – Jordan Westburg is leading off tonight and James McCann is catching as the Orioles begin a three-game series against the Yankees that could flip-flop the top two positions in the division standings.

Gunnar Henderson is batting cleaneup. The Orioles are 43-10 when Henderson homers in his major league career.

Austin Hays is in left field and Colton Cowser is in center. Hays, Cowser and Cedric Mullins took early batting practice this afternoon.

Anthony Santander is batting .295/.353/.721 this month with two doubles, eight home runs and 14 RBIs in 16 games. He hit .207/.294/.415 in May.

The Orioles have homered in 16 consecutive games, the longest streak in the majors this season and their longest since going deep in 18 straight from Sept. 6-24, 2019.

For the Orioles, Monday had to be a glorious day. After playing 17 games in 17 days – and going 12-5 versus the Rays, Jays, Rays, Braves and Phillies – they got the day off.

A chance, finally to rest and briefly regroup.

But the intensity returns quickly as tonight the Orioles begin a three-game series in the Bronx against the first-place New York Yankees.

The Orioles (47-24) and the Yankees (50-24) are the two top teams currently in the American League. Atop the East, New York holds a lead by 1.5 games.

The clubs have been eyeing each other all year. New York has gone 30-11 since they lost three of four at Camden Yards in a series that ended May 2. The next day they began the 30-11 run but could not shake a Baltimore team that has gone 27-13 in that time.

When O’s rookie lefty Cade Povich makes his second big league start tonight facing Atlanta, his mound opponent will be a friend and former college teammate.

Right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach was a two-way player at the University of Nebraska. He and Povich were on the team together there in 2020 and 2021. Schwellenbach was both a starting shortstop playing behind Povich and also closed out some of his wins too as a late-inning reliever.

During the 2021 season, when Povich was 6-1 with a 3.11 ERA for the Cornhuskers, Schwellenbach hit .284 with a .862 OPS in 48 games at short. On the mound he went 3-1 with an ERA of 0.57 and recorded 10 saves.

In the 2021 MLB Draft, Atlanta selected Schwellenbach in round two, No. 59 overall. Minnesota selected Povich in round three, No. 98 overall.

Tonight, the two former Cornhuskers face each other on the mound at Camden Yards.

CHICAGO - There were rain delays and even more rain delays. And then there was the threat of more rain. And that will likely continue even today as the Orioles return home this afternoon to face the Boston Red Sox.

Are the raindrops stalking this team?

Enough already.

But a road trip that began with the sweepless streak ending and three straight losses in wet St. Louis moved on to produce four straight wins in sometimes wet Chicago. 

It was an impressive sweep despite Chicago's poor record as the White Sox played hard and gave the Orioles fits for most of the four days. But the O's won all four and produced their first four-game road sweep since Aug. 22-25, 2011 at Minnesota. It was their first four-game sweep of the White Sox since July 6-9, 1995.