SARASOTA, Fla. – Julio Teheran tossed four scoreless innings today in a split-squad game against the Rays in Port Charlotte, allowing only one hit in a final bid to make the club.

Teheran is opting out of his contract and the Orioles must decide by Sunday whether to put him on the 26-man roster or let him go. In the meantime, his locker is cleaned out at the Ed Smith Stadium complex, with only a folding chair inside of it.

Reliever Andrew Suárez’s locker is in the same condition. He wasn’t on the list of yesterday’s roster cuts.

“I think right now he’s in a little bit of limbo and we’re just kind of holding off on him right now and kind of waiting to see what happens,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

Asked about Teheran, Hyde said, “He’s in that boat, too, where we’re just kind of waiting to see.”

JUPITER, Fla. – It hadn’t really dawned on Jake Irvin that his final start of the spring came against what very well may be the Cardinals’ Opening Day lineup, which the young Nationals right-hander proceeded to hold to one hit and two weeks over six sparkling innings.

Asked if he felt it was significant he performed that well against a full major league lineup, Irvin shrugged.

“Sure, I can’t say necessarily that it is,” he replied. “For me, it’s competing, throwing strikes, a lot of strikes today. That’s the main goal.”

Consider this, then, another important step in Irvin’s development throughout a spring that proved to be exceptional. After getting roughed up once March 1 while admittedly working on some new things, he flipped the script completely, focused on competing to the best of his abilities.

And the results were fantastic. Over his final three Grapefruit League starts, Irvin tossed 15 scoreless innings, scattering four hits and two walks while striking out 13.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Last night’s cancellation has moved Corbin Burnes into tonight’s starting role against the Blue Jays in Sarasota and put Tyler Wells in the bullpen behind him.

Burnes has allowed 11 earned runs (12 total) and 14 hits in 10 2/3 innings and surrendered five home runs in his five outings. His next start after tonight comes on Opening Day.

Gunnar Henderson is the shortstop tonight, Jorge Mateo is the second baseman and Ramón Urías is the third baseman for the split-squad Orioles. Adley Rutschman is catching.

Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter with Ryan O’Hearn playing first base.

The outfield alignment is the one usually expected from the Orioles: Austin Hays in left, Cedric Mullins in center and Anthony Santander in right.

JUPITER, Fla. – Trevor Williams will open the season in the Nationals’ rotation, but the leash on the veteran right-hander could be short.

In granting Zach Davies his unconditional release Friday, the Nats also selected Williams for the final spot in the Opening Day rotation, hoping the 31-year-old can bounce back from a difficult 2023 season. But with pitching prospect Jackson Rutledge beginning the season at Triple-A Rochester and Cade Cavalli expected to return from Tommy John surgery in June, the organization will have alternate options in the near future, putting pressure on Williams to pitch well enough to keep his job.

“It was a tough choice, a tough decision,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We decided we were going to go with Trevor as our fifth starter. So Trevor will be our fifth starter. … Zach was a professional. He’s a good guy. I wish him all the best. And hopefully, he gets picked up somewhere. But Trevor’s done well. I think he deserves a chance, at least at the beginning, to start. And then we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Martinez said the Nationals offered Davies (who finished with a Grapefruit League ERA of 9.00 after a seven-run inning in his last start) the opportunity to report to Rochester, but the 31-year-old opted to become a free agent and attempt to sign with another club.

The decision to stick with Williams (who is making $7 million this season) in the rotation, rather than move him to the bullpen, has a domino effect on several relievers still competing for spots on the Opening Day roster. With Robert Garcia likely to make it as the only lefty in the group, there are now three veteran right-handers on minor league contracts trying to win two remaining jobs: Derek Law, Jacob Barnes and Matt Barnes.

JUPITER, Fla. – The Nationals weren’t able to play Friday night due to persistent rain across the entire state of Florida. So they’ll try to play two today … even though neither is a makeup game against the Astros! See, the Nats already had a day-night, split-squad doubleheader scheduled. (Such great planning for the second-to-last day of spring training, huh?)

It all gets started at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, where half of the team will face the Cardinals and Miles Mikolas for the third time in 12 days. The veteran right-hander didn’t give up much in those previous two matchups, allowing a total of three runs in 10 innings. Jake Irvin will oppose Mikolas, and he’s been excellent each of his last two starts against the Mets and Marlins, totaling nine scoreless innings on three hits, zero walks and 10 strikeouts.

The nightcap sees the other half of the Nationals staying home in West Palm Beach to face the Marlins, with Josiah Gray making his final tune-up before he takes the mound for real Opening Day in Cincinnati. Gray had a wild night against the Astros on Monday, walking seven, striking out six but somehow only allowing one run in five innings. He’ll look to find the strike zone just a bit more this time.

You’ll notice some players who were part of Friday’s roster cuts in the lineups today and tonight. Because of the split-squad situation, the Nationals have no choice but to use every available body, even those no longer in major league camp.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS (ss) vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, Jupiter
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Cardinals feed)
Weather: Rain ending, 77 degrees, wind 16 mph out to right field

As it turns out the bigger surprise may have come during the Winter Meetings in Nashville in December. For anyone then pondering whether Jackson Holliday could make the O's Opening Day roster after just 18 Triple-A games (22 counting playoffs), there was logic and reason to say that that was just too few. 

The kid could use more seasoning.

So reporters might have expected Mike Elias to say something like sure they love the kid, he’s a remarkable talent and they’ll take a long look in spring training.

Instead, he raised a few eyebrows when he stated he was “a very strong possibility” to make the OD roster.

But, after all that and Holliday at age 20 having a strong spring camp, he will not make it. Surprised again. I was anyway, speaking for one.

SARASOTA, Fla. – To say that Jackson Holliday’s exclusion from the Opening Day roster is a stunning development wouldn’t be accurate. I felt like I kept advising people to brace for bad news, that it wasn’t a sure thing.

It ain’t on ‘till it’s on.

I gave Holliday less than a 50 percent chance before the Winter Meetings, jumped into the 60-70 percent range while flying out of Nashville, and came back down as Holliday’s strikeouts rose.

The improved at-bats and overall impressive play moved me again, but never to the point of feeling secure in his placement on a mock roster. I straddled that fence until it left permanent marks. Take my word for it.

One reason for my hesitancy in thinking that Holliday would be in Baltimore March 28 is how it went against the club’s usual cautious and deliberate handling of a top prospect in making the jump from Triple-A to the majors. This isn’t new. Or have we forgotten the Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson watches?

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals moved a step closer to finalizing their Opening Day roster this afternoon, cutting nine players from big league camp, including top prospects James Wood, Dylan Crews and Brady House.

Wood, Crews and House were reassigned to minor league camp, along with lefties Richard Bleier and Joe La Sorsa; infielder Juan Yepez, outfielder Robert Hassell III and catcher Israel Pineda. Zach Davies was granted his unconditional release, making the veteran right-hander a free agent and seemingly keeping the Nats’ rotation intact heading into the season.

The demotions of Wood, Crews and House did not come as a huge surprise. None was expected to make the club coming into their first big league camp, though Wood made a strong case for himself with a dominant first week and ultimately a .342/.491/.707 slash line in 21 Grapefruit League games, including a team-high four homers.

For all his success this spring, though, Wood (like the others) has yet to spend a day at Triple-A Rochester, where he is likely to open the season. The 21-year-old outfielder figures to be in line to make his major league debut sometime this season, provided he stays healthy and continues to perform on the field.

Crews and House, two of the Nationals’ last three first-round draft picks, each had some positive moments this spring, most recently Crews’ walk-off single to seal Thursday afternoon’s win over the Twins. But both also looked overmatched at times against big leaguers, with Crews finishing with a .161/.297/.323 slash line in 19 games and House finishing 7-for-28 with one homer, zero walks and five strikeouts.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Tonight's exhibition game between the Nationals and Astros has been canceled due to heavy rain that is not expected to let up throughout the evening, the teams announced. It will not be made up.

The Nats were hoping to get work for a number of relievers tonight, with Derek Law starting a bullpen game.

The team already is scheduled to play a split-squad, day-night doubleheader on Saturday, with Jake Irvin starting the 1:05 p.m. game against the Cardinals in Jupiter and Josiah Gray starting the 6:05 p.m. game against the Marlins in West Palm Beach. Manager Davey Martinez will hope to get all of his relievers sufficient work between those two games.

The Grapefruit League schedule wraps up Sunday afternoon when the Nationals face the Mets in Port St. Lucie.

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.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Trevor Williams walked from the Nationals dugout to a pitching mound seven different times Thursday afternoon. He threw a total of 90 pitches during that time.

So why does the official box score from the Nats’ 9-8 win over the Twins show Williams having only pitched five innings? Let’s attempt to explain …

Williams completed his first four innings in rapid fashion, facing only a batter over the minimum, with a scant pitch count of 44. The plan was to get him up to 90 pitches in his final Grapefruit League start of the spring.

But with a host of Nationals relievers also needing work, the innings were going to run out. So manager Davey Martinez and pitching coach Jim Hickey told Williams he would be pulled at some point during the top of the fifth. By the time that point came, the right-hander had already allowed four runs on four hits.

In came Matt Barnes, who induced a double play grounder to end the inning. But when the top of the sixth arrived, there was Williams re-taking the mound, taking advantage of a special spring training rule allowing a pitcher to depart mid-inning if his pitch count gets high and then re-enter the game the following inning.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The camp roster held at 45 players yesterday. Jorge Mateo is confirmed for Opening Day in Baltimore.

Can the remaining decisions be simplified to, who’s the last reliever and bench player? Are we actually at that point in spring training?

A reduction to two spots with this many players on the major league side is interesting, to say the least.

To say the most, this is the correct math if bullpen locks are Craig Kimbrel, Yennier Cano, Danny Coulombe, Cionel Pérez, Mike Baumann, Dillon Tate and Keegan Akin. And if we’re waiting only to find out whether Jackson Holliday is on the Opening Day roster or the Orioles decide between second baseman Kolten Wong and a fifth outfielder like Kyle Stowers, Ryan McKenna or Heston Kjerstad.

In hindsight, it isn’t that simple. It’s more than just two players going head-to-head for one job, like the good ol’ backup catcher wars of past spring trainings before James McCann arrived.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Talent times have changed with the Orioles, and the proof showed again tonight when substitutions in the sixth inning included Coby Mayo at first base, Jackson Holliday at shortstop and Kyle Stowers in center field.

Not the typical replacements in a road exhibition game.

Holliday subbed for Gunnar Henderson, who led off and played the position that now belongs to him in 2024. Sharing is caring, but Henderson can hog it.

Manager Brandon Hyde confirmed it to the media this afternoon. Henderson won’t shift between short and third. Precisely what last year’s American League Rookie of the Year wanted to hear.

“That’s what I was drafted as and what I played my whole life growing up,” Henderson said, “so I’m looking forward to just getting some consistent playing time there.”

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Orioles set their rotation for the beginning of the season, and they’re ignoring the off-days and going with five starters.

Corbin Burnes is getting the ball for Opening Day against the Angels on March 28, followed by Grayson Rodriguez on March 30, Tyler Wells on March 31, Dean Kremer on April 1 against the Royals and Cole Irvin on April 2. Every game will be played at Camden Yards.

Wells appeared to be a bullpen candidate over the winter, but Kyle Bradish and John Means are headed to the injured list. Trading for Burnes didn’t push Wells back into a relief role.

Results also matter with Wells, who has allowed only two runs in 10 2/3 innings.

“We look at a little bit of everything – opponent, not only opponent first time but in the next few weeks, but also, he’s throwing the ball great,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “One of our best, if not the best starter in the first half last year, and for me he’s throwing the ball like that right now. We want to start him game three.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It was the bottom of the ninth on March 21, with the remnants of a crowd of 2,915 watching and a Double-A left-hander pitching for a Twins team that barely brought any major leaguers across the state with them for today’s exhibition game.

The Nationals had already scored the tying run, thanks to James Wood’s leadoff homer. Now there were two outs, the winning run leading off second base in the form of Alex Call, and Dylan Crews standing in the batter’s box with a chance to be the hero.

Crews has been a part of much bigger moments on a baseball field than this in his young life. Shoot, he celebrated a College World Series title only nine months ago. That didn’t diminish the stakes at all in his mind today.

“I mean, the way you prepare every day, and the way you treat every game, it should be like it’s a regular season game,” the 22-year-old outfielder said. “Or Game 7 of the World Series.”

So while Crews’ celebration after he ripped the RBI single to center that sealed the Nats’ 9-8 walk-off win looked muted to everyone watching, it was anything but muted inside his mind and his heart.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 20-win spring training Orioles play their penultimate road game tonight against the Red Sox at JetBlue Park.

Albert Suárez makes his fifth appearance and third start, and he needs to avoid the one disastrous inning that has marred his last two games and maybe impacted his chances of going north.

Suárez has logged 11 1/3 innings and allowed eight runs and 13 hits with one walk and 16 strikeouts. He was charged with five runs in the seventh inning of Friday’s game against the Rays in Port Charlotte.

Gunnar Henderson is leading off and playing shortstop. Jordan Westburg is the third baseman and cleanup hitter.

Colton Cowser is in center field. Tyler Nevin is the left fielder and Kolten Wong is the second baseman.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – As established players get their bodies ready for the regular season and players on the bubble battle for the final available roster spots, Stone Garrett still finds himself just trying to get his body reason for a full ballgame of any type.

Garrett, still recovering from a broken leg and injured ankle seven months ago, continues to get closer to his goal. But he’s not there yet.

The 28-year-old outfielder is now playing six or seven innings in minor league games, able to play the field and run the bases. But he hasn’t been able to play the full nine innings yet. And he won’t be appearing in any Grapefruit League games before the Nationals wrap things up this weekend and head north.

“He’s still got to go out there and repeat that every day now,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I think it’s still going to be some time. We’ll see. I know he’s itching to play a game down here with us. But I want to make sure we do the right thing for him. He’s pushing himself, which is great. But I want to make sure we check all the boxes, and he’s ready to go when he’s ready to go.”

Garrett came to spring training hoping to be ready to start the season on time, and the Nationals didn’t want to discourage him from shooting for that goal. But over the ensuing weeks, it became clear that was too optimistic. He looks fine at the plate, and he’s able to play in the outfield. But running continues to be the biggest obstacle, not to mention the recovery from one day’s activity to the next.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The competition for the final spot in the Nationals rotation seemed to create some clarity Wednesday night when Zach Davies was roughed up by the Cardinals for nine runs (seven of those coming during a torturous top of the fourth). Then again, it’s still up to Trevor Williams today to perform well enough to lock up the job.

A weak performance from Williams against the Twins could throw another wrench into this process and leave club officials still to decide which veteran right-hander should be the No. 5 starter after all. And there’s a domino effect to all this as well, because Williams would move to the bullpen if he’s not in the rotation, taking a precious spot away from someone else still in camp competing down to the wire.

Speaking of competitions going down to the wire, Luis García Jr. may need a good showing today to shift the narrative back in his direction and away from Trey Lipscomb, who had a huge night Wednesday and appears to be making a really strong case to make the team as the starting second baseman. García should be feeling the heat by now; let’s see how he handles it.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MINNESOTA TWINS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 1:05 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: None
Weather: Partly cloudy, 79 degrees, wind 10 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
LF Jesse Winker
1B Joey Gallo
C Keibert Ruiz
DH Eddie Rosario
2B Luis García Jr.
3B Ildemaro Vargas
CF Victor Robles

A few odds and ends as there are now just a few spring games left. An odd number of five actually and that will be the end of spring training in 2024.

We are all about ready for a new season to start at this point.

Rookie fav: We don’t even know for sure yet whether the Orioles Jackson Holliday will be on the Opening Day roster. But according to DraftKings Sportsbook, he is the favorite to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award:

* O’s Jackson Holliday at +250.

* Texas’ Evan Carter at +300.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Dylan Crews drew the lion’s share of attention when camp began, given his high-profile status coming out of LSU only seven months prior. James Wood stole the spotlight through the first week of Grapefruit League play, launching three homers that required tape-measure readings. Brady House and Robert Hassell III also were on everyone’s radar from the outset, given the hype that accompanied each player’s acquisition and the up-and-down path each has taken since.

But as the final days of spring training play out, and as the time for major decisions fast approaches, the prospect most likely to make the Nationals’ Opening Day roster is the one who was least-heralded of the group. The third round pick from less than two years ago. The guy without a natural position.

As the end of camp draws near, Trey Lipscomb is the one deservedly drawing the top reviews, the one perhaps making club officials reconsider their plan for him five weeks ago.

“I think the same about him all the time,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I love the kid.”

Enough to put him on the Opening Day roster? It’s sure starting to look like a real possibility.