ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles got through a tough spot last night because right-hander Tyler Wells and two of his teammates saved the day in the 2-0 win over the Texas Rangers. When right-hander Kyle Bradish left last night’s game early, the Orioles put the wheels in motion in thinking about piecing together last night’s nine innings and about tonight’s outing. During the Monday game, they were already leaning toward having Opening Day starter Kyle Gibson pitch tonight.

But now comes the decision about the starter here tomorrow afternoon in the series finale at Texas. The O’s still have not made a decision on what they will do. They could use Austin Voth if he doesn’t pitch tonight. They could call someone up from the minor leagues to make the start.

“We’re still in discussions about tomorrow,” manager Brandon Hyde said today in the Baltimore dugout. “We’re going to get through tonight and then go from there.”

At Triple-A, DL Hall is scheduled to pitch Norfolk’s home opener tonight. Drew Rom is listed for Wednesday, Grayson Rodriguez for Thursday and Bruce Zimmermann on Saturday.

Hyde was asked if it’s too soon to call up Rodriguez after the organization decided to option him to the minors to begin the season. Rodriguez pitched to a 7.04 ERA in 15 1/3 spring innings. He went four innings, allowing three runs (two earned) in the Tides' season opener last Friday. He would be on regular rest for a start tomorrow.

ARLINGTON, Tex. – Well, that was unexpected and unlikely but most welcome.

An Orioles pitching staff that had allowed nine runs three straight games completely reversed its fortunes last night deep in the heart of Texas. They threw a four-pitcher, one-hitter at Globe Life Field. Against a Texas team that was 3-0 and leading all of MLB with 29 runs scored.

Last night Texas went 1-for-29 for the night and 0-for-24 after Josh Jung’s infield single with one out in the second inning. It was the fewest hits allowed by the Orioles since they one-hit the Chicago White Sox on the road on June 24, 2022.

The pitching game plan had to call an early audible when starter Kyle Bradish took a liner off his right foot. He suffered a contusion, but preliminary X-rays were negative for a fracture. We should get an update later today at the ballpark.

Lefty Danny Coulombe came in and got four outs, three against lefty hitters. In the dugout, Tyler Wells was not dressed in full uniform because he wasn’t scheduled to pitch until tonight. But he told Brandon Hyde to use him if needed and Hyde took him up on the offer. Grab that jersey quick.

ARLINGTON, Tex. – The Orioles starting rotation, which covered just 12 innings in three games at Boston to start the year, got another short start today. But this one had nothing to do with the pitcher’s performance.

Right-hander Kyle Bradish, who went 4-7 with a 4.90 ERA last season, took a line drive off his right foot. One-time O’s draft pick Jonan Heim drilled the comebacker at 104 mph. It knocked Bradish off his feet and out of this game. The ball was hit so hard it caromed to first baseman Ryan Mountcastle who recorded an out on the play.

Lefty reliever Danny Coulombe hurried into the game and faced a second and third, two outs situation. And he struck out lefty-hitting Brad Miller on a slider to keep the game 0-0 to end the second inning.

The O’s had big hopes this year for Bradish, in large part to his strong finish to the 2022 season. Over his last 13 starts of the year, beginning in late July, he went 3-3 with a 3.28 ERA. In his last eight starts, he threw four quality starts, going 3-2 with a 2.76 ERA and .500 OPS against.

In Boston, Opening Day starter Kyle Gibson’s five innings was the longest outing by the rotation, which allowed 20 hits and 15 runs over 12 innings. That forced the O’s bullpen to throw 13 2/3 innings in that series and they will be needed heavily again tonight.

ARLINGTON, Tex. – After losing two of three at Boston and allowing nine runs each game, the Orioles will look for immediate improvement in their pitching and defense tonight. Baltimore opens a three-game series at Globe Life Field against the Rangers.

The O’s scored 23 runs but allowed 27 at Boston and lost the last two days to the Red Sox by 9-8 and 9-5 scores.

Tonight right-hander Kyle Bradish (4-7, 4.90 ERA in 2022) will make his 2023 season debut. Bradish pitched 117 2/3 last season allowing 119 hits and pitching to a WHIP of 1.402 with a 3.5 walk rate and 8.5 strikeout rate. Bradish had six quality starts among his 23 starts and averaged 16.9 pitches per inning.

The Orioles went 14-9 in his starts last season and went 9-4 in his last 13 when he produced a very strong finish. After coming off the injured list in late July, Bradish was 3-3 with a 3.28 ERA in his last 13 games, allowing a .607 OPS. In his last eight starts of 2022, he pitched four quality starts and three scoreless outings, going 3-2 with a 2,76 ERA allowing a .169 batting average and .500 OPS. He gave up just two homers over 45 2/3 innings in those games and allowed two runs or less five times.

Bradish faced Texas just once last season and it was at Globe Life Field, where he allowed one run and three hits over five innings on Aug. 3 on 93 pitches.

ARLINGTON, Tex. – The Orioles scored 23 runs in Boston and had two players produce a five-hit game. They hit nine doubles and added seven homers and their team OPS of 1.033 leads the American League at this early point.

But baseball’s No. 1 prospect, Gunnar Henderson, considered a leading candidate to be the American League Rookie of the Year, is still looking for his first hit of 2023. He is 0-for-8 but has also drawn a team-leading six walks.

That is six walks out of the Orioles' team total of 15 and no other player on the roster has walked more than twice thus far.

“The hits haven’t come yet but they will,” manager Brandon Hyde said this afternoon in the visitor’s dugout at Globe Life Field. “But he’s taking good at-bats. Lot of 3-2 counts. Laying off borderline, the pitches that are off (the plate). Feel like on some of his swings, he’s just missing a few. Little bit musclely, I think he’s trying to get that first one. Once he gets that first one, he’s going to be able to relax a little bit. But his at-bats have been good so far.”

Henderson’s walk rate, which was 12.1 last year is 42.9 at this very early juncture. Last season he saw 4.08 pitches per plate appearance and that is up to 4.50 so far this year.

ARLINGTON, Tex. – The Orioles (1-2) begin their second series of the year tonight playing unbeaten Texas (3-0) to start a three-game series at Globe Life Field.

Right-hander Kyle Bradish (4-7, 4.90 ERA in 2022) makes his season debut facing Texas right-hander Jon Gray (7-7, 3.96 ERA). In his last 13 starts of last season, Bradish went 3-3 with a 3.28 ERA and the Orioles went 9-4 in those games.

Kyle Stowers and Anthony Bemboom are making their first starts of the year with Stowers batting sixth in left field and Bemboom batting ninth and catching while Adley Rutschman hits second as the DH. Stowers is the O's fourth different left fielder in four games. 

For the Orioles

Cedric Mullins CF
Adley Rutschman DH
Anthony Santander RF
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Gunnar Henderson 3B
Kyle Stowers LF
Adam Frazier 2B
Jorge Mateo SS
Anthony Bemboom C

There are certainly a few things to clean up as the Orioles play at Texas tonight in their second series of the year. They scored 23 runs in three games at Boston, but allowed nine runs three straight games and no one thinks that is nearly good enough or close to it from the mound.

The O’s defense was shaky for three days in Boston, particularly in the outfield and there was not nearly enough pitching or defense to start the 2023 season. An out away, a catch away, from a 2-0 record on Saturday, instead the Orioles are 1-2 heading to play Texas.

"We swung the bat well enough (to win), but we've got to pitch and play defense and we didn't have our best series on the mound or defensively," manager Brandon Hyde said. "Those are two things we've got to do better to win series' in this league."

The Orioles won 10-9 Thursday before 9-8 and 9-5 losses in the last two games as the teams combined for 50 runs and 74 hits in the series.

The O’s had 10 hits or more each game, producing 38 in the series with nine doubles, seven homers and 10 stolen bases. They are batting .339/.426/.607/1.033 as team right now.

The Orioles have exchanged one-run wins with Boston, and both clubs are 1-1 as they wrap up this three-game series today at Fenway Park. The Orioles won 10-9 on Thursday and lost 9-8 yesterday. After the series wrap-up game, the O’s head to Texas for three games to conclude the season-opening road trip.

The Orioles have scored 18 runs on 26 hits with five homers and 10 stolen bases to start the year. Five different players have already hit home runs and five have stolen bases. Catcher Adley Rutschman is 6-for-10 and Austin Hays is 5-for-10 through two games.

Lefty Cole Irvin (9-13, 3.98 ERA in 2022 with Oakland) makes his O’s debut this afternoon. He pitched 181 innings last season, the 12^th-most in the American League. He recorded a 1.160 WHIP, allowing 1.2 homers per nine innings with a 1.8 walk rate and 6.4 strikeout rate.

Irvin is an outstanding control pitcher with a career 2.0 walk rate. His 14.4 pitches per inning were the second-fewest in the AL last year, while his 1.79 BB/9 ratio ranked sixth-best among qualified AL hurlers. And his 4.9 percent walk rate ranked in the 89th percentile of MLB, per Statcast. He did that while ranking near the bottom of all MLB pitchers last season in fastball and curveball spin rate.

Irvin had an 8.40 ERA in the first inning last season when opponents produced an OPS of 1.095 against him. He went 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA in five April starts in 2022.

How do the Orioles bounce back after such a brutal loss? I don’t have that answer, but what choice do they have? A good thing about baseball sometimes is that it's everyday nature. They have another game today and need to win it to win this series.

I’ve been in their clubhouse over the years a day after a tough, tough loss and am always surprised at how well the players can move on. They just know they have to. There isn’t much to learn from their loss on Saturday when Ryan McKenna’s dropped popup should have been the third out of a win. Instead, it gave Boston another swing. And a player having a huge day, Adam Duvall, hit a two-run homer off Félix Bautista for a 9-8 win.

The Orioles should be 2-0. They are 1-1.

How do they respond? We begin to find out this afternoon.

The start of the year has produced some record-setting performances. According to STATS, the Orioles are the first team with two players having five hits in the first two games of a season since 1901. Adley Rutschman did it on Opening Day, and yesterday, Austin Hays went 5-for-5 with two doubles and a solo homer.

The Orioles and Boston Red Sox resume their season-opening series at Fenway Park this afternoon. The Orioles had 15 hits - including homers from Adley Rutschman and Ramón Urías - drew nine walks and stole five bases in their Opening Day 10-9 win on Thursday.

The Orioles hit .395 (15-for-38) in the win and produced four doubles and two homers while going 5-for-14 with runners in scoring position. They led 5-2 after four innings and 10-4 after seven before holding off Boston’s late rally. The Red Sox scored three runs in the eighth and two in the last of the ninth.

The Orioles won on Opening Day for 10^th time in the last 13 games. They are now 45-25 all-time in openers, 13-12 when they open on the road and 8-3 when they open versus Boston. They are 7-1 in the last eight openers against the Red Sox.

Rutschman went 5-for-5 with a home run, a run scored, four RBIs and a walk in his first Opening Day action. The five hits, four RBIs and six times reaching base safely all marked career highs. He became the first player in O's history to reach base safely six times on Opening Day, and the eighth major league player to do so since at least 1901, per Stathead, and became the first catcher to reach base safely six times in a game since the Mets' Kevin Plawecki did it on Aug. 16, 2018 at Philadelphia. He is the first O's catcher to record five hits in a game since Matt Wieters did it on Aug. 14, 2016 at San Francisco. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Rutschman is the first player to go 5-for-5 (or better) with at least four RBIs on Opening Day in major league history

Right-hander Dean Kremer (8-7, 3.23 ERA in 2022) makes his season debut on the mound. Last year in 125 1/3 innings, he allowed 123 hits and 1.253 WHIP. Kremer allowed 0.8 homers per nine innings with a 2.4 walk rate and 6.2 strikeout rate.

The Orioles' Triple-A Norfolk affiliate began its new season last night. But the seasons do not begin for Double-A Bowie, High-A Aberdeen or Single-A Delmarva until next Thursday.

But today we have the break-camp rosters for those three clubs as they were announced this afternoon. There still could be tweaks and changes to these rosters between now and first pitches next week.

There are six O's prospects MLBPipeline.com ranks in the organization's top 30 at Bowie, four with Aberdeen right now and three at Delmarva.

As written here earlier today, the expectation was that shortstop Jackson Holliday would begin with Delmarva, and indeed he is with Delmarva. Also as expected, Heston Kjerstad is at Bowie.

BOWIE

The Orioles stole five bases on Opening Day as the Red Sox battery, almost no matter who was pitching, was no match for their thievery.

They stole off catcher Reese McGuire and three different pitchers getting three bases while Ryan Brasier was on the mound and one each off Corey Kluber and Kaleb Ort.

We will see how the rest of the season goes, but for one day, they ran amok.

After the first day of the season, there were three players in the major leagues with two stolen bases each. The Orioles’ Cedric Mullins and Jorge Mateo, and Ji Hwan Bae of Pittsburgh.

And this was not all about the new rules either.

A player who has dealt with enormous expectations for a long time, O’s catcher Adley Rutschman delivered an enormous performance on his first major league Opening Day as the Orioles held off Boston 10-9 at Fenway Park. 

Rutschman hit a solo homer in the first, delivered a two-run single in the fifth and singled in a run in the seventh. It was a 5-for-5 game and he walked once to reach base six times while driving in four runs.

Rutschman is the first player to go 5-for-5 or better with at least four RBIs on Opening Day, and he's only the third to go 5-for-5 with multiple RBIs in an opener since 1920, joining Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Billy Herman. Rutschman is the first Orioles catcher to homer on Opening Day since Matt Wieters in 2013. He is also the youngest Oriole to homer on Opening Day since Adam Jones in 2010, and the youngest to do it in his first at-bat since Cal Ripken Jr. in 1984.

Pretty historic day for the player that was the unanimous winner of the Most Valuable Oriole award in 2022 and who finished second to Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez for the American League Rookie of the Year honor.

"Not a bad way to have your first one," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. "Swung the bat great, caught outstanding, gives us an early boost homer there right away in the first inning."

The Orioles begin their 70^th major league season today, playing their season opener at Boston’s Fenway Park for the third time in the last four years. The Orioles open with six games on the road – three in Boston and three at Texas – before their home opener a week from today versus the New York Yankees.

The Opening Day pitching matchup features two veteran right-handers making debuts with their new clubs. Between them, the Orioles' Kyle Gibson (10-8, 5.05 ERA for Philadelphia in 2022) and Boston’s Corey Kluber (10-10, 4.34 ERA for Tampa Bay) have combined for 512 career starts and a combined 3,090 2/3 innings.

Kluber has made 251 starts, throwing 1,586 2/3 innings, with Gibson at 261 starts and 1,504 innings.

The Orioles, who lost 2-1 in Florida versus Tampa Bay in the 2022 opener, are opening away from home for the fifth season in a row. They are 44-25 all-time in openers and 12-12 when they open on the road. The Orioles won on Opening Day eight straight seasons from 2011-2018, but are 1-3 in the last four opening games. At Fenway Park they lost 13-2 in the 2020 opener and won 3-0 on Opening Day 2021. Overall they are 9-3 in their last 12 season openers.

Baltimore and Boston have squared off on Opening Day 10 times, with the Orioles holding a 7-3 advantage (5-1 in Baltimore and 2-2 at Boston).

Here is the break-camp roster for the Orioles’ Triple-A Norfolk Tides team. The Tides begin their 53^rd season in the International League at 6:35 p.m. Friday night when they play at Durham. After three games there this weekend, Norfolk opens its home season at Harbor Park on Tuesday night versus Gwinnett. 

The current Tides roster includes 10 players currently on the Orioles 40-man roster and nine players currently ranked among their top 30 prospects by Baseball America. It includes 10 players that MLBPipeline.com ranks in the team's top 30. Norfolk has six players ranked currently in the Baseball America top 100 list. 

Pitchers: Eduard Bazardo, Yennier Canó, Ryan Conroy, Noah Denoyer, Kyle Dowdy, Reed Garrett, DL Hall, Darwinzon Hernández, Joey Krehbiel, Morgan McSweeney, Grayson Rodriguez, Drew Rom, Phoenix Sanders, Chris Vallimont, Nick Vespi, Spenser Watkins, Ryan Watson, Bruce Zimmermann.

Catchers: Maverick Handley, Mark Kolozsvary.

Infielders: Greg Cullen, Lewin Díaz, Cadyn Grenier, Josh Lester, Connor Norby, Ryan O’Hearn, Joey Ortiz, Jordan Westburg.

Welcome to Opening Day 2023. A new season is here. This afternoon at Boston’s Fenway Park, the Orioles begin their 70^th season since they began playing in Baltimore in 1954.

New year, new rules, new schedule. It all collides and begins today.

For the third time in four seasons, the year will begin in Boston. The Orioles lost the opener 13-2 at Fenway Park in 2020 but won 3-0 the next year on a three-pitcher two-hitter. John Means went the first seven innings and then Tanner Scott and César Valdez went the last two. The Orioles swept a three-game series by a combined 18-5 score to start that year at 3-0. But they then lost eight of their next 10 on their way to 110 losses.

Things are better now and we’re surely glad for that. The Orioles won 83 games last year, a 31-win improvement, and were the winningest non-playoff team in the American League. They finished three wins out of a playoff spot. This year the goal is to make up those three games and find themselves playing postseason games in October for the first time since the 2016 season.

Right-hander Kyle Gibson, who posted a record of 10-8 with a 5.05 ERA while making 31 starts for the 2022 National League champion Philadelphia Phillies, makes his regular season O’s debut today. In eight career starts versus Boston he is 3-4 with a 3.38 ERA and .604 OPS against. In four career games at Fenway Park, he is 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA and .450 OPS against. So, pretty good.

There will be a lot new to fans when a new season of Orioles baseball at Oriole Park at Camden Yards begins next Thursday, April 6 at 3:05 p.m. when the O’s host the Yankees in their home opener.

From the field to the food and at several stops in between, there is newness all around.

Let’s start with the playing surface. Nicole Sherry, Orioles senior director, field operations, said the field was replaced in December.

“Huge project took place, completed December of 2022. We replaced the entire field. Five inches of old rootzone material came out and five inches of new 100 percent sand went in and brand new Kentucky Bluegrass sod was laid. It’s been a long offseason for the groundscrew, but we’ve got it looking great. So we’re excited,” Sherry said earlier today at Oriole Park, where the field looked spectacular.

“It was about three weeks worth of work. A lot of material brought in and hauled out. By far the biggest project we’ve had to do in my 20 years here,” she added. “This project has been in the process for a good three years. It was needed and thankful we were able to get it done.”

Finally, the 2023 regular season is almost here. We’re counting down hours at this point and it’s great. Baseball that counts and a potentially very exciting season of Orioles baseball is about to begin. 

They gained 31 wins last year, finished 83-79 and were just three games out of an American League playoff berth. The last time they won more than 83 was also the last time they made the playoffs, as an AL wild-card team with 89 wins in 2016.

As the pursuit of a playoff berth begins for real tomorrow, here are a few things the Orioles no doubt hope goes well for the club in the season ahead. It is just a partial list.

Stay healthy: Captain Obvious called to suggest I didn’t need to state this one, but I did anyway. The Captain was not amused. Yes, every team could use good overall health over six months and 162 games. Some teams have a larger margin for error however. But key injuries can make the difference in the standings. The Tampa Bay Rays will begin the year without right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who could debut in May. The Yankees, who won the AL East by seven games with 99 victories last year, will be down a few starting pitchers to begin the season including lefty Carlos Rondón. He has a left elbow strain and is expected to begin the year on the injured list but could return before April is out.

The Orioles are a deeper organization on Opening Day 2023 than a year ago, but still likely need most of their key players to stay on the field to truly have a postseason shot. Getting John Means back in July, if he meets that projection and is throwing well, could be a big lift as someone coming off the IL.

As spring training began, it seemed like there was a great chance it would end with O’s top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez heading north to join the team for Opening Day. His MLB debut would await. 

But now we all will have to wait.

The debut is on hold and Rodriguez will start this season on the roster of Triple-A Norfolk. Just where he ended last year.

The spring began with great anticipation to see Rodriguez pitch in spring games and bigger anticipation to see what he could do against MLB hitters in games that count. He had been dominant on the farm and ranked for some of his time there as the sport’s No. 1 pitching prospect.

But as spring camp closed, Grayson was not pitching well enough to make the starting rotation with Opening Day set for Thursday. He will not be with the team in Boston and his MLB debut will have to wait again.

Unless the club’s decision on rookie right-hander Grayson Rodriguez includes significant information we are not yet privy to – which is certainly possible – I still think the Orioles should head north with the kid as the No. 5 in their season-opening rotation.

They have been pointing to the inclusion of Rodriguez in their rotation to begin this year since last season and especially since late last year when he returned to pitch on the farm in September after his lat injury.

On the final day of the 2022 season, Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias addressed both Rodriguez’s comeback from injury and outlook for the 2023 season ahead.

Said Elias then: “With an injury like he had, it’s still something to be mindful of, even at this moment in time. I think he’s going to have it way in the rearview mirror when he comes into spring training next year, and I hope he makes our Opening Day rotation. I think that’s a very high likelihood.”

It seems the plan has been for Grayson’s debut to happen to start the 2023 season all along.