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.

January has the potential to be a busy month for the Orioles based on some important dates and roster business that needs completion.

The general managers and Winter Meetings are over. Players eligible for qualifying offers already decided whether to accept or decline, with Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander choosing the latter and setting up the Orioles to receive compensatory draft picks.

The non-tender deadline also passed, with the Orioles sending reliever Jacob Webb into free agency. He signed with the Rangers.

Corner infielder Emmanuel Rivera is the only arbitration-eligible player who signed a 2025 contract, agreeing to $1 million to avoid a hearing. Eleven Orioles remain unsigned – pitchers Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, Trevor Rogers, Keegan Akin and Gregory Soto, catcher Adley Rutschman, infielders Ryan Mountcastle, Jorge Mateo and Ramón Urías, and outfielder Cedric Mullins - and salary figures will be exchanged Thursday night unless deals are struck.

These players remain with the Orioles, so it’s only about setting salaries. Hearings will be held between Jan. 27-Feb. 14.

Now that 2025 has arrived on the calendar, can the baseball season be that far behind?

It will be here sooner than we think, with spring training arriving next month, the first spring game set for Feb. 22 and Opening Day 2025 scheduled for March 27 with the Orioles at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Here are a few things to ponder and look forward to during this coming season.

The filling out of the roster: Will the O’s add a front-line starting pitcher? If they add someone or more than one, does that happen via free agency or via a trade?

Last season it was not until Feb. 1 that the deal for Corbin Burnes was announced.

Rather than ask (beg?) for more mailbag questions, I decided today to pose a few of my own.

Here are three for you to consider. Share your answers.

If the Orioles don’t acquire a No. 1 starter, should Zach Eflin or Grayson Rodriguez start on Opening Day?

Eflin has the edge in experience and track record. He’s also good, so the assignment wouldn’t be based only on those two factors.

The Rays named Eflin their Opening Day starter this year, and he held the Blue Jays to one run through five innings before the game unraveled for him in a five-run sixth. He surrendered three home runs in an 8-2 loss.

Today, it’s another edition, our pre-Holiday edition, of several questions for O’s fans. Per usual, answer one question or all of them. Respond to other readers' answers with your takes on their takes. 

On to the questions:

1) Where does right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano slot into the O’s rotation? And after going 15-3 with a 1.67 ERA in Japan, how well will he do for the 2025 Orioles?

2) Which player will bat leadoff the most next season?

3) Which player will lead the 2025 O’s in home runs and hit how many?

For the Orioles in recent years, seeing a highly-ranked prospect come up and produce right away has been a challenge. Frankly, it’s a challenge for a lot of players and teams.

Any move up the minor league ladder can be a challenge for a young player but the move to the majors is the hardest. Hard to get there, sometimes harder to stay there.

The O’s can go back to Cal Ripken Jr. to see his rough start in the majors. More recently, then No. 1 ranked prospect Adley Rutschman came up in May of 2022. After his first 20 big league games, he was batting .176 with no homers or RBIs. Colton Cowser hit .115 in 2023, and Grayson Rodriguez had an ERA of 7.35 his first 10 MLB starts. Now he’s a top of the rotation type pitcher.

In 2024, elite prospects like Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo had some big-time MLB struggles.

During the Winter Meetings, O’s director of player development Anthony Villa was asked about how the organization can try to help their top prospects get off to better starts when they arrive in the big leagues?

The Orioles, as they did during the 2024 season, will have three hitting coaches working with their position players again in the 2025 year.

This time around, Cody Asche returns to the staff as primary hitting coach. The assistant hitting coaches are Sherman Johnson and Tommy Joseph. Johnson will also serve as upper level hitting coordinator.

Johnson, 34, spent last season as the O’s minor league upper-level hitting coordinator. He was the hitting coach at Triple-A Norfolk in 2023, his first professional coaching position after a nine-year playing career.

Joseph, 33, completed his first season as an MLB coach in 2024 as the assistant hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners. He joined the Mariners after three seasons as a minor league hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants with High-A Eugene in 2023 and with the New York Mets for Double-A Binghamton in 2022 and Single-A St. Lucie in 2021. Joseph appeared in 249 MLB games with the Phillies from 2016-17.

Asche, 34, spent the last two years as the O's offensive strategy coach. He served as the organization’s upper-level hitting coordinator in 2022. He was also a guest on a recent addition of the “Hot Stove” radio show on WBAL Radio.

The Orioles are not guaranteeing that Jackson Holliday will be their starting second baseman when the 2025 season starts, but it’s pretty clear they expect exactly that result.

At age 20 in 60 games last season, he hit .189/.255/.311/.565 for an OPS+ of just 66.

His struggles led some fans to question how he became the No. 1 ranked player in the minors and to question his potential? I can remind you how – he earned it.

I asked manager Brandon Hyde this week if Holliday is his guy at second base?

“Think we’re going to give him every opportunity,” the skipper said. “Loved the way he finished the season last year (going 4-for-5 the last weekend). I like the swing adjustments that he’s made. I just talked to him yesterday, he feels great. And you know, he’s a big part of the future for us. We’re going to give him every opportunity this spring.”

The Orioles conducted their business yesterday in the Rule 5 draft, watching seven minor leaguers leave the organization, and headed back home still short at least one starter and reliever. The meetings with agents and executives were plentiful. Perhaps they were able to make significant progress toward a deal. But the only announcements were the signings of outfielder Tyler O’Neill and catcher Gary Sánchez three days after their agreements.

Trading for an ace like the Padres’ Dylan Cease or Seattle's Luis Castillo - the Mariners want a right-handed hitting first baseman - is becoming the more likely avenue with free agents flying off the board. Garrett Crochet went to the Red Sox, so he’s out. Otherwise, executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias will need to lower his sights to the middle of the rotation on shorter-term deals or bust the bank for Corbin Burnes.

While the pitching staff is incomplete, the biggest questions surrounding the lineup and bench center on who makes the club and the amount of playing time.

Elias didn’t offer any guarantees Tuesday about Jackson Holliday getting most of the starts at second base, and he listed the factors that could influence it.

“It’s gonna depend on a lot of things - on the lineup, who’s healthy, who’s pitching, who’s in that Opening Day lineup. But I think we’re gonna see a big step forward from Jackson this year,” Elias said during his media session.