Orioles manager Brandon Hyde kept rookie Grayson Rodriguez on the mound Tuesday for 99 pitches, the right-hander’s highest total in four years dating back to A ball. It wasn’t a test of strength and endurance. It wasn’t intended as a professional life lesson.

The club just needed the length.

“I can’t continue to pull our starters in the fifth inning,” Hyde said afterward.

Rodriguez was gone after walking the bases loaded and retiring only one batter in the fifth, the failure to put away hitters with two strikes coming back to bite him. But the stuff is filthy and the leash is long enough to reach Chicago, where he’ll start again Sunday afternoon.

What happens after that is the mystery, with Kyle Bradish pitching Friday night at Double-A Bowie and lined up for an April 19 return in D.C. if he stays on turn.

He was not a high draft pick, but maybe Double-A Bowie right-hander Justin Armbruester, their Opening Day starter, was the perfect pick for the Orioles organization and its pitching development program.

He entered an organization that under the Mike Elias front office has become heavily data and technology driven. In Armbruester, they added a cerebral pitcher who loves to soak up the data and analytics. He seems to want to use every advantage and resource available to him that he can get his hands on. Beyond the technology the Orioles provide him, he even keeps his own notebooks on opponent hitters and even makes notes on ballpark factors everywhere he goes.

Last year we started to see where a pitcher driven to get better, started to indeed do just that. Between High Single-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie, he went 6-2 with a 3.85 ERA over 117 innings. He walked 34, fanned 126, posted a 1.07 WHIP and opponent batters hit just .213 off him.

That was a solid year that landed him at the No. 20 spot on the latest Baseball America O’s top 30 prospects list. He is still sort of flying under the radar a bit, but less than he was. On Opening Night for Bowie at Hartford last Thursday, he threw five scoreless innings on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Then no doubt he went back to work in his between starts bullpen sessions, using everything around him to try and keep getting better.

If there’s a soft spot in a major league schedule, the Orioles could clutch theirs like a body pillow.

Fresh off two losing series within their division, the Orioles began a stretch tonight of playing 19 of 22 games against sub-.500 teams. An opportunity, perhaps, to offer another interpretation of liftoff in Baltimore.  

Of course, the Orioles weren’t going to turn up their collective noses at anyone. They’d see how many teams are above them in the East.

They, too, had fewer victories than defeats after 10 days. But the Athletics and Tigers were tied for the worst record in the majors at 2-7, and the Orioles would see them in 11 of the next 19 games.

Kyle Gibson ran up his pitch count early but found his economical stride and made it into the seventh inning, Ryan Mountcastle and Adley Rutschman conquered the left field wall while others were less fortunate, Austin Hays took the safer route by homering to center, and the Orioles stayed hydrated and happy with a 5-1 victory over Oakland.

For Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins, after a solid start to his year batting against left-handed pitching, he sees it as actually a good thing that the Orioles face three left-handers to start their series against Oakland.

Mullins got his season off to a great start, going 5-for-13 with two homers and seven RBIs in the first series at Boston. But he is 2-for-24 in the six games since that series. However, he is also 4-for-11 with a homer and six RBIs versus lefties this year after struggling against southpaws in 2022.

So bring on the lefties as the Oakland series begins.

“Yeah, I’d say so (nice to see lefties),” he said this afternoon in the Baltimore clubhouse. “You know, I feel like I’ve had pretty strong at-bats and just a matter of putting them altogether. I know it’s still early in that aspect, but feel confident where I am.

“Kind of in the middle (right now). I had a really strong start out in Boston. In terms of strikeouts, I feel like those have been manageable. Had a few walks as well, so feel like I am controlling the zone really well. Just a mater of finding the grass and keep focusing on hitting the ball hard.”

ARLINGTON, Tex. – Sometimes in baseball it is said that momentum can be hard for a team to build because it is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher. Meaning someone can shut you down and beat you. In the case of the Orioles the next day’s starter built on what happened the previous day in a twist on the phrase.

When asked about his strong seven-inning start last night as the Orioles beat Texas 7-2, right-hander Kyle Gibson first spent quite some time talking about the job Tyler Wells did the night before when Kyle Bradish got hurt. The Orioles were still marveling yesterday at Wells’ performance to bolster the pitching staff Monday night in the series-opening 2-0 win.

“I don’t think we can say enough about what Tyler Wells did for this team (Monday) night,” said Gibson. “That set us up for me not needing to go seven innings tonight. I was thankful I was able to do it, but what a job by him. When I found out he was going in, they asked me if I could throw (yesterday) and that’s a no brainer. If Wellsy can step up and do that I can take my turn the next day. Anytime a starter can get to the seventh, I think it’s big for the bullpen. I told Hyder I could go another one and try to save one more inning, but he said they were fresh enough down there and handed the ball off.”

The Orioles realized what Wells did Monday was pretty special in how he stepped up and Gibson said good teams need such things.

“It’s necessary, right,” he said. “There is something on the line behind the scenes like every time a guy is on the mound. That put him in a tough spot - he is not staying on routine, mentally he is not locked in when Hyder asked him that. But it shows a lot about his routine and how he stays prepared. He had done a really good job of staying prepared and ready. I think that is what this team is all about – we’ve got a lot of young guys that have really good heads on their shoulders and understand that if they start the game on the bench, they are one play away from being out there. Hats off to him. That gave us a lot of momentum going into today.”

The warning, or maybe it was just a gentle reminder, came from executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias on the day that the Orioles made their deepest roster cuts in spring training.

“We’re going to need more starters,” Elias said, as media crowded him outside the baseball operations center and sought an explanation for Grayson Rodriguez’s unexpected optioning to Triple-A.

Elias wasn’t breaking new ground, of course, as he stood on the concrete. No team goes through an entire 162-game grind with the same five members of its rotation. But the Orioles were only four deep into their season, the home opener on hold until later in the week, when Jonah Heim’s 104 mph line drive nailed Kyle Bradish on the right foot Monday night and made those words echo louder.

It also made a sickening thud, with initial fears that Bradish suffered a fracture. X-rays were negative for that, but further tests had to be scheduled because MRIs always reveal more.

I wonder why teams even bother with X-rays. There’s always the inevitable MRI.

ARLINGTON, Texas – As news surfaced before first pitch tonight that rookie right-hander Grayson Rodriguez was expected to make his major league debut on Wednesday afternoon for the Orioles, the club prepared to take the field against Texas. They were looking for a series win and to follow up last night’s uplifting shutout victory over the Rangers.

And they got the win and made it look rather easy, beating Texas 7-2 for their first 2023 win that did not come by either one or two runs. The Orioles improved to 3-2 tonight and Texas falls to 3-2. After sweeping defending National League champion Philadelphia to start their year, the Rangers could get swept in this series by the Orioles.

Just before the game started, multiple outlets reported that the Orioles would call up Rodriguez to make his big league debut in tomorrow afternoon’s series finale.

Rodriguez, 23, the No. 6 prospect in the sport per Baseball America, would be facing Texas right-hander Jacob deGrom, a pitcher with a career 2.55 ERA and two Cy Young Awards. He would also be pitching in his home state for his debut. The O’s drafted him in Round 1 (No. 11 overall) in the 2018 draft out of a high school in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Rodriguez was considered likely to break north with the Orioles in the Opening Day starting rotation, but late in camp was sent back to the minors after pitching to a spring ERA of 7.04 over 15 1/3 innings. He made his Triple-A season debut in Norfolk’s season opener at Durham last Friday night, allowing three runs (two earned) over four innings. He was scheduled to pitch this Thursday for the Tides at home, but now that plan has changed. Rodriguez would be pitching on normal rest tomorrow.

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.

The line drive that knocked Kyle Bradish out of last night’s game in Texas also rattled the Orioles’ rotation for the series.

Kyle Gibson has moved up to start tonight on regular rest instead of closing out the series on Wednesday.

The Orioles chose Gibson to start the opener in Boston, and the off-day that followed kept him available for tonight’s assignment.

X-rays on Bradish’s right foot came back negative last night, but the club scheduled further tests to ensure that he didn’t sustain a fracture.

A decision is pending on Wednesday’s starter. The Orioles could hand the ball to Austin Voth, who threw one inning on Saturday, but they might need him tonight.

BOSTON – The arrival of a new season wasn’t going to pull Orioles manager Brandon Hyde out of his old pregame routine.

Hyde walked from the team hotel to Fenway Park this morning, braving the cold that numbed his exposed skin. Always a good time in solitude to think or to clear his head before entering a cramped clubhouse.

“Waking up this morning and walking over here, brrr,” Hyde said while sitting in the dugout. “That was cold. I don’t know what the wind chill was, but … felt like every bit of 19. My ears right now, my nose, are still feeling it.

“I enjoy my walk over here. I walk to and from as much as I can. I just think walking, you reflect a little bit and you’re excited. Today I had a little faster pace going than normal because it was so cold, but honestly just enjoy the atmosphere.”

Opening Day produces “goosebump moments,” as Hyde described them. The number of years - he’s up to a dozen - and the weather don’t matter.   

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.

BOSTON – The cold weather for Opening Day was noted by Orioles players prior to leaving sunny Florida, where temperatures kept settling in the 80s and dark tans became part of the uniform color scheme.

They know how uncomfortable it can be in Boston. They’ve broken out winter gear for batting practice, with wool caps pulled down to cover everything except their eyes. They’ve been forced to hit and pitch in freezing rain. But it’s the cost of playing meaningful games, and a schedule that keeps taking them farther north in March and April than would be considered ideal.

Can’t break camp and drive to Tropicana Field every spring, as they did again in 2022 with the lockout relocating teams.

Roof, roof, roof for the home team.

Kyle Gibson couldn’t care less about any of it. While others lament or curse the frigid conditions, trying to laugh about it with teeth chattering, Gibson poses a reminder to a visitor at his spring training locker.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Injuries forced the Orioles to redesign their bullpen before Opening Day, burning parts of the bridge to their closer. They swerved at the last minute while composing their rotation, moving away from their top pitching prospect. They resisted the temptation to carry a non-roster left-handed bat in a reserve role.

The final product is almost complete barring a last-minute change prior to rosters being set by noon. No Grayson Rodriguez or DL Hall, the top two pitching prospects who report to Triple-A Norfolk. No Dillon Tate or Mychal Givens, whose right forearm and left knee, respectively, landed them on the injured list.

Expected behind the plate in a reserve role is Anthony Bemboom, who lost his spot on the 40-man roster after signing a split-contract, watched the Orioles trade for James McCann, received an invitation to spring training and made his second straight Opening Day roster. It wasn’t supposed to happen, but pain in McCann’s left oblique, however mild, most likely has altered the team’s plans.

Oddsmakers and assorted experts view the Orioles as a fourth- or fifth-place team, ahead or behind the Red Sox. MLB.com’s panel of “experts” excludes them from the playoff picture. PECOTA , which never seems to calculate a successful season for them, has the win ceiling at 74. ZiPS is only a tad more optimistic with 80. Online site SportsBetting.ag sets the win total at 77 for over-under wagers.

(BetOnline.ag has Brandon Hyde 9/1 to be the first manager fired. Don’t waste your money. That isn't happening.)

Orioles right-hander Kyle Gibson has been named the club’s Opening Day starter and will take the mound next Thursday afternoon at Boston’s Fenway Park. Gibson emerged as a potential favorite to get that call about midway through camp and continued to pitch well in spring games, and the first game now officially goes to him.

He has said the first starter of any series can be a tone-setter for that series. Gibson’s last game that counted was a scoreless inning in the 2022 World Series for Philadelphia against Houston. He said he doesn’t see getting the ball first as any designation of himself as the ace or even the No. 1 starter on this team.

“I think there’s maybe 15 aces in the league. There’s not 30,” he told reporters Friday in Sarasota. “So, for me, it’s just the chance to start a series off, and I think that first game of every series is really important, whether it’s the first series of the year or even in Texas. I mean, that first guy really kind of sets the tone for how that bullpen is used the next three games, until the next off-day, especially. So, I think for me, it’s just trying to go out there and be a veteran leader and try to set the tone for that first series of the year.

“It does mean a lot. I don’t want to downplay that, because it is cool. I’ve only been in uniform one time (during a game) my entire career on the first day of the season, so it is a big deal. It’s fun to be on the field for that first game, but it’s not necessarily something I came here and said, ‘OK, I want to work to be the Opening Day guy.' I knew there were things that I wanted to get better at along the way to make sure that over 30 starts that I was pitching how I wanted to pitch.”

Gibson did not face Boston last year. But in eight career starts, he is 3-4 with a 3.38 ERA over 50 2/3 innings versus the Red Sox. Boston batters have hit .208/.276/.328/.604 against Gibson.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Maybe Kyle Gibson got his bad game out of the way before Opening Day rather than on it.

Named the March 30 starter this morning, Gibson surrendered a pair of three-run homers by the second inning and faced 14 batters. He was removed with two outs in the first and his pitch count at 36, re-entered and worked through the fifth.

Certainly not what Gibson wanted, but it threatened to be a whole lot worse.

Gibson was just four batters into his start – two singles, Oswaldo Cabrera’s home run and a double – when manager Brandon Hyde and head athletic trainer Brian Ebel walked to the mound. A chilling sight considering Gibson’s status in the rotation and John Means’ absence from it after undergoing Tommy John surgery last April.

Ebel checked Gibson’s right hand, a warmup toss didn’t raise any further concerns, and the veteran kept pitching.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles signed veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson in December to give them innings in a rotation thin on track-record starters, and to provide leadership in a youthful clubhouse. They knew that much.

What evolved later was his placement atop the rotation.

Gibson has been chosen as the Opening Day starter for the Orioles' game on March 30 against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The club made the announcement this morning, about 9 ½ hours before he steps on the mound to face the Yankees’ split-squad team in Sarasota.

So much for projections earlier that Gibson could slot near the back end.

Gibson has made four starts and allowed two runs and 11 hits with no walks and 13 strikeouts in 14 innings this spring. He’s been chosen twice to pitch on Opening Day in 10 major league seasons, also earning the assignment with the Rangers in 2021.

SARASOTA, Fla – Kyle Gibson is the first Orioles pitcher to complete five innings.

He looked like a pitcher today who would go first in the regular season rotation.

Gibson shut out the Pirates on three hits and struck out seven batters. He didn’t issue a walk.

With only two runs allowed in 14 innings, Gibson is carrying a 1.29 ERA into his final start before the Orioles fly to Boston. He’s struck out 13 and still hasn’t walked a batter.

“That was probably about as good as my stuff’s felt, maybe, in a long time,” he said.

They were rotation mates in parts of the 2020 and 2021 seasons with the Texas Rangers. They became more than teammates, forming a pretty close friendship as well. 

That friendship played out again over the winter when right-hander Kyle Gibson called another righty pitcher, Jordan Lyles. Gibson wanted to know about Lyles' experience pitching for the Orioles in 2022. That is because Gibson was closing in on signing with the Orioles to pitch for them in 2023.

“I think, for the most part I kind of knew that I wasn’t going to be back with Philly," Gibson recalled on a recent day at the Orioles' spring training camp. "Those few days the team has to talk to you and every team has that time where no one else can talk to them. Normally, if you don’t talk to the team then you’re not coming back,”

That led to Gibson to grab the phone and call his former Rangers teammate. Even though if he signed with the Orioles, he might be sort of taking Lyles’ spot in the rotation. He did and he, essentially, is.

Gibson said their friendship made it so that call was not awkward in any way.

The Orioles wanted Kyle Gibson to do more than cover innings out of the rotation when they signed him as a free agent. They wanted to improve their chances of winning on the days that he pitched. They wanted his leadership in a clubhouse that lost influential veterans Jordan Lyles, Rougned Odor and Robinson Chirinos.

They sought a character guy, drawn to his makeup as much as his arm.

Gibson was the Phillies’ nominee last year for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, bestowed annually to the player who best represents the sport through community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions on and off the field.

Per Major League Baseball, Gibson raised more than $108,000 for charities during his 1 ½ seasons in Philadelphia. His impact was immediate, his qualifications for the award indisputable.

Within his first week, Gibson invited teammates and fans to join him as he organized a campaign to assist local families and children struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through his #ALLWIN initiative, he made a personal donation for every win and strikeout through the rest of the season, with two local charities the biggest benefactors – “Cradles to Crayons,” which supports low-income and homeless children, and “Philabundance,” which serves those facing food insecurity in the Philadelphia area.

SARASOTA, Fla. – With his pitching every fifth day schedule lining up closely where he could pitch nearly on schedule on Opening Day at Boston, right-hander Kyle Gibson made his third spring start and threw well in the Orioles' 11-7 win over the Tigers this afternoon.

The Orioles split their squad and played twice. The other half of the roster lost 6-5 to Atlanta in North Port in a game called in the top of the seventh due to rain.

Here at Ed Smith Stadium, the Orioles hit six homers, some seemed to be helped by the gusting wind toward left field. They had 15 hits in all and the 11 runs is their most this spring after they had scored 10 runs three times. O’s batters have scored 67 runs the past 10 games.

Gibson allowed some hard contact, including on a solo homer to Akil Baddoo, the second batter of the game. But that was the only run he gave up in four innings. He allowed three hits with no walks and two strikeouts on 46 pitches, 33 for strikes.

He is rounding into form nicely with an ERA of 2.00 in nine spring innings after outings of two, three and four innings. In that time, he has yet to walk a batter with six strikeouts.