SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles outfielder Heston Kjerstad knows that he’s getting a legitimate chance to make the club and to play on a much more regular basis. The rest is up to him.

End the shuttling between the majors and Triple-A Norfolk. Be used as the front office envisioned when it made him the second overall draft pick in 2020. Lots of right field and designated hitter. Anything to keep his bat in the lineup.

His statistics in the Grapefruit League aren’t supposed to really matter, but it doesn’t hurt to pad them anyway.

Kjerstad came to the plate this afternoon in the bottom of the second inning after Tyler O’Neill walked against Tigers starter and top prospect Jackson Jobe. The Orioles trailed 2-0, but Kjerstad knotted the score with an opposite-field home run.

Maybe he’s practicing for when he’s at Camden Yards, with the left field fence moved closer to home plate.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Chayce McDermott still hasn’t been cleared to begin activities. However, he said earlier today that he feels “really good” after reporting to camp with a mild lat/teres strain.

“Can’t complain where I’m at,” he said, “so we’ll keep going and keep following the plan.”

McDermott is restricted to performing strength exercises and doesn’t know when he’ll be begin a throwing progression.

“It should be pretty soon,” he said. "I’m not 100 percent sure of the exact timeline. It’s just based on how I feel with everything and how I keep progressing.”

McDermott made his only major league start last season on July 24 in Miami and had an uphill climb this spring to break camp with the team. His injury likely has eliminated that possibility, but he can hop back into Triple-A Norfolk’s rotation, continue his development and try to rejoin the Orioles over the summer.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Brandon Young will get noticed in any clubhouse for his height and long brown hair. He isn’t a lock to make the team, but man, those locks …

Young is expected to begin the season at Triple-A Norfolk, but his first outing Sunday in his first major league camp teased just how good he can be in 2025. He tossed two scoreless innings against the Phillies in Clearwater, retiring the side in order in the fifth. Back-to-back singles in the fourth, the initial one only 79.3 mph off the bat, were followed by a double play.

Both strikeouts were called, on 95.5 and 95.1 mph fastballs to Edmundo Sosa and Christian Arroyo, respectively.

“I was pleased for sure,” Young said. “First big league spring training game, it was just good to be out there.”

Young used his cutter, curveball and changeup – no sliders Sunday – but most impressive was how he averaged 95 mph with his four-seamer and topped out at 97. It sat around 92-93 mph last season with a high of 96, per Statcast.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles closer Félix Bautista threw 25 pitches yesterday in his first live batting practice session. He’s going to do it again Wednesday or Thursday before likely making his Grapefruit League debut.

Bautista marked yesterday as another positive step because he finally got to face hitters for the first time since his elbow-reconstructive surgery in October 2023.

“It felt really good, I felt good,” he said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “It feels like I continued where I last left off, so I’m really satisfied with how it went yesterday.”

The velocity in his bullpen sessions is topping in the mid-90s. Bautista routinely hit triple digits in the past.

“I do feel content with where I am right now,” he said, “and I know with the work that I’m putting in and the progression that I’ll continue going through, I know that I’ll get back to those previous forms.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – Bryan Baker stumbled upon it almost by accident. A minute adjustment to his changeup grip that’s gotten noticed in bullpen sessions. Perhaps it marks the birth of another weapon that Baker can use to defend himself against hitters.

Whether he’s doing it with the Orioles is another matter.

One topic at a time.

Baker faced three Pirates batters in Saturday’s first exhibition game and retired all of them. Former Orioles minor league outfielder Billy Cook grounded to short, Liover Peguero flied to right field, and Enmanuel Valdez grounded to second. It happened quickly and what appeared to be effortless.

“Felt good for Day One,” Baker said yesterday morning. “First real outing in five or six months, so it felt good to be in the strike zone and going right at hitters.”

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Samuel Basallo saw a first-pitch slider today from former Orioles reliever Nick Vespi and lined it into right field for a single at 107.4 mph. An earlier groundout registered at 104.9. Nothing subtle about his offensive game.

Everyone knows about the bat, which creates loud noises in the cage and at the plate. He launched more baseballs this morning in his pregame session at BayCare Ballpark. But the trip marked a special occasion for the 20-year-old Basallo – his first Grapefruit League start at catcher.

Basallo reported to camp last spring with a stress fracture in his elbow, an injury revealed on the first day. He rehabbed it and was limited to designated hitter duty.

Nothing is holding back Basallo this year. He set the target for left-hander Cade Povich and the relievers who followed until the bottom of the sixth inning.

“Thank God that it felt really good that I was able to catch today,” he said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Yeah, I felt really good behind the plate.”

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Charlie Morton is scheduled to make his Orioles debut Tuesday afternoon against the Tigers in Sarasota. However, everything is tentative at the moment due to Monday’s forecast of heavy rain.

Dean Kremer starts Monday against the Braves in Sarasota. Tomoyuki Sugano is supposed to make his debut Wednesday in Bradenton.

“We’re kind of discussing it right now, what we’re going to do,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “We’re hoping for the best and we can get the game in, but we’ll see if we’re gonna push guys back or if we’re gonna throw guys in the cage. We’ll make a determination of that tomorrow morning.”

Closer Félix Bautista faced hitters today for the first time since his reconstructive-elbow surgery. He threw live batting practice at the Ed Smith Stadium complex.

“I’m looking forward to hearing how it went,” Hyde said. “That’s been a long rehab process for him. I know he’s super pumped up about today, first-day facing guys and facing some of our main guys, too. I know the hitters were excited to see him out there and see what it looks like. He’s made gradual improvements and done everything really, really well from a rehab standpoint.”

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Samuel Basallo is behind the plate for this afternoon’s game against the Phillies in Clearwater, the first road trip for the Orioles.

Colton Cowser is in left field after sitting out yesterday’s exhibition opener in Sarasota. Heston Kjerstad also makes his first appearance, starting in right field.

Coby Mayo is the designated hitter. Terrin Vavra is leading off.

For the Orioles

Terrin Vavra 2B
Colton Cowser LF
Emmanuel Rivera 1B
Heston Kjerstad RF
Coby Mayo DH
Samuel Basallo C
Nick Gordon CF
Vimael Machín 3B
Livan Soto SS

SARASOTA, Fla. – The first exhibition game is done, which brings us to the first road exhibition game. Gas up the rental and head northwest to Clearwater.

If you reach Dunedin, you’ve gone too far.

Left-hander Cade Povich starts against the Phillies after posting a 2.60 ERA and 0.868 WHIP in five September outings and holding opponents to a .162 average. He could be the first alternative if a spot opens unexpectedly in the rotation.

“Povich, what he did in the month of September kind of speaks for itself,” said MASN analyst Ben McDonald, who’s in camp as a guest instructor. “All I heard about him was his stuff was good in the minors, but could he get it over the plate, and I feel like he did in September. His stuff was pretty good.”

The exposure to major league hitters has accelerated Povich’s development.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The exhibition games started today and Jackson Holliday kept working out.

He wasn't on the back fields. He was playing second base and fielding everything hit at him.

Holliday got the final out in the first inning on Darick Hall's grounder, made the play on Liover Peguero's ball in the second that Albert Suárez deflected, and handled Joshua Palacios' grounder to close out the inning.

The position no longer is new to Holliday and it seems to be coming more naturally to him.

"I'm feeling a lot more comfortable," he said. "Today was good. Got a lot of ground balls, a lot more than I think I did last spring training total, so happy about that. I'm a lot more comfortable, a lot more comfortable in practice, and to be able to get the first few ground balls out of the way is great."

SARASOTA, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson is batting leadoff this afternoon and Jackson Holliday is the second baseman for today’s exhibition opener against the Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium.

Left fielder Dylan Carlson is the only player in the lineup who isn’t projected to make the Opening Day roster, though he’s competing for a job.

Cedric Mullins is batting second. Jordan Westburg is playing third base and batting third. Ryan O’Hearn is the cleanup hitter and designated hitter.

Ramón Laureano is in right field.

Gary Sánchez is catching Albert Súarez.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said yesterday that a “handful” of his regulars will be in this afternoon’s lineup for the first exhibition game against the Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium.

“I’m gonna give a few guys the weekend,” he said. “We’ve got some back-field stuff going, too. Not in any hurry to get any of these guys in there right now, to be honest with you.

“Couple guys going to Clearwater (Sunday), a few guys, but weekend’s gonna be … we’re slowly getting into this.”

The lineup will be posted later this morning for a game that airs on MASN. Viewers might see Jackson Holliday at second base. Viewers might have to wait a little longer.

We don’t know.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Tomoyuki Sugano reported to Orioles camp on Saturday, but today felt like the beginning of spring training. Three different hitters stood at the plate against him in live batting practice at Ed Smith Stadium, rotating until he faced eight during his session. A lengthy mound conference followed with catcher Adley Rutschman, pitching coach Drew French, guest instructor and former pitcher Ben McDonald, and interpreter Yuto Sakurai.

Sugano lingered for a little bit longer as the session broke up, sweeping his foot across the dirt and measuring his stride. The mounds in Japan have a softer composition and the rubber sits further back. Just one more adjustment.

The Orioles scheduled only one live BP today and arranged for Sugano to face prospects Enrique Bradfield Jr., Dylan Beavers and Jud Fabian. Beavers flied out and doubled twice on a pair of hard-hit line drives. Fabian struck out twice and singled or doubled into left field – players don’t run the bases – and Bradfield grounded out and lined to left field.

Here’s what they’re saying about the session:

Sugano (via Sakurai)

SARASOTA, Fla. – Jordyn Adams had a choice to make and he doesn’t regret the outcome.

Adams committed to the University of North Carolina to play baseball and football. He was a four- or five-star recruit as a wide receiver, depending on the source, but Major League Baseball viewed him as one of the top prospects in the 2018 draft.

The first decision for Adams involved picking a college, and the North Carolina native chose the Tar Heels over Alabama, Ohio State, LSU and Clemson. Still to come was whether to immerse himself in campus life or join a team’s farm system.

Adams never stepped foot on campus as a student. The Angels made him the 17^th overall pick, and the common perception was that he’d need to go in the first or maybe the second round to catch fly balls in center field instead of footballs on the gridiron.

The result so far is 28 games with the Angels over the past two seasons and a .176/.205/.216 slash line. He can play everywhere in the outfield and he’s hoping to play for the Orioles in 2025 after signing a minor league contract on Dec. 23.

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. – Because he didn’t play winter ball, Orioles pitcher Albert Suárez is in the best shape of his life.

He really means it.

Suárez didn’t join Caracas in Venezuela after making 32 appearances with the Orioles last season and totaling a career-high 133 2/3 innings in his return to the majors. He rested, he worked out and he earned the first exhibition start Saturday afternoon against the Pirates in Sarasota.

“For me, just how I prepared in the offseason,” he said of receiving the honor. “I think I’m well prepared to be able to start the first game of spring training. So it means a lot.”

Times can change quickly and Suárez is a baseball example. He reported to camp last spring as a non-roster invite and impressed the Orioles to the point that they selected his contract in April. Now he’s practically a lock to be introduced on Opening Day in Toronto.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The drama was building. Manager Brandon Hyde walked to the entrance of the baseball operations center, where media gathers for his morning scrum, and teased the day’s big news.

Who’s starting the exhibition opener Saturday afternoon against the Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium?

Hyde asked for everyone’s predictions, which were written down on a notepad. He listened to the names and confirmed that one person got it right.

Albert Suárez will do the honors on the MASN broadcast.

“Just lining things up, honestly,” Hyde said. “Albert’s ready to go and we’re just kind of going in order a little bit. Like I said, don’t read anything into it. Big Al is ready and you work back from the first day of the season and do the best you can, and things change all the way through that. You shuffle some things around. But we’re stretching Al as a starter and we’ll see how it goes.”

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.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – Zack Britton stood behind the row of bullpen mounds Tuesday morning with another former Orioles pitcher, Ben McDonald, and watched the side sessions. He went indoors earlier with a fungo bat in hand to retrieve his glove, unsure whether he might actually use it.

This is Britton’s first experience as a guest instructor, and the enjoyment is amplified with older brother Buck in camp as the new major league coach. The former All-Star closer is settling into a new role and admiring the Orioles’ progress since they traded him to the Yankees at the 2018 deadline and began their rebuild.

“It’s been great, I think just getting around everybody again, getting back in the organization,” he said earlier today. “A lot of memories here, a lot of good ones. Nice to meet a lot of the new front office people, a lot of the new coaches. Fun to see my brother out here interacting with the guys.”

Britton spent 7 ½ of his 12 major league seasons with the Orioles after they drafted him in the third round in 2006. They turned him into a closer and watched him earn back-to-back All-Star selections, his peak season in 2016 with 47 saves in 47 chances, a 0.54 ERA and 0.836 WHIP in 69 appearances, and a fourth-place finish in Cy Young voting. It was one of the finest performances by a reliever in baseball history.

The Orioles played in the Wild Card Game in Toronto, didn’t use Britton in an 11-inning, walk-off loss, and began tearing down the team in the summer of ’18. They didn’t return to the postseason until 2023, the same year that Britton was first out of baseball.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Gary Sánchez’s experience catching Japanese pitchers won’t necessarily give him regular starts on days that Tomoyuki Sugano is on the mound.

Maybe it evolves that way.

Sánchez was behind the plate yesterday for Sugano’s bullpen session, and he’s caught Masahiro Tanaka with the Yankees and Yu Darvish with the Padres.

“Post-bullpen, Gary and I sat on the mound and kind of talked about his experience with Tanaka and some of the other guys that he’s caught,” said pitching coach Drew French. “The versatility that they have and what their preferences are and how they talk about themselves, and I definitely think there are some parallels from his prior years in the game with what Tomo features.”

So what about becoming Sugano’s personal backstop?