SARASOTA, Fla. – The best season of Keegan Akin’s professional life came with one harsh outcome that he’s able to laugh about five months later.

It took that long.

Pitchers dread the slow walk back to the dugout after surrendering a game-winning run. Head bowed, the roar of the opposing crowd ringing in his ears, reporters seeking an explanation and reaction.

Akin would like to forget, but the reminder has a locker set up on the other side of the spring training clubhouse.

Outfielder Tyler O’Neill punctuated a three-homer series against the Orioles in September by clearing the Green Monster in the 10^th inning. The Red Sox responded to Emmanuel Rivera’s tie-breaking single by taking advantage of a Jackson Holliday error and bringing O’Neill to the plate.

Tyler O'Neill would have been in today's Orioles lineup except he's dealing with an illness, according to manager Brandon Hyde, who met with the media in Sarasota for his daily pregame dugout session.

O'Neill hit a ball Thursday against the Blue Jays that cleared the concourse in left field for a three-run homer. He didn't make the trip to Fort Myers yesterday, but he wasn't going to play anyway. It didn't raise any red flags.

Starter Charlie Morton also was out of camp recently due to an illness and he made a quick return.

Dylan Beavers is starting in left field today as a late addition to the lineup.

Hyde also said that Jordan Westburg is feeling better and has been cleared for light baseball activities. He isn't swinging a bat because of the soreness in his lower back that's kept him out of the lineup since last Saturday's exhibition opener, but he's able to play catch.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Dylan Beavers gets the start in left field this afternoon, as the Orioles host the Pirates again. Beavers hit the go-ahead two-run homer yesterday against the Twins and is 3-for-6.

Cedric Mullins is leading off. Ramón Laureano is in right field.

Adley Rutschman is behind the plate. Ramón Urías remains the third baseman. Nick Gordon plays second base after Jackson Holliday homered yesterday in Fort Myers.

Cade Povich makes his second start. He tossed two scoreless and hitless innings in his spring debut against the Phillies in Clearwater.

Gunnar Henderson (right side) and Jordan Westburg (lower back) remain out of the lineup. Tyler O'Neill also isn't in it after homering Thursday.

SARASOTA, Fla. – A week of exhibition games seems like an appropriate time to share some observations before the Orioles play the Pirates this afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium. Cade Povich opposes Paul Skenes in a rematch from Spring Breakout, except this one airs on MASN.

Povich went three innings and allowed two runs, but hardly anyone noticed because Skenes was the dominant figure before he threw a pitch. Skenes retired the side in order in his only inning, striking out Jackson Holliday and Enrique Bradfield Jr.

That's the distant past. Let’s move a little closer.

* Rodolfo Martinez is a camp darling, though I wouldn’t necessarily use that word around him because the scowl could melt concrete. Media became infatuated with his high-velocity fastball, impressive side and live batting practice sessions and absence from an affiliated team since being in the Giants system in 2019. Who doesn’t love a good camp story?

Comparisons to Albert Suárez were inevitable because of their similar treks through foreign countries. In Martinez’s case, he’s still waiting to make his major league debut.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Zach Eflin makes his exhibition debut this afternoon, with the Orioles traveling to Fort Myers to play the Twins.

Gary Sánchez is behind the plate for Eflin.

Coby Mayo gets the start at first base.

Jackson Holliday is leading off and playing second base. Colton Cowser is in center field, Heston Kjerstad in left and Dylan Carlson in right.

Liván Soto, who’s 3-for-6 with two doubles, is the shortstop.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Jud Fabian could have used a spoiler alert.

The young outfielder wasn’t surprised when the Orioles announced their roster of spring training invites earlier this month and slapped his name on the list.

“I kind of got told in November that it might be a possibility,” he said, “but other than that, I was just excited when I got that call that I was gonna be here.”

Baseball America ranks Fabian as the No. 9 prospect in the system, though he’s the fifth outfielder behind Heston Kjerstad, Vance Honeycutt, Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Dylan Beavers. He’s a second-round draft pick in 2022 out of the University of Florida and he appeared in 30 games with Triple-A Norfolk last summer. It made sense that he’d be in major league camp for the first time.

“It’s been fun,” he said recently. “It’s been fun to meet all these guys and go with how they’re working and what they do every day to get better. It’s a good learning experience for me and it’s been fun so far.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was asked a few days ago about a drama-free camp, how the only injuries were sustained prior to the report dates. The conversation included warnings about the risks of jinxing it.

Here we are.

We learned earlier today that Jordan Westburg hasn’t played since Saturday due to lower-back soreness. And shortstop Gunnar Henderson exited today’s game after one inning with lower right side discomfort.

No further details are available. Manager Brandon Hyde will provide an update in his post-game media scrum.

Henderson made a nice running grab of Bo Bichette’s line drive in the first. He led off the bottom of the inning with a ground ball to first baseman Will Wagner, who bobbled it and flipped to pitcher Easton Lucas.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Félix Bautista completed his second live batting practice session this morning in the intense Florida heat on the Camden Yards replica field, and it won’t be much longer before he pitches in his first Grapefruit League game.

Heston Kjerstad and Gary Sánchez kept alternating at-bats until Bautista faced seven hitters. He threw 25 pitches with Triple-A catcher Maverick Handley behind the plate.

Kjerstad struck out swinging twice and Sánchez was caught looking. Kjerstad also lined to right field and either singled or doubled into left-center field. Sánchez also popped up and grounded to third base.

One of Bautista’s splitters caused Sánchez to flail at it below the zone. He had an audible reaction to it before turning to Handley for apparent confirmation on the pitch. Or perhaps they were just admiring the quality.

Bautista has graduated from bullpen sessions. The first live batting practice was Sunday while the Orioles traveled to Clearwater to play the Phillies.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles reliever Nate Webb is one of today’s scheduled pitchers against the Blue Jays at Ed Smith Stadium.

This is a big deal for Webb and his family. It’s his first outing since March 9, 2023 in the Pirates camp prior to undergoing ligament-reconstructive surgery in his right elbow.

The Orioles signed Webb to a two-year minor league deal and were on the verge of assigning him to an affiliate before he tore his left Achilles tendon in May. He was invited to camp this spring.

Grayson Rodriguez makes his first exhibition start, with Toronto sending former Orioles minor leaguer Easton Lucas to the mound.

I’ll save you the trouble: Lucas was acquired from the Marlins for infielder Jonathan Villar on Dec. 2, 2019. The Orioles traded him to the Athletics for reliever Shintaro Fujinami on July 19, 2023.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The first exhibition game didn’t properly showcase Orioles minor league outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr.

His skillset and the improvements made would become more evident. Just give it time.

Bradfield was thrown out trying to steal after pinch-running for Cedric Mullins, and he went hitless in three at-bats in a loss to the Pirates. But this is the same player, chosen with the 17^th overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Vanderbilt, who swiped 99 bases in his first two minor league seasons – including a combined 74 last summer between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie. He’s been caught only 15 times as a professional.

The defense was on display Saturday, with Bradfield getting great jumps on a couple of line drives and making the plays look routine. But how he hits is going to determine whether he reaches the majors with similar speed.

Jackson Holliday gets the bulk of the camp attention with his toe-tap substituting for the leg lift as a timing mechanism. Catcher Samuel Basallo, who replaced Holliday as the No. 1 prospect in the system, is a must-watch in batting practice and provided another reminder of his strength Sunday with a 107.4 mph single in Clearwater.

BRADENTON, Fla. – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde offered simple instructions this morning for Tomoyuki Sugano before the Japanese right-hander’s much-anticipated exhibition debut. Just go out, relax and pitch.

Keep it simple, Sugano.

“It’s a first spring training outing, so it doesn’t mean anything,” Hyde explained. “Just want him to get his work in.”

The Orioles hoped that Sugano would throw 35-40 pitches. He needed only six to complete the first, all of them strikes, but was extended to 22 in the second while escaping a two-out jam.

Tommy Pham led off the bottom of the first with a broken-bat infield single, but Bryan Reynolds grounded into a 4-6-3 double play started by Jackson Holliday. Sugano retired the first two batters in the second before former Oriole Adam Frazier singled and Isiah Kiner-Falefa walked. Holliday ranged to his left to field Darick Hall’s bouncer with the count full.

BRADENTON, Fla. – Jackson Holliday gave the media an interview at his locker this morning and headed down a hallway in search of former Orioles infielder Brian Roberts.

The Orioles chose Roberts as a shortstop in the supplemental round of the 1999 draft out of the University of South Carolina – their seventh selection among the top 50 and the only one that worked out. Jackson Holliday was the first-overall pick as a shortstop in 2022 out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma.

Roberts moved to second base following the 2001 season and became a two-time All-Star. The position morphed into a full-time role for Holliday last year, a 20-year-old top prospect going through the usual growing pains.

The age difference between them doesn’t matter. They have something important in common, and Roberts, 47, is in camp as a guest coach and valuable resource for Holliday.

The tutelage centers primarily on Holliday’s footwork at second.

BRADENTON, Fla. – Gary Sánchez is behind the plate this afternoon to catch Tomoyuki Sugano’s first Grapefruit League start versus the Pirates at LECOM Park.

Jackson Holliday is leading off and playing second base. Coby Mayo is the designated hitter and Heston Kjerstad is in left field.

Kjerstad is in the lineup for the third time in four exhibition games.

Dylan Carlson is the center fielder today, Emmanuel Rivera is at third base and Liván Soto is the shortstop.

For the Orioles

SARASOTA, Fla. – The next wave of Tomoyuki Sugano hysteria crashes on the shore today with his Grapefruit League debut against the Pirates. Protect yourselves at all times.

The first game of catch, first bullpen session and first live batting practice session were recorded and plastered all over social media. The Japanese media that tracks his every movement didn’t miss a single minute of it. The local beat crew fell into step. The anticipation was palpable.

Pitching in Bradenton isn’t the most ideal location from a media standpoint. The press box space is limited, to put it generously. Reporters who cover the Pirates usually set up in the workroom. That leaves a free-for-all to occupy one of the three stools in the back row.

You can’t call it “standing room only” because there’s no room, though standing might improve your view.

Statcast data is available at LECOM Park, which enhances today’s coverage. Sugano throws six different pitches and tracking is made easier. Let’s be able to identify them and attach numbers. And give me exit velocities from the hitters.

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.”