Ryan Mountcastle stepped into the cage yesterday for batting practice and hit a ball into the second deck in left field. It meant nothing and everything.

The stats didn’t change. Mountcastle’s last official home run is May 24 in New York, about two weeks before dizziness and blurred vision forced him onto the injured list.

The diagnosis was vertigo, which he never experienced in the past. He spent about a month away from the majors and made his first start last night since June 8, after manager Brandon Hyde used him twice off the bench.

“I feel good,” Mountcastle said yesterday. “Those couple weeks were brutal. I wanted to be back with the team so bad, but it just kept flaring up and finally got it right. I was just happy to be back and feeling like my normal self.”

A sense of normal also eluded Mountcastle at the plate. He was mired in a 4-for-30 slump before going on the injured list and kept struggling in his rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk.

Only two of the six clubhouse televisions this afternoon were tuned into the first game of the Rays’ doubleheader against the Royals. The Cubs-Red Sox also aired on two of them. Or players could choose between the Scottish Open and a scouting combine men’s basketball tournament.

No one seemed interested.

One player sat in a recliner for a few minutes during the media’s access, got up and left. The place emptied for a meeting. Further evidence that the first-place Rays aren’t an obsession.

The Orioles may check the standings, but they know how little it matters if they don’t win.

They might have lost their center fielder again.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde understands the logic behind going with a 12-man pitching staff, with the four-day All-Star break creating a rested bullpen. An extra arm isn’t necessary.

Hyde endorses the unbalanced ratio of pitchers to position players.

Ride with a dozen until it can’t be done.

A five-man bench is ideal for Hyde, however long it lasts. The late-game choices are much more enticing than in past seasons with the increase in talent.

“I have options this year," Hyde said, "which is nice.”

The Orioles carry a six-game winning streak into tonight, with the Rays leading them by only 1 ½ in the American League East.

A right-handed lineup against Marlins left-hander Braxton Garrett puts Austin Hays in the leadoff spot and Ryan Mountcastle at cleanup. Mountcastle is the designated hitter, with Anthony Santander at first base.

Jordan Westburg is the second baseman, Gunnar Henderson moves to third and Jorge Mateo gets the start at shortstop.

Colton Cowser stood on deck last night with two outs in the eighth inning but didn’t bat. He’s waiting to make his Camden Yards debut.

The Orioles have hit eight home runs in the last two games after totaling eight in the previous 13.

The Orioles have six pitchers on the injured list in various stages of their recoveries. Beginning or getting close to rehab assignments. Throwing in the bullpen or on flat ground. Shut down completely until cleared to play catch.

John Means threw a bullpen session yesterday at Camden Yards. Cionel Pérez is reporting to Double-A Bowie today. Others are in Sarasota.

And then, there’s left-hander DL Hall, who’s on a completely different program.

Hall also is at the spring training complex in Sarasota, but he’s continuing his progression to build strength and velocity. The transfer was made after the Orioles put Hall on a “de-load” with Triple-A Norfolk by limiting his innings and pitch counts.

The opposite of stretching him out to start.

The Orioles held an optional workout last night at Camden Yards. No pressure to get back to Baltimore. No demands placed on the players. Manager Brandon Hyde left it entirely to them.

“A ton of guys showed up,” Hyde said. “Guys want to get back after it.”

No wonder. A first half that produced the third-best record in baseball had the Orioles eager to resume their season. Breaks are nice, but they have business to finish.

The weather forced them to wait again, with rain delaying the start of tonight’s game by one hour and six minutes, but they didn’t let it interfere with the mindset or the mission.

Cedric Mullins and Adam Frazier homered off Sandy Alcantara in the fourth inning, which began with the score tied, Frazier went deep again in the eighth, and the Orioles extended their winning streak to six games with a 5-2 victory over the Marlins before an announced crowd of 23,377 at Camden Yards.

Orioles reliever Cionel Pérez will begin his injury rehab assignment Saturday at Double-A Bowie.

Pérez was shut down with left forearm soreness, but he completed a bullpen session yesterday. He posted a 4.45 ERA and 1.780 WHIP in 33 games this season but didn’t allow a run in his last five appearances.

“He feels really good,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

Keegan Akin is cleared to throw on flat ground. He’s on the 15-day injured list with lower back discomfort.

“Still doing his buildup,” Hyde said. “He’ll continue doing that. He’s progressing with catch play.”

The Orioles begin the second half of the season with a three-game series against Marlins and Gunnar Henderson staying at shortstop tonight and atop the order.

Ryan Mountcastle is on the bench. Ryan O’Hearn gets the start at first base.

Jordan Westburg is playing third base. Aaron Hicks is in right field, with Anthony Santander serving as designated hitter.

Cedric Mullins is batting sixth behind All-Star Austin Hays.

Orioles starters have strung together five quality starts in a row during a five-game winning streak, posting a 1.67 ERA during that stretch.

The second half of the 2023 season is here. The official passing of the midway point. Don’t let the number of games fool you.

The Orioles have played 89 and are 54-35, owners of the second-best record in the American League and third-best in baseball. You can count the number of people who predicted that as zero.

The club was supposed to show a little more improvement, though I heard the whispers from outside the organization that there could be some regression because contention arrived early in 2022. It was going to be a lot more interesting as prospects kept flowing onto the major league roster. I said it numerous times in interviews and conversations.

At the very least, the Orioles would be more fun for fans.

They are so much more.

The Orioles begin the 2024 season at home against the Los Angeles Angels, their first Opening Day in Baltimore in six years.

Major League Baseball released the schedules this afternoon

The Orioles roll out the orange carpet on March 28, followed by an off-day and two more games. The Royals are next in town for a three-game series before the Orioles embark on their first road trip with stops in Pittsburgh and Boston.

The final homestand is Sept. 17-22 against the Giants and Tigers. The regular season concludes with road series against the Yankees Sept. 24-26 and Twins 27-29.

The home portion of the schedule includes five games played on holidays: Easter Sunday (March 31 vs. the Angels), Mother’s Day (May 12 vs. the Diamondbacks), Memorial Day (May 27 vs. the Red Sox), Father’s Day (June 16 vs. the Phillies), and Labor Day (Sept. 2 vs. the White Sox).

Orioles CEO and Chairman John Angelos and Gov. Wes Moore issued a joint statement this morning saying that progress is being made on their vision to “expand and revitalize the Camden Yards campus.”

The timing of the statement comes as the All-Star break nears its conclusion, which probably isn't a coincidence.

Angelos told the media in February, during a visit to the spring training complex in Sarasota, that he hoped a new stadium lease would be finalized by the break as a “gift for everybody, really, in the community.” However, a deal with the Maryland Stadium Authority hasn’t been struck.

Today’s statement didn’t provide details on negotiations or a timeline, but it read:

“The last four months have been exciting on and off the field. Baltimore City and the State of Maryland all have Orioles fever. We’ve laid the groundwork for success, and progress is also being made on our vision to expand and revitalize the Camden Yards campus. 

One of the Orioles’ post-break decisions has been made and revealed.

It took less than 24 hours after the last out of the All-Star Game.

The rotation is set for the weekend series against the Marlins at Camden Yards, with some of the anticipated rearranging. Dean Kremer starts Friday night, followed by Kyle Gibson Saturday night and Kyle Bradish Sunday afternoon.

The Marlins are expected to start Sandy Alcantara and Braxton Garrett in the first two games, with Sunday TBA.

The break allowed manager Brandon Hyde to push back Tyler Wells, who is emerging as the staff ace but has thrown 104 2/3 innings, which is one more than his 2022 total.

The All-Star Game is over, marking another year with a repeat city since the last time that the Orioles hosted in 1993.

Mike Mussina is still warming in the bullpen. Someone please tap him on the shoulder.

I don’t know when Baltimore will be chosen again. Maybe after Las Vegas.

(Don’t say Nashville, don’t say Nashville).

Perhaps there are other questions that I’m more equipped to handle. Otherwise, this mailbag is reduced to being a poor excuse for filling space during the break.

The media scrums at designated tables and the red carpet fashion show were over. The four Orioles All-Stars could just play baseball tonight. Hoping to do it in the same way that got them to Seattle.

Some succeeded, but it wasn’t a clean sweep.

Austin Hays went 1-for-2 as the starting center fielder for the American League, making him a career .500 hitter in the Midsummer Classic.

The top of the sixth belonged to Yennier Cano, who struck out two batters and stranded two. Adley Rutschman entered at the same time, caught the last four innings and went 0-for-1.

Félix Bautista worked the eighth, a familiar masked face setting the target, and he surrendered a go-ahead, two-run homer to Rockies catcher Elias Díaz.

The 2023 baseball draft started Sunday night with the Orioles picking Vanderbilt center fielder Enrique Bradfield at No. 17 overall and concluded this afternoon with their selection of North Greenville (S.C.) University shortstop Jalen Vasquez in the 20^th round.

The next steps are getting as many signatures on contracts as possible, figuring out minor league assignments, and making cuts to create room.

Twenty-two players were drafted, only two out of high school. The first 16 were college players.

The Orioles selected 13 college pitchers, five outfielders, one shortstop and one catcher. They also picked a high school outfielder and shortstop.

"In terms of what we're looking to accomplish, I think a lot of our resources are dedicated toward the college crop," said director of draft operations Brad Ciolek. "However, we did extensive work on a lot of high school players, a lot of junior college players. ... But yeah, we do focus a majority on the college crop because that's a lot of the data that we do get and allows us to do a deep dive on those players."

Orioles closer Zack Britton earned the save in the American League’s 4-2 win in the 2016 All-Star Game in San Diego, with teammate Matt Wieters catching him in the ninth inning.

Could Félix Bautista be next tonight, with Adley Rutschman setting the target for him?

Bautista became the full-time closer last summer after Jorge López was traded to the Twins, but he already had two saves in a May series in St. Louis. López was on the bereavement list.

The series is referenced a lot when the subject turns to the moment that the Orioles knew they could be a winning team, though they went to Detroit and were swept. The May 12 game was special because the bench was depleted due to injuries, Bryan Baker started in a bullpen game, and the conditions were miserable.

Bautista got the four-out save in a 3-2 win. Jorge Mateo ran down a popup with his back to the infield, spun and doubled off Tyler O’Neill at first base to end the game. Anthony Bemboom received a rare start against a left-hander, Steven Matz – the Cardinals were slow to reveal their starter - and he hit a rare home run in the seventh inning.

Adley Rutschman homered from both sides of the plate in the same All-Star Home Run Derby.

He had it and flaunted it.

With father Randy throwing him batting practice, Rutschman launched 21 left-handed during the three-minute regulation and six more right-handed in the 30-second bonus portion.

The Orioles’ catcher was seeded eighth but may have performed a first with that switch.

Unfortunately for Rutschman and Orioles fans, No. 1 seed Luis Robert Jr. of the White Sox ousted him by hitting 27 in regulation and one more in the bonus round to advance at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

Enrique Bradfield Jr. received Mike Elias’ cell phone number last night from his agent and decided to show the same aggression that he does on the basepaths.

Bradfield wasn’t going to wait to hear from Elias, who made the Vanderbilt outfielder the 17^th overall pick in the draft. He took control of the situation, much to Elias’ amusement.

“I took that as, ‘Hey, let me give him a call,”’ Bradfield said this morning on a video chat with the media. “So, I went ahead and dialed the phone and gave him a call.”

Elias noted last night how a deep pool of collegiate position players delayed Bradfield’s selection and kept him on the board for the Orioles.

“It was a lot of emotions, especially for my family, just being there, kind of just waiting, getting phone calls, trying to see what was going to be the best decision for me,” Bradfield said.

The amateur draft resumes this afternoon with the third through 10^th rounds. The Orioles have nine selections, including a Round 3 compensation pick, the 100^th overall, for failing to sign Oklahoma State pitcher Nolan McLean last summer.

The Orioles are choosing 86^th overall, 100^th, 118^th, 154^th, 181^st, 211^th, 241^st, 271^st and 301^st.

They are thrilled with the results at Nos. 17, 53 and 63.

Picking later than ever under executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias, the Orioles grabbed Vanderbilt center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., North Carolina outfielder Mac Horvath and Florida State strikeout machine Jackson Baumeister – a good nickname when you’re a pitcher.

“Ecstatic,” director of draft operations Brad Ciolek said on a video call.

The Orioles apparently had a need for speed in the first round of the draft.

They used the No. 17 overall selection on Vanderbilt outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., 21, a left-handed hitter who Baseball America grades an 80 runner and fielder.

Bradfield stole 130 bases at a 90.9 percent success rate in 191 games. He batted .311/.426/.447 with 31 doubles, 11 triples, 15 home runs and 108 RBIs.

Also appealing to the Orioles is the 14.7 percent walk rate, compared to a 13.5 percent strikeout rate. He made contact at an 87 percent rate this season.

The power is lacking, with Bradfield given a 30 grade as more of a line drive hitter.