TORONTO – Tomoyuki Sugano smiled this morning as he walked in and out of the clubhouse and down a hallway, nothing about his expression or mannerisms hinting at a first major league start and accompanying case of nerves.

He warmed up, faced his first batter and issued a four-pitch walk.

It wouldn’t be the worst part of his day.

Sugano made it through four innings and 73 pitches, went back to the mound for the bottom of the fifth and couldn’t continue. Manager Brandon Hyde, pitching coach Drew French and head athletic trainer Scott Barringer checked on him, and Sugano flexed his right hand before heading to the dugout.

Matt Bowman, whose contract was selected today with Albert Suárez going on the injured list, took over in the Orioles’ 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays before an announced crowd of 21.069. Sugano allowed two runs and four hits, with two walks and one strikeout before exiting due to unspecified “cramping.”

TORONTO – Orioles reliever Albert Suárez went on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with right shoulder inflammation, a move that’s backdated to yesterday.

Matt Bowman’s contract was selected from Triple-A Norfolk. He’s wearing No. 51.

The 40-man roster is full.

Suárez allowed one earned run and two total with five hits in 2 2/3 innings Friday night, and his fastball velocity was about two mph lower than his average in 2024. Bowman gives the bullpen a fresh arm and one capable of providing length.

The Orioles selected Bowman’s contract last Sunday on his opt-out date, designated him for assignment before Opening Day and outrighted him to Norfolk. He made 15 appearances with the Orioles last season and posted a 3.45 ERA in 15 2/3 innings.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles didn’t mean to become a spring training cliché. It just happened. Nothing they could do about it.

Their roster appeared to be mostly set, with few decisions pending. They were proceeding without new injuries. But a team can’t get too comfortable because something always seems to happen.

Or multiple things happen, which is worse.

Imagine being told before pitchers and catchers reported that the Orioles would begin the season with Gunnar Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez on the injured list. Oh yeah, and their new reliever, Andrew Kittredge, would appear in one exhibition game and need surgery on his left knee. How long until panic set in and counseling was recommended?

This isn’t just an Orioles thing, though some locals would argue it. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole underwent Tommy John surgery and won’t pitch this season. Rookie of the Year Luis Gil could miss three months with a lat strain. Giancarlo Stanton had platelet-rich plasma injections in both elbows. The Rays got back their ace, Shane McClanahan, after he missed the 2024 season following Tommy John surgery, and he walked off the mound Saturday with a triceps injury.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman found a different way to bond with Japanese pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano and to learn more about his new teammate. They got away from the field and the clubhouse. They got away from baseball.

They played a round of golf this week.

“He’s a funny guy, just a cool dude,” Rutschman said tonight. “I know with the language barrier it’s kind of tough sometimes to make those connections, but he seems like a really down-to-earth guy. He works his butt off every single day. Just to see a guy like that in a new environment and getting comfortable and doing his thing has been really cool for me to watch, and I think everyone else.”

Who’s the better golfer?

“He is,” Rutschman said without hesitation. “He’s really good.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – The penultimate home game of the exhibition season finds Ramón Urías in tonight’s lineup for the Orioles. Gunnar Henderson, however, remains out of it.

Urías is playing third base, Jackson Holliday is at shortstop and Jordan Westburg is at second base.

Tyler O’Neill is in left field, Colton Cowser is in center and Heston Kjerstad is in right.

Cedric Mullins is leading off and serving as designated hitter.

Hot-hitting Ryan Mountcastle is out of the lineup.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Tomoyuki Sugano may never give up a run as an Oriole. That’s the pace he’s on right now. Just let it ride.

Sugano entered tonight’s game with seven scoreless innings in his three outings. He went 3 1/3 against the Twins, leaving after Christian Vázquez’s one-out single in the fourth that was the only hit against him.

The crowd gave Sugano a standing ovation as he walked to the dugout and again as he headed to the clubhouse. Geraldo Ogando stranded the runner and one of his own to preserve a 4-0 lead and Sugano’s shutout streak.

“I feel like I’m handling the ball much better as I progress,” Sugano said via interpreter Yuto Sakurai.

You won't get much more out of him. He has a large repertoire, but his sales pitch is weak.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Tomoyuki Sugano can’t be disappointed today with his command. He’d be hard-pressed to complain about anything. Even the perfectionist in him should be satisfied.

Well, mostly.

What bothered Sugano in Monday’s start didn’t exist with the same force this afternoon against the Twins at Ed Smith Stadium. He was razor sharp, retiring all nine batters faced and striking out five.

The Japanese right-hander hasn’t allowed a run in seven exhibition innings.

“It wasn’t perfect. I would say 90 percent,” he said, remaining his toughest critic.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Tyler O’Neill has returned to the Orioles’ lineup this afternoon after being scratched Thursday night with a sore left rib cage.

O’Neill is batting cleanup in the split-squad game against the Twins in Sarasota.

Jackson Holliday is leading off and playing second base. Livan Soto is the shortstop with Gunnar Henderson receiving treatment for a strained right intercostal.

Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter, with Gary Sánchez catching Tomoyuki Sugano. Sugano is making his third exhibition start.

Colton Cowser is in right field.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles are on the road again today with their bus pointed toward Fort Myers for another game against the Twins at Hammond Stadium.

The redundancy this spring is mind numbing. No games in Port Charlotte, the third-shortest trip from Sarasota. Only one in North Port, which is the second shortest and super convenient for manager Brandon Hyde, to close out the Florida portion of the schedule.

Out of nine games, the Orioles have played the Pirates three times – losing all three - host them again Thursday night and head back to Bradenton Monday afternoon for a MASN telecast. They’ve gone to Clearwater twice and have a split-squad game there Sunday afternoon. They were in Fort Myers Friday and return less than a week later.

The five projected starters are impressing, and Grayson Rodriguez’s next turn is today. He tossed 1 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings against the Blue Jays in his debut. The only baserunner came from a hit-by-pitch.

“I was able to drive the fastball, changeup was working good, was able to throw the new sweeper once and got a bad swing on it, so I was pretty excited about that,” he said afterward.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles are off today. My mailbag never rests.

This is the spring training edition. You ask and I answer, just like in the summer, fall and winter.

The clarity, length and style are fine. No reason to mess with them - or for anyone to know if I do. Sue me.

Also, my mailbag hits home runs over the scoreboard and yours fouls out to the catcher.

If he plays, say, 145-150 games, do you think Tyler O'Neill will make us forget about Anthony Santander?
Let’s get one thing straight: We shall never forget about Anthony Santander. Never, I tell you! He was too impactful on the field and in the clubhouse. However, O’Neill has the power to make fans worry a lot less about the 44 home runs subtracted from the roster, and he’s a more accomplished outfielder. O’Neill has exceeded 100 games twice in his career and he hit 34 homers in 2021 and 31 last season. You get him in the 145-150 range and he’s going to do some serious damage. And then you hope that he doesn’t decide to opt out.

The Orioles and Red Sox played to a 6-6 tie today at Ed Smith Stadium, which leads into Tuesday’s first off-day.

Here are some nuggets from this afternoon, when the first five innings meant the most to the Orioles:

* Félix Bautista faced three batters in the fifth inning – strikeout, strikeout, ground ball, standing ovation from fans.

This was Bautista’s moment. Everything else that happened was secondary.

Bautista ran the count full to Trayce Thompson and struck him out on a fastball up and away. Nate Eaton swung through a nasty splitter.

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.

Ah, the first week of spring training games. 

The perfect time to toss out wild takes about the upcoming season based on an incredibly small sample size of games that hold minimal weight. 

What takeaways are overreactions? Which far-too-early conclusions could actually come to fruition? 

On this week’s edition of “The Bird’s Nest” (which you can watch here), Annie Klaff and I took a deep dive into some early storylines. On the way up, we’ll see which ones hold any water. 

Heston Kjerstad will have a 20-plus home run season

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.

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. – 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. – 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. – 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?

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles pitching coach Drew French was eager to begin working with Tomoyuki Sugano even before the Japanese right-hander agreed to a $13 million contract. The deal became official and French approached interpreter Yuto Sakurai with a favor. Simple in nature but hugely meaningful.

“I said I need to start learning his language a little bit,” French said. “I’ve done some things to try to help myself, but ultimately woke up the next day and forgot them.”

French had a specific translation request. He wanted to know how to say, “good job.” It’s like he anticipated what would happen during the first bullpen session.

“Ultimately, that’s the phrase I went with today,” French said, “and hopefully tomorrow I can learn another one.”

Might I suggest “great job?”