A few notes from Twin Lakes Park, where O's minor league games start today

SARASOTA, Fla. - Today is an important day at the Orioles minor league facility. It is the first day of exhibition games at the Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park.

The Orioles' two highest-level affiliates, Triple-A Norfolk and Double-A Bowie, are on the road playing against the Red Sox in Fort Myers. The O's two Single-A clubs, Frederick and Delmarva, play here at 1 p.m. against Boston.

Don't read too much into lineups this early in camp - no minor league rosters are anywhere close to set for the season openers - but here are the starters for today's games at Twin Lakes Park.

Delmarva
CF Jay Gonzalez
SS Stephen Wilkerson
C Alex Murphy
1B Alexander Lee
DH Logan Uxa
3B Austin Pfeiffer
DH Hector Veloz
RF Yariel Vargas
LF Randolph Gassaway
2B Alejandro Juvier
LHP Brian Gonzalez

Yes, they can bat 10 in these games. Gonzalez is slated to go three innings. Among those also scheduled to pitch are Travis Seabrooke, Daniel Ayers, Lucas Long and Zeke McGranahan.

Frederick
2B Anthony Caronia
SS Jeff Kemp
C Chance Sisco
LF Conor Bierfeldt
RF Elier Leyva
1B Riley Palmer
DH Jamill Moquete
DH Roderick Bernadina
3B Derek Peterson
CF Ademar Rifaela
RHP David Hess

Hess is slated to pitch two innings. Others listed to pitch for Frederick are Tanner Chleborad, Nik Nowottnick, Stefan Crichton and Augey Bill.

Eddie Gamboa is starting for Norfolk today and Terry Doyle for Bowie. Listed starters for tomorrow in the minors are Elih Villanueva (Norfolk), Parker Bridwell (Bowie), Luis Gonzalez (Frederick) and John Means (Delmarva). Zach Davies is listed as the Triple-A starter for Friday and Oliver Drake for Saturday.

Young O's third base prospect Jomar Reyes has been ill and may not play today. Reyes, who turned 18 on Feb. 20, is the O's No. 10 prospect according to Baseball America and is projected to start at third base at Delmarva.

He has gotten bigger since last season, when he played at 6-foot-3 and 238 lbs. Now he is 6-foot-4 1/2 inches and 246 lbs.

I had a chance to interview Reyes here this morning with interpreting help from Felipe Rojas Alou Jr., the director of the Orioles Dominican academy.

Last year in the Gulf Coast League, Reyes hit .285 with four homers, 29 RBIs and a .758 OPS. He showed improvement during the year and had an OPS of .899 in August.

"I put a lot of effort into last year," Reyes said. "Worked hard before the year and very thankful for that because at the end, it showed.

"I definitely feel my defense improved a lot. My offense, I was able to take what I worked on in the drills into the games."

With Alou's help, I also interviewed Leyva, the 24-year-old Cuban outfielder the Orioles signed in December who will probably start this season with Delmarva or Frederick. I'll have much more coming soon from the interviews with Reyes and Leyva.

Sisco is the Orioles' No. 4 prospect. Taken with the 61st overall pick in the 2013 draft, he won the South Atlantic League batting title last summer, hitting .340.

But how is his defense coming behind the plate? I asked O's minor league catching coordinator Don Werner.

"Sisco has been unbelievable, considering he only caught very little in high school," Werner said. "He's just caught two years. His receiving really improved last year. A lot of his passed balls came early in the season and later on, he really cut them down. The progress he made defensively is really good.

"I think his throwing is going to get a little bit better. His footwork is going to get better, which will make his throwing better. The bat, that speaks for itself - he led the league in hitting."