Orioles pregame notes on rotation, Bradish, Kittredge, Suárez and more

The Orioles haven’t confirmed their rotation plans beyond left-hander Cade Povich on Sunday. However, the need for a fifth starter next Saturday apparently won’t tempt them to call up Kyle Gibson.

Gibson has made one start with Triple-A Norfolk and allowed one run in 3 1/3 innings.

“He’s gonna need a little more time,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “Down the road a little bit.”

Hyde added that the Orioles want to get through Monday’s off-day before setting the rotation for the next two home series.

“We’re talking about a lot of things,” he said. “Povich tomorrow and then clear some things out.”

Brandon Young is an option to make his major league debut next Saturday against the Reds. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in 11 1/3 innings.

Young’s next start was moved from yesterday, to Sunday, to today’s Game 1 of a doubleheader.

“Our guys are really high on the multiple pitches he throws for strikes,” Hyde said. “Couple good appearances for us (in camp). A guy that the organization is high on. I haven’t seen him a ton besides a couple spring training outings, but he’s a guy who can throw strikes. I know some of our video guys as well as the guys in the pitching room like his stuff quite a bit.”

Starter Kyle Bradish and reliever Andrew Kittredge threw their first bullpen sessions today. Bradish underwent Tommy John surgery last June. Kittredge had cartilage repaired in his left knee last month.

“First step,” Hyde said of Kittredge, who made one spring appearance before the Orioles shut him down. “With the knee, it’s gonna take a while. He’s way ahead of schedule right now and he feels really good. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. He’s real excited right now.”

Grayson Rodriguez had another side session today. Tyler Wells, who underwent elbow reconstructive surgery last June, was expected to be ahead of Bradish because of the internal brace procedure, but he spent time at home following the birth of his first baby and is waiting for bullpen clearance.

Albert Suárez is with the team while recovering from a right subscapularis strain that forced him onto the 60-day injured list.

“You know, you don’t want to get hurt at any time and any point, but these things happen and you just have to deal with it,” he said. “It takes time always to heal and hopefully we get it healed faster and be able to come back stronger.

“Right now I’m working with the trainers doing whatever I can to come back stronger.”

An MRI confirmed that Suárez would miss more than the original 15 days. He made one relief appearance in Toronto and experienced a dip in his velocity that raised suspicions about an injury.

“We decided that, OK, it’s gonna take longer because we need the muscle to heal first to be able to get it back to normal,” Suárez said. “It feels good. I’m not throwing or anything. I’m just doing the rehab program.”

Suárez was a candidate for the fifth starter job that went to Povich. He noticed an issue with his shoulder during his final appearance in spring training but broke camp with the team.

“I was feeling what I thought was probably tired, and that’s why I kept going,” he said. “I was taking longer to warm up and then that’s why we decided, OK, we need to check it.”

Another MRI will be arranged in maybe three weeks to check the healing and get Suárez started with exercises and a throwing program.

“I guess it’s gonna take a little bit of time,” he said.

The Orioles are winless in their first four series for the first time since 2010, when they were winless in the first seven.

Former Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander makes his return to Camden Yards today and is serving as designated hitter.

For the Blue Jays

Bo Bichette SS
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B
Anthony Santander DH
Andrés Giménez 2B
George Springer RF
Will Wagner 3B
Alejandro Kirk C
Nathan Lukes CF
Alan Roden LF

Bowden Francis RHP