Reviewing a week's worth of subjects at Orioles camp as games get closer

SARASOTA, Fla. – One more day of live and cage batting practices, bullpens and fielding drills before the Orioles play their first spring training game. Overreacting to workouts can be replaced by overreacting to exhibitions.

The club seems to have avoided injuries in camp other than some knuckles bloodied from knocking on wood.

Jorge Mateo is recovering from his elbow-reconstructive surgery and won’t be ready for Opening Day. That was probably the most important news to come from executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias’ first-day media scrum, since it provided confirmation of Mateo’s status and shaped the projected Opening Day roster.

Got to be six infielders and Heston Kjerstad and Ramón Laureano as the last two outfielders with Colton Cowser, Cedric Mullins and Tyler O’Neill. Right?

Left-hander Trevor Rogers reported with a kneecap subluxation and also won’t be ready for Opening Day. That one came out of nowhere, but Rogers appeared to be a longshot based on the additions of Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano to the rotation. Pitcher Chayce McDermott showed up with a mild lat/teres strain that manager Brandon Hyde said could push him back 10-14 days. He was expected to begin the season at Triple-A Norfolk.

What else are we obsessing about in Sarasota?

* The media jokes about the Jake Fox award for players in spring training who hit a lot of home runs but can’t carry it over to the regular season. Catcher Samuel Basallo should get a trophy for his BP sessions. The power he generates from that smooth swing is a sight to behold.

Basallo isn’t competing for a job but he’s getting valuable experience and exposure after reporting last spring with a fractured elbow. This kid is legit, one of the top prospects in baseball, and it’s understandable why he’s untouchable. If you thought he should be traded for a starting pitcher, don’t admit it.

* Hyde said Jordan Westburg will mostly play third base this season. It isn’t quite like the spring when we learned Gunnar Henderson would be the everyday shortstop, but it’s still interesting.

This simply could be a preference for Westburg at third or it also could be tied to Jackson Holliday getting most of the starts at second. Ramón Urías can back up at both positions.

* Holliday told The Baltimore Banner that he ate a lot of ground beef, including for breakfast, as part of his muscle-building diet. Tyler O’Neill looks like he assisted by body slamming the cows.

O’Neill can be accused of having a dad bod because his father, Terry, was named Mr. Canada in 1975. Being ripped runs in the family.

* Adley Rutschman is in terrific shape and looking like his first-half self, which is expected to continue in games. Albert Suárez is in terrific shape and primed to be a major contributor again in whatever role.

Suárez is starting Saturday's opener against the Pirates. I had Zach Eflin in the media pool, with Matt Bowman as the dark horse.

I also had Chandler Shepherd as my other dark horse because I wasn't paying attention.

* Félix Bautista should be able to break camp with the team despite the Orioles handling him with extreme care. Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells have avoided setbacks in their recoveries from elbow surgery and are hopeful that they can pitch in the second half.

None of this is a surprise.

* Grayson Rodriguez is touted as having ace stuff. He just needs to stay healthy for a full season.

Rodriguez isn’t resting on his repertoire. He’s working on a sweeper – a variation of the slider that moves horizontally – and alerted catcher Maverick Handley to it yesterday in a bullpen session. Rodriguez threw it and checked the Trackman data on a screen set up behind him.

MASNsports.com’s Brendan Mortensen noticed yesterday that Rodriguez also used a grip resembling a spike changeup. A little more experimentation.

* Rodolfo Martinez is getting himself noticed in his two live batting practice appearances. Doesn’t put him on the roster, but it doesn’t hurt.

Martinez arrived with an interesting story because he hadn’t been with an affiliated team since 2019 in the Giants system, and he pitched in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Japan. His stats from Japan don’t appear anywhere, but it might have been an independent team. Anyway, he’s throwing gas – upper 90s with the ability to touch triple digits – and racking up strikeouts.

Three more came in his one “inning” Wednesday, but it’s worth pointing out that the sessions don’t include a plate umpire, so called third strikes might be open to debate. Wait, that’s just like having a plate umpire.

(This portion of today’s article is sponsored by ABS, which is not to be confused with IBS.)

The Orioles hope that they found another Albert Suárez, which is the popular comp. When I want to bring down the room, I say that I liked Martinez the first time I saw him – when he was Wandisson Charles. But seriously …

Martinez also drew interest from the Yankees, according to an industry source with direct knowledge of the words that came out of his mouth. The Orioles don’t have room in their bullpen but spots always open up later, so keep an eye on this guy. He really looks good.