With a week to go, projecting the opening day 30-man roster

The 2020 Baltimore Orioles' season is set to start a week from today. The Orioles, for the first time since 1966, will open at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox.

The club started with 44 players on its 60-man player pool and that number is now 56. Several players have already been assigned to the alternate site at Double-A Bowie. Players there could make the opening day roster but it's probably less likely. Now that we are seven days out, let's take a shot at projecting the opening day roster of 30.

Starting pitchers (5): I will project the rotation in this order - John Means, Alex Cobb, Wade LeBlanc, Asher Wojciechowski and Tommy Milone.

These pitchers have put up good intrasquad numbers and yes, they were facing teammates. Means had an earlier outing of one run over five innings. Cobb threw three scoreless in his first outing before throwing live batting practice in his second. LeBlanc had an outing with five scoreless and four strikeouts. Wojciechowski went four and 66 pitches in live BP Sunday, and Milone threw five scoreless, retiring 15 of 16 he faced on Monday.

Relievers (11): Yep, we could see an opening day bullpen of 11 pitchers. Kohl Stewart could well win a rotation spot but I'm going to place him in this bullpen as a multi-inning middle-reliever type along with Cole Sulser. Sulser is an interesting addition, a waiver claim from Tampa Bay last Oct. 1. At Triple-A Durham last year after June 30, he went 3-0 with a 1.07 ERA. In 33 2/3 innings he walked five and fanned 49. He has averaged 10.4 strikeouts per nine over his minor league career, and that number was 12.1 last season at Triple-A. He has had two Tommy John surgeries - the first in 2012 and again in 2015.

From the left side in this 'pen, I have Richard Bleier, Paul Fry and Tanner Scott. Manager Brandon Hyde said of Scott the other day that he "has been outstanding. Throwing 98 (mph) with a nasty slider. It's been fantastic."

That makes five. The other six in this projection are Mychal Givens, Hunter Harvey, Miguel Castro, Shawn Armstrong, David Hess and Evan Phillips. Hess could be another multi-inning middle-reliever type. I would have included Dillon Tate in this bullpen group but it appears that comebacker he took off his elbow/forearm area will keep him out past opening day.

Catchers (2): Pedro Severino and Chance Sisco.

The club is considering three catchers with a roster as big as 30. We could see that, but I don't see a big need for it. A catching addition is just a call away, and on the road, the three-man taxi squad will include a catcher. I think the team is fine to carry two a week from today. Sisco made some swing changes over the winter and it will be interesting to see how that plays out for him.

Infielders (8): Chris Davis, Hanser Alberto, José Iglesias, Rio Ruiz, Renato Núñez, Pat Valaika, Stevie Wilkerson, Andrew Velazquez.

The last three give the O's strong versatility to cover just about every spot on the diamond. All three could go to the outfield if needed, another reason we may see just four true outfielders on the opening day roster. Soon we find out if Davis' added bulk and his strong first spring mean better results when it counts. Can Alberto hit .300 again? Are Ruiz's batting improvements for real? How will Iglesias help the defense?

Outfielders (4): Austin Hays, Anthony Santander, DJ Stewart, Cedric Mullins.

Hays posted a .947 OPS last September and made a big impact on defense as well. Center field is now his, and the leadoff spot in the order probably is too. We'll soon find out if his play late last year was for real. Santander is back and will get a shot in the middle or the order. Trey Mancini's loss of playing time is likely DJ Stewart's gain and he needs to run with it. Mason Williams could be the fourth man here, but I went with Mullins, who looked like his old self late last year at Bowie.

Final notes: The Orioles played their seventh intrasquad game last night, but this one was a bit jazzed up at Oriole Park. The club used piped-in crowd noise and major league teams will continue that in the regular season. The Orioles used public-address announcements to introduce players, kept the scoreboard working and had expanded dugouts in the stands along first and third base.

Also yesterday, the Orioles added lefty pitcher DL Hall, outfielder Yusniel Diaz and infielder Ramón Urías to their player pool. They now have 56 on the 60-man player pool, 43 players remaining in the Baltimore camp and 39 on their 40-man roster.

Click here for more on the latest intrasquad action.

Extended dugouts #orioles pic.twitter.com/JoPRzYDeKj

-- Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) July 16, 2020

Bye bye baseball!
Chris Davis line drive 2-run HR vs Wade LeBlanc puts Orange up 2-0 vs White. Note the piped in crowd reaction. Your reaction? @Orioles intrasquad #SummerCamp2020
⚾️ @WJZ pic.twitter.com/iZDSUMFzob

-- Mark Viviano (@MarkWJZ) July 16, 2020