This time last year, the Orioles Jackson Holliday and Samuel Basallo – now the club’s top two rated prospects – were a couple of weeks away from reporting to Low-A Delmarva to start the 2023 season.

A year later both have continued to impress and progress as prospects and now they are two of the best in the sport. While Holliday is everyone’s No. 1 prospect, Basallo is ranked No. 10 by Baseball America, No. 17 by MLBPipeline.com and No. 27 by ESPN.com.

Two studs to help lead the best farm system in the sport and both could be in the lineup tonight at 7:05 p.m. when the O’s prospects play the Pittsburgh Pirates prospects in Bradenton in the Spring Breakout game that will be televised live by MLB Network.

Basallo played in his first spring game Monday and went 0-for-3 combined Monday and Tuesday. He has a stress fracture in his throwing elbow and is not ready to catch yet but can take at-bats in games as the DH.

If Holliday and Basallo are in the lineup together it will be the first time for that duo since they played for Delmarva late last April, before Holliday was moved to High-A Aberdeen. By the time Basallo later got to Aberdeen, Holliday had moved to Double-A Bowie and by the time Basallo played four games to end his 2023 season at Bowie, Holliday had moved to Triple-A Norfolk.

There may be few players that know their game and understand the strengths they need to play to during a baseball game more than O’s outfield prospect Enrique Bradfield Jr.

He has blazing speed – scouts say it's a top-of-scale 80 scouting grade – but little power to this point. He knows the style of game he needs to play and it’s similar to what we might call an old-school leadoff hitter. One that needs to make a lot of contact, often keep the ball out of the air and use his legs to make things happen.

Bradfield was the Orioles' top draft pick last summer, taken No. 17 overall out of Vanderbilt, where he stole 130 bases with a 91 percent success rate in three seasons.

For quite a while now, Bradfield has known he’s the fastest player on most baseball fields. He has elite speed.

“I would say it was about when I was 10 or 11 that I started to really recognize that,” he said in a recent interview in Sarasota at Twin Lakes Park. “It’s always been a part of who I am, but I wouldn’t say it’s everything to what I do. I was gifted a beautiful gift from God and at the same time too I have worked very hard to get to where I am at. And also, there are other factors like a support system with my family, my parents, my sister and countless coaches I could name that all have impacted me.”

On Dec. 4, Jackson Holliday, the No. 1 prospect in baseball, turned 20. He was a teenager no more. The next day at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, O’s executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias let the world know the kid had a good chance to make the O's 2024 Opening Day roster.

"It's definitely a very strong possibility,” Elias said that day, getting reporters attention in stating it so strongly.

Fast forward to this spring camp and the kid that is 20 is starting to really swing it well in spring games. After getting two hits versus the Yankees in Tampa Monday afternoon, he is 10-for-31, batting .323/.344/.613/.957 with two doubles, two triples and a homer. He is 6-for-14 his last four games.

Manager Brandon Hyde said the stat sheet will be just a small part of the evaluation of Holliday. But the kid is handling everything well thus far, from opponent pitchers like the Phillies Zack Wheeler and Toronto’s Yusei Kikuchi, to every national reporter that wants his time to the fans that clamor for autograph.

He fits in well in a clubhouse where he is the young guy and the rookie and to me, he is looking like someone with a great chance to break north for the opener. Just like Elias said in December.

This spring the announcement of the Orioles' Opening Day starter seemed to come earlier than it has most years. But why wait? There were no surprises when manager Brandon Hyde told reporters Sunday in camp that right-hander Corbin Burnes will be first up March 28 versus the Los Angeles Angels.

The Orioles acquired their new ace Feb. 1, and he will indeed pitch the first game of their 2024 season, and many more this year, they hope.

During a lengthy one-on-one interview last Friday in the Baltimore clubhouse, I asked Burnes what kind of club he sees from his new teammates.

“It’s a great young group,” said Burnes, 29, the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner. “I think the best part about this group is they are so young. It’s a team that had guys that were in their first or second year in the big leagues last year, and so getting that experience at the big league level is unmatched. Even guys that only played 15-20 games, you just can’t replicate that anywhere else.

“So, coming into this year, guys have a year or two of that experience. You learn how to play at this level, you learn how to prepare and bounce back each day to be at your best. The fact this group is so young and hungry to keep competing versus being an older group that’s done it for so many years, these guys are still trying to figure out their spot in the game. That’s exciting. They are going to play their butts off. A team that won 101 games last year and could be even better now.”

After spending about a week at spring training, one impression that struck me is how hard some players worked over the winter to get better. And it’s not just the hard work they put in, but that much of it is very specific, very targeted, and there is a clear plan at work. 

It is one of many things this organization is doing well right now. They take good players and make many of them better. Heck, they have taken some little-known players and some that once looked like longshots to make and/or help the team and turned them into All-Stars.

That has happened over the last few years for relievers Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano. Both were 2023 All-Stars for the Orioles.

Bautista’s first pro year was 2012 with Miami. The Marlins released him in 2016. On Aug. 4, 2016 the Orioles signed him. Through 2018 on their watch he never got out of rookie ball. In 2019 and 2021, he walked nearly six batters per nine innings on the farm. That same pitcher had a 3.5 walk rate and 1.85 ERA in 2022 and 2023. In the big leagues.

Cano in 2022 gave up 23 runs in 18 major league innings. A year later he started the season lights-out with the Orioles, was an All-Star and had a 2.11 ERA.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Here is yet another reason to praise the Orioles organization: making more good decisions on their farm.

Last year, they took a minor league pitcher that had thrown a combined 44 2/3 innings out of the bullpen in the 2021 and 2022 minor league seasons and made him a starter.

They saw something and the move worked. Right-hander Alex Pham, mostly a reliever in college and exclusively a reliever in his first two pro seasons, had a huge year as a starter pitching at High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie.

He went 3-5 with an ERA of 2.57. Over 112 innings he allowed 72 hits, posting a .182 average against and 1.02 WHIP. He recorded a 3.4 walk rate and 10.5 K per nine rate. He had 13.3 K per nine rate with Aberdeen, where he went 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in May and was the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Month.

Yep, this starting thing was indeed working out.

SARASOTA, Fla. – He is one of baseball’s top prospects with a very potent bat. But it is his improvements on defense that are getting noticed often in O’s camp in Florida. 

If you would have said in the winter that Mayo would get as much praise in Sarasota for his defense as for offense, that would have been a surprise.

But he’s playing a solid third base with confidence and he said he’s a much-better defender than when he was at spring camp in 2023.

“There is a big difference,” he said before Wednesday’s game.

The difference has come more from his throwing than glove-work. His throws are now more accurate and that has given him added confidence on defense. It all started last year when the big league coaching staff suggested he lower his arm slot a bit for increased accuracy. We often hear about pitchers using a different arm slot, but Mayo made a big change and dropped his arm slot to a more three-quarters type of throw.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles’ No. 1 ranked farm system has been on display pretty much every day this spring training in Florida with young players and prospects excelling in the Birds’ Grapefruit League games - helping the club to an 11-2 record.

The O’s farm will have another chance to shine, this one on national television on March 14 at 7:05 p.m. when MLB Network televises their Spring Breakout game in Bradenton against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The first annual four-day event, from March 14-17 in Florida and Arizona, features teams playing each other in seven-inning games featuring each organization’s top prospects.

The O’s have a roster of 24 for that game featuring 16 of their top 30 prospects via MLBPipeline.com, seven of their top 10 and three that get top 100 recognition.

They are infielder Jackson Holliday, the No. 1 prospect in baseball, catcher Samuel Basallo ranked as the O’s No. 2 prospect and No. 17 in the MLBPipeline top 100 and infielder Coby Mayo, rated as the O’s No. 4 and No. 30 in the top 100.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Ryan O’Hearn is proof that it’s not all about making the Opening Day roster. He didn’t last year but he went on to become a key Oriole, one that would hit in the middle of the club’s batting order.

This after producing a .683 OPS in parts of five seasons with Kansas City.

The O’s acquired him for cash considerations on Jan. 3, 2023, later removed him from the 40-man roster and later got him back on it as he reached the majors with the Birds last April 13. In early May he briefly returned to Triple-A, but soon was back for good.

Over 368 plate appearances, he hit .289/.322/.480/.801 with 14 homers and 60 RBIs. Now, at age 30, he is determined to prove he can do that, or even better, again.

“I’m sure there are people out there saying, ‘He’s a one-hit wonder or a flash in the pan’ type of thing. You know, I’m eager to prove that is not true. But at the same time, I don’t want to give too much attention or focus to naysayers. I believe in myself and my swing. A season like last year can only build your confidence and I have great teammates around me. Just want to win. I’ve got plenty of motivation,” he said recently in the O’s clubhouse at Ed Smith Stadium.

SARASOTA, Fla. – For young Orioles pitcher Chayce McDermott, the club’s Jim Palmer Award winner last year as the top minor league pitcher, his outing Tuesday in Clearwater was a nice step in his development.

Usually a starter, he pitched in relief and with not a ton of notice when he would throw. But he pitched scoreless ball in the seventh and eighth innings on 34 pitches versus the Phillies. And he was upbeat about the radar gun readings. His fastball averaged 95.4 mph and topped at 96.7.

“It was good, got some good feedback,” he said today of his second spring outing. “Felt good to throw out of the ‘pen too and kind of let it go a little bit. Threw harder than I normally do. But it was fun. Getting to watch some guys I grew up watching like (J.T.) Realmuto.

“There is some stuff to work on, but for the most part, it was good. Staying in the strike zone, getting strikeouts and not walking anyone.”

McDermott, 25, is ranked as the club's No. 8 prospect by Baseball America where his fastball and slider get 60 scouting grades and No. 9 by MLBPipeline.com.

SARASOTA, Fla. – As we watched right-hander Albert Suárez emerge it seemed out of nowhere to fan seven Philadelphia Phillies in three scoreless innings yesterday in Clearwater, we could wonder further if there is another to come out of nowhere in that clubhouse?

Suárez got 12 whiffs on 23 swings while touching 97.5 mph on the radar gun.

Brandon Hyde was rather impressed.

"He really threw the ball extremely well," said the Baltimore skipper. "I'm really impressed with his strike throwing ability, big-time life to his fastball. He was throwing his fastball by good major league hitters. He's got four pitches he throws for strikes, and he's got command of them. It's going to be fun to watch him. We didn't know a whole lot about him, and he's come in and thrown 97 with good secondary stuff, so really impressed with him today."

Is lefty Ronald Guzmán next to surprise us?

CLEARWATER, Fla. – For the Orioles it was another win today under the Florida sun. But this one might have more importance than some others. They saw their 20-year-old top prospect produce his best spring game while a 34-year-old pitcher fighting for a return to the majors fanned seven over three dominant, scoreless innings.

It was quite the day for the Orioles, who beat the Phillies 3-2 and improved to 10-2 atop the Grapefruit League.

The Orioles top farm system was on display big time at BayCare Ballpark.

Baseball’s No. 1 prospect, Jackson Holliday, had a breakout performance, going 3-for-4 which included a 104.4 mph double in the first inning off right-hander Zack Wheeler. Wheeler just yesterday signed a $126 million contract extension and since 2020 leads all MLB pitchers in fWAR at 19.3.

Leading off the game, Holliday drilled one deep to right-center off Wheeler for the two-bagger on a 2-2 cutter.

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins is still feeling discomfort today in his right hamstring but the club remains optimistic this will prove to be nothing too concerning or long-term at all.

“It’s still a little bit sore,” manager Brandon Hyde said before today’s game with the Phillies in Clearwater. “I think he’s really positive about it. Still a day-to-day type of thing. Obviously, we are going to be cautious with any hamstring right now. But, we’re confident. We have a lot of time left in camp. Shouldn’t be an issue.”

Mullins left Monday’s game in the last of the first at Ed Smith Stadium with right hamstring discomfort after drawing a leadoff walk and advancing to second on a groundout. He was limited to 116 games last year by two trips to the injured list with a right groin strain.

Mullins may get an MRI, Hyde said “just from a baseline standpoint. I talked to him before I came here, he feels good.”

Mullins' current issue is unrelated to anything from last year.

SARASOTA, Fla. – At age 20 Jackson Holliday, after just 145 minor league games and one full season on the farm, is trying to break north with the Orioles on the Opening Day roster.

He is under a spotlight in this camp at Ed Smith Stadium.

The kid has resources all around him, like a father in Matt Holliday who was a seven-time All-Star and World Series champion. What advice did the younger Holliday get on the home front before heading to Florida?

“Just take it easy. Try to enjoy it,” he says dad told him. “Whatever happens, happens, right? I think I’m in a really good spot, being 20 years old and in a position to make the team. Just enjoy it and have fun.

“And I have. These guys make it easy and fun in this locker room and enjoyable to come to the field every day.”

SARASOTA, Fla – A lot has been going well for the Orioles during spring training 2024 as they've gotten off to a 9-1 start. But today something went wrong in the last of the first inning when starting center fielder Cedric Mullins walked off the field with a trainer as the Orioles faced the Minnesota Twins at Ed Smith Stadium.

During the game, the club announced Mullins left due to right hamstring discomfort.

For the Orioles, the good news is that manager Brandon Hyde said after the game that Mullins left as a precaution and they feel this will be a minor setback.

“I think he was doing it (coming out), really, as a precautionary measure," said Hyde. "Just felt a little sore and the right thing - I’m glad he did it - was (to) say something and come out of the game.

Asked whether Mullins would need to get magnetic resonance imaging done, Hyde replied: “No. Just got treatment inside. We’ll see how he is in the morning.

SARASOTA, Fla. – After missing the team’s first 10 games – and their 9-1 start – Gunnar Henderson will make his spring training debut today as the Orioles host a Minnesota Twins split squad at 1:05 p.m. He's playing shortstop and batting third.

Henderson has been rehabbing a sore left oblique, an issue that came up late in his winter workouts at home while long-tossing. The Orioles have been careful to nurse that along, and now the 2023 American League Rookie of the Year is ready to take the field.

“He’s doing great,” manager Brandon Hyde said this morning. “(Has) taken some live at-bats a couple of days ago and had kind of a normal workday yesterday and is cleared and ready to go.”

Hyde is not worried about Henderson feeling any pressure to produce or exceed his ’23 stats.

“Gunnar is so driven that sometimes you have to slow him down a little bit. He has got incredible makeup, unbelievable worker and plays the game as hard as anybody. You know you want him to enjoy it a little bit, but he is so easy to coach and so fun to watch play.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson will make his spring training debut today as the Orioles host the Minnesota Twins at 1:05 p.m. at Ed Smith Stadium.

The 2023 American League Rookie of the Year has not played in a game to this point due to left oblique soreness that appeared when he was long-tossing during workouts at home before camp began.

Henderson has been taking batting practice and doing pregame work for several days, and now comes his first game and plenty of time to be fully ready for Opening Day on March 28.

“Everything has been fine,” he said this morning of the work he has put in to get to this point.

“Felt really good the last week and my progression allows me to be in the game today,” he said.

SARASOTA, Fla. – An Orioles minor leaguer since the 2020 season, TT Bowens has shown some pop in his time in Birdland with 33 farm homers.

Yesterday he hit one that helped the Orioles win yet another spring training game. Bowens’ three-run homer to left in the top of the ninth in Bradenton broke a 2-2 as the O’s beat the Pirates 5-2 to get to 9-1 in the Grapefruit League.

The Orioles are rolling in Florida and Sunday it was Bowens, 25, with a real big swing and a feel-good moment.

The 2020 MLB Draft was shortened to five rounds and the O’s signed Bowens as a free agent out of Central Connecticut State after that draft. His 33 homers have come in 908 career at-bats. Last year in 59 games, 47 at Double-A Bowie, he produced a .697 OPS with eight longballs. He had an OPS of .724 last fall hitting four homers in 21 games in the Arizona Fall League.

He doesn’t make top 30 lists and can easily get overshadowed amidst the No. 1 farm system in the sport. But yesterday fans in Delmarva, Aberdeen and Bowie could say, “hey our guy helped the Orioles win a game.”

BRADENTON, Fla. – Break 'em up. The 2024 Orioles are spring training darlings. Today they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 in Bradenton for their ninth win in 10 Grapefruit League games. 

The Orioles held an opponent to three or fewer runs for the eighth time. Their team ERA of 3.10 is second best in the spring among all 30 MLB teams.

"A spring training juggernaut," manager Brandon Hyde joked.

And everyone is getting into the act. Connor Norby, out all spring with side soreness, made his spring debut on defense in the last of the sixth. In his first spring at bat in the eighth, he doubled to left and scored on Kyle Stowers' RBI single to tie it 2-2. Stowers hit came off another lefty. 

“Well I’ve been watching everyone else rake and I wanted to get in on the party," quipped Norby, the club's No. 6 prospect per Baseball America. "I’ve been itching since Day One. They have been taking it really slow with me and I get it, but it’s been frustrating because I want to get back out there and show what I can do. I know it was for the right reasons and I did the right thing."

BRADENTON, Fla. – The Orioles are slowly getting some of their injured players back. Today their No. 6 ranked prospect, per Baseball America, infielder Connor Norby will make his spring debut as the O’s play Pittsburgh. Tomorrow, Gunnar Henderson is expected to see his first game action this spring.

“Norby is going to play the second-half of the game today,” manager Brandon Hyde said this morning. “Gunnar, maybe in the next couple of days, maybe tomorrow.”

Norby is coming off a big 2023 season for Triple-A Norfolk, where he hit .290/.359/.483/.842 with 40 doubles, three triples, 21 homers, 104 runs and 92 RBIs. He was the club’s second-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft.

Henderson has yet to play due to left oblique soreness and Norby with side soreness. Both have been taking pregame work and batting practice and now are ready to play in a game.

Right-hander Kyle Bradish continues to progress in his throwing program, still playing catch on flat ground. Getting on a mound for some throwing is not close yet for Bradish.