SARASOTA – The first workout at Orioles camp is happening later today. Physicals are passed. Players are cleared to head onto the field, if they haven’t already done it.

You’ll find them outside and in the new player development complex. The sounds will be unmistakable – baseballs smacking leather or getting swatted by wooden bats. The chatter will be loud, and maybe the music, too.

This is Craig Albernaz’s first camp as a major league manager. We’re about to learn how he runs the operation.

Albernaz isn’t stressing over any of it. He sat in his office yesterday, with Orioles photos hanging behind him and a Ravens helmet perched on top of a shelf, and expressed his appreciation and his excitement over the task at hand.

“Honestly, it sounds weird to say. No, I’m not really (concerned),” he said in his video call with media. “It’s a very common feeling right now. I was talking about this with Donnie (Ecker), our bench coach and (pitching coach) Drew French earlier. It comes from a place of, when you have great people around you and you allow them to do their jobs and do it well and support them, it makes your job a lot easier. When you have the coaches we have, and more importantly, the players.

“They work. Our guys want to work, they want to get better and they want to be challenged. So that makes your job a lot easier. And so me, there is no nervousness or butterflies. The only butterflies I have is just excited to show up each day and be here. Get to work with these guys. And that’s the coolest thing.”

Upon further review …and with a sense of humor:

“Actually, you know what?” Albernaz said. “The one thing that I am nervous about is we just got this new indoor facility, so I have to make sure our guys get outside and get some vitamin D, because we can just stay inside all day and get everything done. So I think, yeah, so now the butterflies are making sure we get our guys outside all the time.”

Today’s workout is for pitchers and catchers, but many position players reported early. These rules are flexible.

We’re going to find out who’s in the best shape of their lives. The Orioles bragged Monday about their eight-pack of covered mounds, but let’s see who’s got a six-pack from offseason conditioning.

(Here is where my maturity shows and I resist a Sidney Ponson joke.)

Kyle Bradish is tasked with being the ace, the stopper, after the Orioles pursued Ranger Suárez and Framber Valdez. He’s expected to be on the mound for the March 26 opener against the Twins at Camden Yards, but it takes just one phone call to shuffle plans.

Bradish already is under scrutiny because he’s made only 14 starts over the past two seasons due to an elbow injury that required ligament-reconstructive surgery. His importance escalates with each failed pursuit of a No. 1 starter. The weight on his shoulders increases.

This is a pitcher who finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting in 2023 and started Game 1 of the Division Series. He actually was better through his eight appearances in 2024 before the Orioles had to give up on the platelet-rich plasma injection as a solution.

The return last summer was crucial. Bradish made six starts and posted a 2.53 ERA and 1.031 WHIP, with 47 strikeouts in 32 innings. He was healthy again and capable of dealing on any given night.

I can imagine Bradish tracking the club’s offseason flirtations with guys like Suárez and Valdez and thinking, “I’ve got this.” I truly believe that he does.

Trevor Rogers knows that he still has some doubters out there, which also shines a spotlight on him. The 1.81 ERA and 0.903 WHIP came in only 18 starts. That’s more than a small sample size but it isn’t 25-30.

“I had a good year really but it wasn’t a full season,” he said last month. “And I’m not really focused on having a better year. I’m really just focused on being consistent again and helping my team win ballgames. Just the offseason that we’ve had, we put together a really solid ballclub, and I couldn’t be any more excited to join the fellas in the next couple weeks and get this thing going and really help the team win some games so the city of Baltimore can be proud of it again.”

So you have an extra-motivated Rogers after he earned the Most Valuable Orioles award and a fifth-place vote in Cy Young balloting. After he registered an ERA that was the lowest by an Orioles starter in a minimum 100 innings in franchise history.

Shane Baz represents the big offseason rotation addition after a Dec. 19 trade that sent four prospects, including the No. 30 and 37 overall draft picks, and a Competitive Balance Round A selection to the Rays. He didn’t come cheaply and the expectations are based largely on projections.

Baz had a 4.87 ERA and 1.335 WHIP last summer, but he posted career highs with 31 starts, 166 1/3 innings and 176 strikeouts. And his home games this year won’t be in a minor league ballpark in Tampa.

Toss out the overall numbers. Baz had a 5.90 ERA in 16 starts at George M. Steinbrenner Field and a 3.86 ERA in 15 road games. Eighteen of the 26 home runs surrendered came in the way-too-friendly confines.

Baz probably would slot third if the season began today. That’s the amount of trust that the Orioles have in him and their pitching program.

“Shane Baz’s upside is a Cy Young Award winner,” Albernaz said yesterday.

“He still has that same elite stuff, so for us and Shane, it’s just allowing him to be the best version of himself. Shane’s a competitor and he’s a great worker, and so with those two ingredients, it’s really tough to bet against a kid like that.

“We’re pumped to have him, and he’s just excited, as well.”  

Dean Kremer threw yesterday. Zach Eflin is adamant that he’ll be ready for Opening Day. Tyler Wells will be ready to fill any role.

Time for the first workout.

It’s about time.