SARASOTA – Cedric Mullins started 724 games in center field during his eight seasons with the Orioles. He was the successor to Adam Jones, with a reset in the minors before owning the position.

The baton apparently is passed to Colton Cowser, who came into camp as the logical choice to man the middle.

Some of it is from past experience and the rest is the process of elimination.

Taylor Ward was acquired from the Angels to play one of the corners, and he was used exclusively in left the past three seasons. Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Beavers are expected to share right. Leody Taveras signed a $2 million contract to back up at each spot.

“Cowser, he’s a really good athlete, and he’s getting comfortable out there, too,” manager Craig Albernaz said earlier today. “It’s different playing center field in the big leagues, and even if you play center field your whole life in the minor leagues, the big leagues are a different animal. So Cowser, he’s been diving in with our outfield coach already, Jason Bourgeois. I think him getting here early to start the relationship is great.

“The outfield depth, yeah, we have guys who can play center field. We’ve got Cowser, we have Leody (Taveras) in camp. You’ve got Blaze (Alexander) who can play out there. And even Beavers, too. That’s the thing with outfielders, kind of like my upbringing, but if you can play in center field, you can play in the corners, too, and vice-versa. Guys will get different looks out there, but yeah, Cowser will be getting the majority of reps in center.”

That’s how it evolved last summer after the Mullins trade. Cowser moved over from left, where he made 41 starts, four fewer than center.

Statcast calculated Cowser with an outs above average (OAA) of seven in left and one in center in 2024, and one in center and minus-one in left in 2025.  Cedric Mullins always graded poorly despite his spectacular catches, downgraded for his breaks and routes.

The Orioles won’t live and die by it.

“The data and analytics and the numbers like that, it’s a piece of the puzzle,” Albernaz said. “It gives us bread crumbs, it gives us a little bit of a picture. But more importantly for us on the coaching side, it gives us coaching, right?

“It gives us an area to focus on, so when you double click on, if the outs above average is not where it needs to be, then it’s, is it his jumps, is it his route? Little stuff like that. Is it positioning? Are we in the right position? So it does lead you in a direction where we can get better.”

* Enrique Bradfield Jr. was drafted in the first round in 2023 to eventually become the center fielder with his plus defensive skills and speed. He’s in camp again but leaving March 1 to play for Team Panama in the World Baseball Classic.

“It’s spring training, you’re trying to get everyone at-bats, and there’s only one center field position to play in games. But in center field reps, he’s gonna get out there,” Albernaz said.

“I think more importantly with Bradfield is, we want to make sure he’s going into the WBC ready to play. The running, the workload, even if he has to play left or right to get at-bats, he’s probably going to play there, but it’s more so not his ability to play center field, because he can, but also doing right by him and making sure he’s ready to go in the WBC.”

* Outfielder Heston Kjerstad is a full participant in camp, and he’s flexing his muscle again.

Kjerstad, who turned 27 yesterday, hit a long home run off left-hander Keegan Akin in live batting practice. The ball traveled more than 400 feet to center field. Long and loud.

This is an important spring training for Kjerstad after the Oriole shut him down in July, citing fatigue as the reason. He might not have a spot on the Opening Day roster unless an injury creates one, but he can get back on the radar and in position to be called up.

Kjerstad, the second-overall draft pick in 2020, is down to his last minor league option.

Akin didn’t experience another glitch in his “inning.” He struck out three of six batters and induced a couple of ground balls.

Adley Rutschman looked good from both sides of the plate. He drove a pitch from left-hander Dietrich Enns to the base of the left-center field fence and homered through the open gate in right-center field against right-hander Rico Garcia.

Albert Suárez was the first pitcher to the mound and three of his five outs came via strikeout, including Tyler O’Neill and Samuel Basallo. He walked Reed Trimble.