SARASOTA – The last few position players reported to Orioles camp over the weekend and everyone in good health worked out yesterday. Jordan Westburg (oblique) and Jackson Holliday (hamate surgery) couldn’t join the infield drills on the main stadium field.

Holliday had the cast removed yesterday and was in the clubhouse later with his hand wrapped in black tape.

Jeremiah Jackson and Blaze Alexander took ground balls at second base. Jackson is going to move around in an attempt to make the club in a utility role. Holliday’s upcoming stint on the injured list opens a door.

“His calling card is versatility, which we love,” manager Craig Albernaz said of Jackson. “But there’s gonna be a lot of reps and at-bats up the middle with Westy rehabbing, with Jackson going down, and then with Gunnar (Henderson) and Louie (Luis Vázquez) going to the WBC. So there’s a lot of reps up the middle.

“He’s just getting reps there because the last thing I want is to put a player out there where he’s not ready for it yet. And the beauty of him is he’s gonna move around all over the place. He’ll be on the dirt and also on the grass.”

Ryan Mountcastle took batting practice on one of the back fields and for the first time got some swings in a live BP session at Ed Smith Stadium.

“Everything’s great with Mounty,” Albernaz said. “He’s just being real particular with his work. Mounty is a vet, it’s not his first rodeo, his first spring training. He knows what he has to do to get ready. And he’s also been getting some quality time with our new hitting guys and getting acclimated with them.

“Mounty’s fine and he’s been getting great work.”

I believe it, but seeing him in live BP was the best way to prove it.

These are only BP sessions and it’s wise to show some restraint. For instance, has anyone seen Rodolfo Martinez, the darling of spring training 2025? Let’s play some real fake games before we lose our minds.

That said, man, Orioles starters have really impressed – Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, Shane Baz, Dean Kremer. The stuff looks so good. And Heston Kjerstad is crushing the ball.

His strikeouts against Rogers can be forgiven.

The first full-squad workout didn’t begin until after control owner David Rubenstein and minority owner Michael Arougheti spoke to the team.

“I think it’s very important to hear their words and hear what they have to say,” said Zach Eflin, who threw his first live BP session. “It was basically just big culture talk. We pride ourselves in being good teammates, but we’re trying to marry that with bringing intensity, competitiveness, pushing each other and, ultimately, having fun every day.

“It was nice to hear their words. Sometimes it’s fairly common, sometimes it’s not, but it’s always good when the owner of the team has a really good amount of passion for the club. We love hearing that.”

Outfielder Jhonkensy Noel is happy to be reunited with Albernaz, who spent the past two seasons as Cleveland’s bench coach and associate manager.

“Good guy, a special guy,” Noel said. “He’s a great manager, a great person. You’re always comfortable around him. That’s the first thing.”

Noel made his debut with the Guardians on June 26, 2024 and homered in his first at-bat – a 413-foot shot against the Orioles’ Grayson Rodriguez at Camden Yards.

“He’s got some power, obviously,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said before the game. “That’s a guy who loves to play. That smile, you’d think Christmas is here.”

Big Christmas, as it were.

“He’s just such a great kid. He really is,” Albernaz said yesterday. “The biggest smile. Fun loving. You guys will see it when he’s out there. He’s a big body, but he’s such a caring, lovable guy. And he has such great ability, too.

“He was brought up in the Cleveland organization, and sometimes guys just need a different change of scenery to kind of take the next level. So for him, that’s what I’m hoping for and excited for, to see how he integrates with the guys, different change of scenery, different coaching staff, outside of myself. So that’s why I’m excited for him and kind of see where he can take the next level.”

Noel showed promise as a rookie, finishing with seven doubles, a triple and 13 home runs in 67 games. But he batted .162/.183/.297 last season in 69 games, with two doubles, six home runs, four walks and 52 strikeouts.

The Orioles claimed Noel on waivers Jan. 5, designated him for assignment two days later and outrighted him Jan. 14.

“Big leagues are hard. It’s so hard,” Albernaz said.

“This is probably a whole separate conversation, but minor league baseball is a little different now with the contraction and whatnot. Noel, he performed in the minor leagues and there’s no level above the big leagues, right? More than a few guys should get called up to the next level of the big leagues, but there’s a reason why it’s the big leagues. And just like any young player, there’s learning curves, and that’s something where, it’s not what was wrong. It’s just more like him learning a league and how he was getting pitched and just being a little more seasoned with his prep and his approach at the plate.

“There’s always mechanical adjustments that any player can make, but to me those are the big things and that’s why I want to see kind of where he can go with our hitting group.”

Noel said he’s seeking to become more consistent.

“Come here, pull your mind right, play baseball hard,” he said, “and when you get out of the field and go home, you ask yourself if you are doing the right thing for the next day.”

Maybe the work done in Sarasota can get him back to Baltimore. He wants another crack at Camden Yards.

“Of course,” he said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “It was a very special moment for me and my family. You know, obviously I didn’t think that I would connect on a home run in my first at-bat, but I did have the confidence in myself to get it done. It was a very special moment for us.”