SARASOTA – Orioles manager Craig Albernaz hasn’t revealed his Opening Day starter, leaving the two obvious choices in play.

The math works for Kyle Bradish if counting every fifth day to March 26. He got the ball first this afternoon and allowed one hit in five scoreless innings against the Pirates, throwing 73 pitches to continue his buildup.

Left-hander Trevor Rogers starts Saturday against the Pirates in Bradenton. The math works for him if the Orioles begin the season with a six-man rotation.

Bradish retired the side in order on nine pitches in the first inning, including sinkers at 97.2 and 97.3 mph. Joey Bart singled in a 17-pitch second inning, when Bradish struck out Marcell Ozuna with a slider and again had his sinker at 97.2 mph.

Jake Mangum walked with two outs in the third inning and stole second base, but former Oriole Ryan O’Hearn popped up to Pete Alonso. Mangum fouled off a 97.4 mph sinker.

Alonso made a diving stop along the line and throw to Bradish while robbing Bryan Reynolds leading off the fourth, and shortstop José Barrero made a leaping grab of Bart’s 112.1 mph line drive to end the inning. In between was a 103.6 mph ground ball to Barrero.

Chris Bassitt was warming, but Bradish got another up and retired the side in order in the fifth inning. He recorded his second strikeout of the day on his final pitch.

Two previous starts for Bradish resulted in four runs and seven hits allowed with seven strikeouts over five innings. He was extremely impressive today, as if approaching Opening Day form.

The velo isn’t that important to Bradish compared to getting outs.

“It’s not something I’m searching for,” he said. “The ball was coming out good today. Feel like my arm’s in a good spot, body feels really strong and healthy rights now. So hopefully that carries over for the season.

“It’s always nice to see upper 90s coming out, especially in spring, but I’m plenty capable of getting guys out being 93-95. I have plenty of other weapons other than the fastball.”

Bradish has to go back a few years to remember his last healthy camp. He paid close attention to his staff surroundings while rehabbing the elbow.

“I think just being on the sidelines the past few years, I kind of got to see what these veteran guys do to get ready for the season, and try to take some of that stuff into my routine this year and not feel like I needed to come into camp like guns blazing,” he said. “Just kind of gradually get ready for the start of the year.”

If given the Opening Day start, Bradish said it would be a huge honor. He isn’t campaigning for it.

“I’m not dead set on it,” he said. “Anywhere in the rotation is good for me. I’m looking for 30 starts, not just one.”

*Pirates starter Noah Davis retired the first 10 Orioles, striking out the side in the third inning, before Adley Rutschman reached on an infield hit in the fourth. Taylor Ward belted his first spring homer, a three-run shot off Davis to left-center field in the fifth after Weston Wilson singled and Barrero was hit by a pitch.

“You always want to go out there and do good,” Ward said. “Take it. Definitely hope to build off it.”

Can’t read too much into spring lineups but Ward led off again today and has done it many times in his career. He likes doing it.

“Really, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “You hit me ninth, eighth, I really don’t care. I try to treat it like the same thing. Just all the same. I like to keep it simple like that. Wherever Alby wants to put me, I’m good for it.”

Barrero also hit a three-run homer today, giving the Orioles a 6-0 lead in the seventh.

*Outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. returned to the Ed Smith Stadium complex this morning, his bags unpacked and his focus shifting back to his preparation for the Triple-A season.

For however long he’s with the Norfolk Tides.

Bradfield, ranked by Baseball America as the system’s No. 8 prospect and by MLB Pipeline at No. 10, collected three hits Sunday for Team Panama in the World Baseball Classic. He reached twice on bunts, his 80-grade speed and 70-grade defense showcased for a much larger audience.

“It was real cool,” he said. “Honestly, I was happy I got to experience that. My family came out there with me. Just being able to be part of the group and meet the guys, go out there, play some good, exciting baseball, it was a fun experience.

“I didn’t have any expectations. It was my first one. I didn’t really know what to expect, and I was just trying to live in the moment and take it all in, take the experience for what it was. It was fun to be a part of that group for about a week and a half, whatever it was. I just had a great time.”

Bradfield is 1-for-9  with two walks in exhibition games. He made a diving catch in right field against the Red Sox in Fort Myers before departing for the WBC.

Asked what he’s looking forward to in camp, Bradfield said, “Getting back in a routine.”

“That’s probably the biggest thing,” he said. “Obviously, the tournament came and it went and it was pretty fast and there were a lot of changing pieces. Just being able to get back in a routine and kind of find the rhythm again of what I was doing beforehand is probably going to be the most important thing for me.”

Dean Kremer threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings for Team Israel and also returned to camp. He grabbed a glove and headed to the bullpen area in the middle of the game.

“We treat that outing as part of his buildup, but then obviously, the stress is higher pitching in that environment than pitching in spring training games here,” Albernaz said. “We always check in with the players and see how they’re feeling, and if we have to adjust the buildup or whatever, it’s all player dependent, kind of like all our pitchers with their buildups. So he’ll have a huge voice how we go about it from here, but can’t wait to see him.”

Bradish is close friends with Kremer and probably was happiest to have him back in the clubhouse.

“It was amazing,” Bradish said of Kremer’s WBC start. “I really love that for him. I know he was amped up for it. It’s great having him back in camp, but watching him to his thing, it was fun.”

*While the Orioles were facing the Astros yesterday in West Palm, Zach Eflin and Shane Baz pitched in a B game against a collection of Pirates players in Sarasota.

The statistics didn’t matter to Albernaz. Just meaningless numbers.

“They threw what they needed to throw and got their work in,” Albernaz said. “That’s what I heard and that’s all I care about.”

*The Sarasota forecast this weekend calls for rain, though it’s Florida and can change in an instant or bring storms that last 10-15 minutes.

The new player development complex provides lots of shelter and space for pitchers to throw and hitters to get in their swings.

“We’re probably going to play a Wiffle Ball game in the facility. That would be awesome,” Albernaz quipped.

“We always adapt and that’s the beauty of this place is that pitchers can throw live, we can have infielders with the nets and stuff in the facility, so that’s a huge unlock for us. It also keeps the pitchers on their progression without being completely deterred by it. But also, we have our eight-pack, too, that’s covered. The facility, the upgrades, is huge for us.”

*Guest instructors Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts were in the dugout for today’s game.

Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. also is at the complex. He stopped in the clubhouse this morning for a few seconds, taking a quick look before heading out the door.

*The Apple TV “Friday Night Baseball” telecasts include the following Orioles games:

April 10: Giants at Orioles, 7:15 p.m.
May 22: Tigers at Orioles, 7:15 p.m.

*Update: The Orioles got their roster down to 53 players by reassigning catchers Ethan Anderson and Creed Willems, left-handers Andrew Magno, Eric Torres and Josh Walker, first baseman/outfielder Ryan Noda and outfielder Will Robertson to minor league camp.

The Orioles won 7-2 but hope that they didn’t lose Ryan Mountcastle, who exited the game in the eighth inning after being hit on the right hand by a 90.3 mph sinker from Justin Meis.

Mountcastle dropped the bat, bent forward and grimaced. He was holding the hand as Albernaz came out of the dugout but stayed on the bench as the game resumed.

“He’s sore,” Albernaz said. “He got hit with a baseball, so it feels like he got hit with a baseball. He’s getting checked out right now, so we’ll have more information.”

Mountcastle went 0-for-3 and is batting .296 (8-for-27) with two doubles, two RBIs and a .715 OPS in 10 games.

Asked about Bradish’s performance, Albernaz said, “That was really fun to see and watch. He was moving so clean down the mound and efficient, fastball velo was there, off-speed offerings were really gross. They were sharp and late. And he was in the strike zone. And it was good to get him through five, which is a great box check, especially right now getting toward the end of camp.”

Bassitt worked the last four innings and allowed two runs and three hits. Nick Cimillo homered in the ninth. Bassitt threw 77 pitches, 44 for strikes.

Heston Kjerstad doubled to left field at 104.8 mph.

Infielder Jeremiah Jackson hasn’t been in the lineup in six days but is expected to play Friday. The Orioles are off Thursday.