SARASOTA – The Orioles begin the 2026 season in exactly two weeks. They break camp on March 21, have a home-and-home series against the Nationals, get a day off and hold a workout before hosting the Twins at Camden Yards.

It’s finally about to get real.

The roster will be set and the games will count. Everyone can’t be 0-0. Time to thin the contender herd.

Teams try to get through camp healthy but usually fail. The Orioles are in a stretch where players keep reporting hurt. That’s a whole other level of misfortune.

Jordan Westburg strained his oblique and Jackson Holliday broke the hamate bone in his right hand/wrist. And it got much worse for Westburg with the partial tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow that prompted a platelet-rich plasma injection and the creation of a timeline that has him out through April.

Westburg is cleared to field ground balls and run, which isn’t a major development unless the elbow is involved in his activities. We don’t need incremental updates. Holliday is hitting but won’t get into any Grapefruit League games.

Reliever Andrew Kittredge underwent a knee debridement procedure last spring and is going on the injured list again with right shoulder inflammation, destroying more bullpen mocks but offering hope to some relievers who might have gotten bumped.

Grant Wolfram is having an outstanding camp, putting jet fuel in his stock. He’s tossed five scoreless innings, counting the Team Netherlands game, with only two hits allowed, one walk and nine strikeouts. He makes sense as a third left-hander with Keegan Akin and Dietrich Enns. The biggest threat probably would be an outside acquisition, since late bullpen moves are as common as cooties in your skivvies (h/t Col. Sherman T. Potter).

Tyler Wells already figured to make the team but he’s also at the top of his game with six scoreless innings, two hits, no walks and eight strikeouts. He threw live batting practice yesterday on a back field after making a one-inning start on Sunday.

Rico Garcia made only three appearances in Grapefruit League games because he joined Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, but he went scoreless and hitless in his three Orioles innings. His last game was Feb. 28.

A quiet threat to crash the ‘pen party is Yaramil Hiraldo, who hasn’t allowed a run or hit or walked a batter in his four innings. He’s struck out five.

Has Jackson Kowar pitched his way onto the team after the Orioles acquired him from the Twins for cash considerations on Feb. 14? Kowar has allowed one run in three innings but gets more attention for his 98-99 mph fastball and being out of options.

Has Albert Suárez pitched his way off the team after the Orioles re-signed him to a minor league deal? He also threw live batting practice yesterday after allowing seven runs and nine hits in 2 2/3 innings on Friday. He allowed a run over two innings in his spring debut and an unearned run over two innings in his next outing.

Yennier Cano was questionable coming into camp after a brutal 2025 season that included an option to Triple-A, but one earned run (three total) in five innings isn’t hurting him. The six hits aren’t ideal, but he struck out seven and seems comfortable with the slider and splitter.

Wells and closer Ryan Helsley are locks and it appears safe to also include Akin, Enns and Cano. Another attempt at a mock brings me back to Garcia and Wolfram, which leaves one more opening if the Orioles go with a five-man rotation.

Anthony Nunez, Cameron Foster and Chayce McDermott were optioned to minor league camp, eliminating any temptations to choose one. I’ve kept including Suárez and still believe in his value as a long reliever, but Enns conceivably could fill that role.

I asked manager Craig Albernaz again last week about the possibility of Cade Povich moving to the bullpen or whether the Orioles are intent on developing him as a starter. Albernaz responded by saying that Povich is on “the starter path” but also “everything is on the table.”

“It’s one of those guys where we want to see where the starter Povich takes over and see where that goes development-wise,” Albernaz said. “But also with him, with his experience, we can always pivot and see what happens in the bullpen. But right now the forefront (is) starting role, and we’ll kind of see where things shake out.”

I’m reading between the lines and the actual lines, and I’m leaning toward Povich going back to Triple-A. But I’ve done some leaning in the past and ended up on my face.

Are we down to Kowar versus Suárez, with Hiraldo and José Espada lurking on the outside?

Suárez can be sent down because he’s on a minor league deal, which might work in Kowar’s favor. And Kowar has the big arm and better results.

I’m lining up the rotation with Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt and Dean Kremer, with Zach Eflin getting a little more time to build up his innings before joining the active roster. It’s an easy way out of this six-starter “mess.”

X-rays on first baseman Ryan Mountcastle’s right hand yesterday came back negative for a fracture, per the team, so he remains on the mock roster. He was hit yesterday by a 90 mph sinker in the eighth inning and reluctantly came out of the game. Albernaz noted how Mountcastle kept walking up the line as if he wasn’t going to leave.

We know the catchers – Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo – and we know five of the infielders with Mountcastle, Pete Alonso, Gunnar Henderson, Coby Mayo and Blaze Alexander. Mayo went from possible trade or option to batting .500 (13-for-26) with three doubles, a home run, 10 RBIs, a 1.195 OPS and only one strikeout.

That’s a biggie. One strikeout.

Give him third base.

Who’s the utility guy with Alexander projected to start most games while Holliday is out? And with some opportunities at third base, as well, if Mayo sits or is the designated hitter?

Jeremiah Jackson is 5-for-17 in only six games and is expected to play Friday afternoon in Clearwater. He’s gotten plenty of reps at second base, unlike in 2025 with the Orioles, but they could go with a more defensive-oriented player like Luis Vázquez to back up at multiple positions. The bat isn’t as important.

José Barrero made a couple of terrific plays at shortstop yesterday and also hit his second homer, a three-run shot, but the bat really wouldn’t have to matter because he slashed .190/.261/.344 last summer in 53 games with Triple-A Norfolk and is 3-for-26 with 10 strikeouts in Grapefruit League games.

Also in the running are Weston Wilson (6-for-17, two doubles, one home run, seven walks), Thairo Estrada (1-for-18) and Bryan Ramos (4-for-17).

Who knew that the last bench spot would be this exciting?

The outfield is guaranteed to include Taylor Ward, Colton Cowser and Tyler O’Neill, and we’re assuming that Dylan Beavers’ 5-for-26, one walk, eight strikeout spring won’t influence the decision on him. And especially with the work in center field that makes him a backup to Cowser.

Leody Taveras is supposed to be the main backup. That’s his natural position. He signed a $2 million contract and he’s out of options. It would be a bold move to expose him to waivers and go with Beavers and Alexander as alternatives to Cowser.

Impossible? Well, no. But bold.

I’ve got Taveras on the roster, for what that’s worth. And I’ve got Heston Kjerstad beating down the door after the Orioles option him.

“I like what I’m seeing,” said Ward, who hit a three-run homer yesterday, his first as an Oriole. “Just looking forward to getting Gunnar back. I think we have a great squad all around and staying healthy is gonna be the biggest thing for us this year.”

Just keeping it real – beginning in two weeks.