SARASOTA – Chris Bassitt made the start yesterday in Lakeland, expected to be his penultimate appearance in games that don’t count. The Orioles break camp Saturday evening and play a home-and-home series against the Nationals before their workout day at Camden Yards that precedes the opener.

Trevor Rogers remains the only confirmed starter with his March 26 assignment against the Twins. Kyle Bradish is expected to take the ball on the 28th.

Bank on it.

Though Bassitt worked 5 1/3 innings yesterday, Shane Baz joined Bradish Monday afternoon in a simulated game at Ed Smith Stadium. Dean Kremer starts Thursday’s split-squad game in Tampa, with Rogers starting the nightcap against the Pirates in Sarasota.

Does this tell us anything about the order?

Don’t read anything into Albert Suárez’s start today in Dunedin. He’s trying to make the club in a relief role and hasn’t appeared in a Grapefruit League game since allowing seven runs and nine hits in 2 2/3 innings against the Cardinals on March 6.

Albernaz likes to say that “everything is on the table” when it comes to certain decisions, his way of expressing to the media that a resolution is pending, and he’ll share the information at the appropriate time. No need to keep asking.

“Is everything still on the table for the rotation?”

“Yes.”

We’ll eventually know whether it’s a five-man or six-man, whether Zach Eflin is in it, and how everyone lines up after Rogers and Bradish.

A popular camp perception is that the rotation is underrated and overlooked. Rogers said it in Bradenton and he wasn’t the first or the last.

“Yeah, I think so,” Eflin said yesterday. “I think we have all the confidence in every guy we have. We’re all competitors, we’re all trying to one up each other, which is what you want in a starting staff. But we’re just focused on going out there and doing our job and winning games, so wherever that takes us is where it’ll take us.”

Given a chance to weigh in yesterday, Albernaz said, “I agree with anything the boys say when it comes to that. Yes, yes.

“Whatever the outside noise is, it is, but I just know how good these guys are, being around them and being up close with them, and I’ll take all of our guys on our team and be in a foxhole, so to speak. These guys have been showing up, and the coolest part is how they kind of like gel together, right? Like, the pitching group is kind of like their own little subset of a team, and the way they’ve kind of rallied with each other and, I wouldn’t say a competition, but also they’re really pulling for each other and trying to get themselves better.”

Albernaz hasn’t been shy about expressing his fondness for the staff – how it was composed when he took the managing job in late October and after the moves made to deepen it.

“I love our guys. Every single one of them,” Albernaz said. “And in Bradish’s case, the stuff is real. It’s great to see the velocity where it is, too. Then also, he’s been as consistent as they come as far as his prep, his work and how he attacks the games. Even (Monday) how he attacked that kind of sim game we did. It was really impressive.

“And for me, that’s where those guys are very detailed and they really hone their craft in an outing like that, where they could take something off or it would a little lax. It’s not the case with him or any of our guys. So that’s a testament to him and the work he puts in.”

Bradish didn’t get the Opening Day nod, but he’s pitched like an ace in the past – finishing fourth in Cy Young voting in 2023 – and should do it again this year. He’s healthy, and another reminder of his ability to dominate came in his most recent start with five scoreless innings and only one hit allowed against the Pirates.

It wasn’t a division game in the middle of the summer, but that’ll play anywhere and at any time. Heat of a pennant race, heat in the state of Florida.

“I don’t know what it looked like before because I wasn’t here, so I just know what he’s been doing now and it’s awesome,” Albernaz said. “It’s everything you would hope for and think of with one of your top starters doing what he’s supposed to be doing, and that’s exactly what he’s been doing each day, going about his business, making sure his body’s prepared in the weight room and in the training room, making sure he’s recovering. Everything when he’s touched the mound, everything’s been great.”

Bassitt grabbed a pool cue in the clubhouse yesterday morning before switching from chalk to rosin in Lakeland. He loves to interact with teammates, playing games and watching them on television. Being a voice of experience for the younger pitchers. A voice that can soothe but also sting a little.

Asked yesterday to describe his “style” as a clubhouse leader, which supposedly falls short of being overbearing, Bassitt replied, “It might be a bit overbearing.”

“I don’t know,” he continued. “I would say I’m just blunt. Like, I just feel like in this game there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things, and if you’re wanting to win, you’ve got to do a lot of the things the right way, pretty much all the things the right way. Even if you fail, as long as you’re doing things the right way, odds are you’re gonna have a pretty good year.

“I would say my style is just being blunt with people. And so, yeah, I think people come and ask me questions because they want the honest truth, so to speak, rather than someone to sugarcoat something or tell them what they want to hear.”

Past teammates were positive influences on Bassitt even with some negative feedback and they showed him the way, guys like Jacob DeGrom, Max Scherzer, Francisco Lindor, Sonny Gray and Barry Zito. They didn’t mince words.

“And I always really appreciated it, even when I got my (butt) chewed out, so to speak,” he said.

“Even my (managers) – Bob Melvin, Buck Showalter, those guys – I mean, they were pretty ruthless when it came to the truth with me. And I liked it. I enjoyed it.

“I was like, if I like this, why shouldn’t I kind of give this treatment to everybody else and just tell them what’s gonna make them the best person and the best player. So I just try to treat everyone with respect and I try to just make sure everyone’s guided in the right direction. And if I hurt your feelings along the way, it’s part of it.

“Some might hurt my feelings, but at the end of the day I can go home and say you had my best interests at heart, so I can get over it.”

In other words, when it comes to counseling in the clubhouse, everything is on the table.