SARASOTA – The first shocking move of Orioles camp happened this afternoon after the top of the first inning.

The team’s rotation plans finally came into focus.

Dean Kremer wasn’t in them.

Kremer has been optioned to the minor league side in the latest round of cuts. Right-handers Trey Gibson, Nestor German and Hans Crouse were reassigned.

The spring training roster is down to 43 players. Kremer was expected to be the No. 5 starter.

Zach Eflin apparently has made the club and avoided a stint on the injured list after his August back surgery. He checked the last box, as manager Craig Albernaz put it this morning, by shutting out the Yankees on one hit and striking out seven batters over 5 1/3 innings, and by making three plays in the field to prove again that he’s healthy.

Trevor Rogers was named the Opening Day starter on March 26 against the Twins at Camden Yards. Kyle Bradish will be next on the 28th, and Shane Baz is lined up to start the next game.

Chris Bassitt and Eflin will round out a rotation that won’t have the team’s innings leader from 2025.

Kremer logged 171 2/3 innings last season in 31 games and has totaled 671 2/3 over 126 games between 2020-25. His stay in the minors could be brief with three off-days in the first 15 days and the club’s knack for orchestrating roster churns.

“It was a lot of back and forth over this past week, seeing what the best fit is, entertaining a six-man, piggyback, relief, option, but at the end of day it’s just best for Dean and us to option him to Triple_A and keep the length as a starter,” Albernaz said. “It’s a byproduct of where we’re at right now and it’s a great problem to have. Dean is a big league pitcher, so to have someone like that, a big league caliber starter in Triple-A is great for our depth.

“It’s all tough. Anytime you have these conversations with the players, it’s tough. In Dean’s case, absolutely. Dean handled it like a pro and that’s all you can ask for. You never want the player to be happy, but we explained everything to him. Mike (Elias) did a great job of laying out everything to him, completely open and honest, and I think that went a long way. It’s not easy for Dean, but he handled it like a pro and that’s all you can ask for.”

The earliest that Kremer can return is April 9 unless he’s an injury replacement. His career 6.24 ERA in March/April might have factored into the decision. Maybe not.

Elias reminded the media that the Orioles aren’t done with camp and still have two more exhibition games. But they’re approaching the end and need to make some harder decisions.

“At this point we have what we view as six healthy starters,” Elias said. “At that point the conversation becomes, do we do a six-man rotation? Looking at the schedule and the amount of off-days that we have in April, that didn’t look beneficial. In fact, it looked like it might be detrimental. And of course, you do a six-man rotation, you’ve got to subtract head count from your bullpen.”

Elias confirmed that the team also discussed piggybacking, shifting a starter to the ‘pen, “and that didn’t make sense for us, either, with what we were trying to do for the first couple turns through the rotation and the schedule and the bullpen.”

“It’s important to us that we keep our starters lengthened out and up and running and prepared to start, because we’ve got a very long season ahead of us. And I’m positive that we’re gonna need more than five,” Elias added.

“This was the maneuver that we landed on after extensive discussions. It’s always tough when you’re sending somebody out, especially a veteran that’s spent a lot of time with this team and had a good season last year. But managing a pitching staff over the course of a major league season is not easy and it requires maneuverings and sometimes players get optioned when they have options, and that’s how the system is organized right now with the current CBA. So we’re pretty confident and hopeful that it will be a short-term affair.

“We had an honest conversation with Dean about it, and in character with him, he was completely professional about it and he’ll be ready when his name is called. Hopefully, that’s not too long.”

First baseman Pete Alonso heard about Kremer’s demotion during the game against the Phillies, a few minutes before speaking with the local media by the bullpen area.”

“I know Dean’s been here a long time and he means a lot to this group,” Alonso said. “I faced him. Very talented guy. He pitches with moxie, poise. He’s a bona fide big leaguer and I know he’s gonna help us win a lot of games this year.

“I know it’s unfortunate because he’s a good dude and a great competitor. Again, it’s a tough one for him. I know it stinks now, but he’s gonna help us win a lot of games this year.”

Kremer has registered ERAs of 3.23, 4.12, 4.10 and 4.19 in 109 games over the past four seasons. He appeared in four spring training games this year, including an “unofficial” matchup with Team Netherlands, and allowed five runs and nine hits in 13 innings. He walked eight batters and struck out 12.

Part of his workload came in the World Baseball Classic, where he tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings for Team Israel before returning to camp.

Catcher Adley Rutschman heard the news on Kremer from media during his own in-game interview. He paused before offering an opinion.

“Dean’s a phenomenal pitcher,” Rutschman said. “He’s a huge presence in the clubhouse, he’s a phenomenal person, great pitcher. I mean, I love Dean.”

The rotation is the deepest since Rutschman broke into the majors in 2022. Kremer’s removal from it, for however long, is a shining example.

“I think from top to bottom, love where our staff’s at,” Rutschman said. “Honestly, I didn’t even know until you guys said something, so still kind of processing, but love every guy on our staff. But we’ve got a lot of talent.”

Eflin was the wild card, his recovery and production presenting a nice problem for the club.

“Coming into this spring, we were a little guarded that he may not be sharp enough, but also be able to get himself prepared for the Opening Day and the season, and he clearly did,” Elias said. “He was really determined to do so.”

Elias said Eflin would be pitching sometime through the first turn in the rotation.

“Both in terms of optics and results,” Elias said, “he did about as well as you could have imagined, especially coming off that surgery.”

A six-man rotation remains possible later, with Elias saying the Orioles are discussing points in the calendar when they could do it. It didn’t make sense this early in the season.

“We’re open to it, we’ve done it in the past the last couple years,” Elias said, “and if circumstances align, we’ll view that as a benefit when that happens.”

The Orioles are sticking with a five-man rotation for now and going with eight relievers, which seems to put Grant Wolfram, Yaramil Hiraldo, Jackson Kowar and Albert Suárez back in competition for two spots. Wolfram has thrown seven scoreless innings, including the game against Team Netherlands, with one walk and 12 strikeouts.

Keegan Akin warmed today and wasn’t used in the game because he felt discomfort in his adductor.

“I have no idea the extent of it, but precautionary as of now,” Albernaz said.

Losing Akin would open another spot.

Elias said the Orioles need to finalize the end of the position player bench, and he’s waiting to learn more about the health of outfielders Dylan Beavers (knee) and Heston Kjerstad (hamstring). Settling the back end of the bullpen also is on the list, but the five starters are confirmed.

An outside move also is possible, Elias said.

“We think that the team is a strong team as is, but I’ve got to monitor what happens on the wire,” he said.

Gibson is the organization’s No. 5 prospect. He tossed three scoreless innings last night in the Spring Breakout game. German, ranked No. 12, allowed one run over three innings.

Crouse appeared in only one game this spring and allowed two runs and three hits in one inning.

Game update: Tyler O’Neill had an opposite-field, run-scoring single in the third inning after Adley Rutschman walked and moved up on a wild pitch. Jhonkensy Noel pinch-ran for O’Neill, who went 8-for-16 with a 1.306 OPS this spring.

Noel hit a grand slam to left field in the sixth on a two-strike count to give the Orioles an 8-4 lead.

Pete Alonso doubled in the first inning, Rutschman singled, and a balk on Phillies starter Ryan Cusick tied the game 1-1.

Gunnar Henderson had a run-scoring double into left-center field in the fourth before Albernaz cleared more of his bench. Weston Wilson tied the game 4-4 with an RBI double in the sixth.

Levi Wells was charged with four runs and five hits in 3 1/3 innings, with three walks and four strikeouts. Ben Vespi let two inherited runners score.

Tyler Wells struck out the side in the sixth inning.