PHOENIX – The Orioles offense got off to a blistering start. Charlie Morton did not in what would be a 4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks. And after the game, things got worse.

Let's start with the worse news before getting to the bad news.

After the game, Brandon Hyde announced that Zach Eflin has a low-grade lat strain and will be shut down for "about a week." The plan is to "reassess from there, and hopefully he'll be back throwing at that point." It could've been worse news, but it certainly could've been better.

A plan for his replacement has yet to be determined, as O's coaches got the news during tonight's game.

Brandon Young would be a logical replacement. Already on the 40-man roster, the right-hander has made two starts to kick off the season with Triple-A Norfolk. He's totaled 11 1/3 innings and hasn't allowed a run while striking out 11 and walking just two. Couple that with his 3.94 ERA in 20 games for the Tides a season ago, and you're left with an ideal candidate to make a spot start or two. 

PHOENIX – Charlie Morton hasn’t been pitching like Charlie Morton.

The veteran wasn’t signed to be an ace, nor, really, to be the second starter in the Orioles rotation. But that’s where the 41-year-old has found himself slotted in Baltimore’s first trips around the order.

Baltimore signed him in hopes of capturing what he’s been the last few years: reliable, steady and consistent.

From 2021 to 2024, the then Atlanta Brave made 124 starts, averaging 31 per season. He delivered a solid 3.87 ERA, 1.250 WHIP and over 10 strikeouts per nine innings. That’s exactly what the Orioles needed: a rotation piece that would post every fifth day and keep you in ballgames, even if the numbers weren’t incredibly flashy.

In his first two games of 2025, Morton hasn’t found flash, nor has he found reliability. And he hasn’t found the ways in which he normally gets outs.

PHOENIX – A great night at the ballpark for the Orioles was capped off with an ominous, worrisome note. 

Zach Eflin, after tossing great six innings, was forced to exit the game with shoulder fatigue. 

"Just fatigue," Eflin clarified after the game. "I think it was precautionary. Evaluate tomorrow and see how I feel after sleeping tonight." 

The right-hander said he was "pretty optimistic," and didn't elaborate further on the potential for testing. He instead wanted to focus on the great game that his team just played, so we'll do the same.

The Orioles didn’t play Zac Gallen’s game.

PHOENIX – Tests are never slammed on your desk at a convenient time.

The Orioles offense has been inconsistent and is coming off a one-run, five-hit performance against the Royals. In their win in Kansas City on Saturday, Baltimore put up an eight-spot. In the two losses, however, the Birds combined to plate just three.

Things get much warmer in Arizona, but they don’t get much easier.

The test comes in the form of an ace in sedona red, sonoran sand and teal. And no, not the one that the Diamondbacks signed this offseason. 

This ace is Zac Gallen, a three-time top-10 Cy Young Award finisher that just shut down the prolific Yankees. “Shut down” may be a kind descriptor, as the former Tar Heel tossed 6 ⅔ scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts against the Bronx Bombers.

Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday. 

Three players who were top prospects in baseball. Two of whom were quite literally the best prospects in the game. All were drafted as shortstops. 

Even as they developed into future franchise cornerstones, they still didn’t settle into one position.

Holliday played second base, third base and shortstop throughout the course of 218 minor league games. Westburg played all three as well, plus left and right field for good measure. Henderson didn’t venture into the outfield grass, but played everywhere in the infield, including first base. 

The Orioles farm stressed versatility, and even the top prospects in the system followed suit. While their versatility has paid dividends at the big league level, it wasn’t “necessary” for them to advance through the system.  

Everything was trending in the right direction for Colton Cowser. 

The defense was a known commodity. The second year outfielder brought elite range to the corner outfield, exceptional arm strength, and the versatility to play wherever needed. 

The speed, combined with the O’s increased emphasis on aggression on the basepaths, could’ve helped him reach 20 stolen bases. 

The bat was trending in the right direction during spring training, as the former first-round pick hit .364 with a .462 on-base percentage. Another 20-plus home run season seemed imminent. 

Cowser can still reach all of these benchmarks. He’ll just have six to eight fewer weeks to do it. 

Freshman Max Wagner wasn’t a key piece of Clemson’s lineup.

Entering the season, he was ranked as the 31st best freshman in the Atlantic Coast Conference by D1Baseball, and No. 36 by Perfect Game. 

Wagner did lead the team in a stat category in his first season: games off the bench. He was often used as a defensive replacement at the hot corner late in games. The infielder did make 22 starts at third base, but didn’t find much success, hitting just .215 with two home runs and a .651 OPS. 

For the first five games of 2022, it was back to being a late-inning defensive replacement. That was until he emerged as one of the country’s best hitters. 

In 58 games as a sophomore, Wagner hit .370 with an on-base percentage close to .500. He mashed 27 home runs and 15 doubles, slugged a ridiculous .852 and boasted a 1.348 OPS. He was named ACC Player of the Year, a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award, and first-team All-American by just about every outlet you could find. 

First base was a hot stove for the Orioles in January of 2023. 

On the first of the month, Baltimore sent Tyler Nevin to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for cash considerations. Hopefully, Mr. Considerations didn’t start looking for any apartments along the Inner Harbor, as just two days later, Cash was sent to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Ryan O’Hearn. 

On the fifth of the month, the O’s claimed Lewin Díaz off waivers from the Atlanta Braves. That same day, O’Hearn was designated for assignment, and Díaz followed six days later. 

Amidst a 40-man roster crunch, Baltimore hoped they could keep both first basemen around. Díaz was renowned for his defensive ability, and while O’Hearn had yet to put things together in the big leagues, he had dominated at the dish against Triple-A competition. 

There wasn’t much separating the two options at the time, but that’s certainly changed. 

The Orioles aren’t strangers to elite prospects. 

For three consecutive seasons, Baltimore boasted the highest ranked minor leaguer in the game in Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday. 

Now, although there’s no No. 1 overall prospect in the system, the O’s still have two of the best prospects in the game in Coby Mayo and Samuel Basallo. 

They, along with Chayce McDermott, Baltimore’s fourth-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, feel like the last of the great wave of youngsters. 

Take a look at the prospect list from 2023: the top six players are all contributors at the big league level and combine to help form the foundation of the young Orioles. They’ve all, of course, since graduated from prospect status. 

Just one spot in the O’s Opening Day lineup felt “different.” Batting fifth and playing right field for Baltimore, No. 9, Tyler O’Neill.

Anthony Santander, who had manned the corner outfield for the O’s for parts of the last eight seasons, trotted onto the Rogers Centre grass in Toronto blue. He hit third for Toronto and went 0-for-4 with a couple of runners stranded on base. 

All O’Neill did in his team debut was hit a home run in his sixth consecutive Opening Day, extending his own MLB record. That was part of his 3-for-3 day, plus two walks. Ho hum. 

So much has been made of the changes on the other side of the ball for Baltimore. The Orioles’ rotation was the hot topic of conversation all offseason long. 

After one year in an O’s uniform, Corbin Burnes is out in Arizona. Enter a full season of Zach Eflin, and free agents Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Kyle Gibson. 

Happy Hollidays everyone! The day is finally here: the start of Major League Baseball’s regular season. 

The O’s open up their new campaign north of the border in Toronto. With consecutive playoff appearances but no October victories to show for it, Baltimore has something to prove. 

An energy and hunger was palpable at spring training. The locker room is eager to compete for an AL East crown and find more postseason success. 

Who will lead the team in home runs? Who will be the breakout star? Who will have the best facial hair? A new season means new predictions; dart throws that certainly won’t be held against us at a later time. 

Yesterday on “The Bird’s Nest,” Annie Klaff and I handed out some superlatives. I’ve provided my predictions below, but for Annie’s picks and more in-depth analysis, be sure to check out the full episode here: https://masn.me/qt7qjk0i

Cade Povich looked sharp yesterday. 

No hits, no walks and no earned runs at Nationals Park for the final exhibition game of the season. 

“Really good. Wanted to get the guys in, get them out quickly and get to Toronto,” Povich said with a laugh. “Everything felt good.”

The goose eggs on the box score would’ve looked better if there was a box score. The rain in the nation’s capital didn’t let the Orioles and Nationals take the field for their final tune-up of spring training. There wasn’t a game, but Povich did look sharp. 

His outfit did, at least.

WASHINGTON – As it turns out, the window of opportunity wasn’t just ajar for Cade Povich. It was open, and “Slim” took full advantage. 

Povich won the fifth spot in the rotation and earned the right to hit the hill for Baltimore’s home opener. A big step up for the lefty, who began last season at Triple-A Norfolk. 

“First Opening Day roster, being able to start, make a home opener start, that’s a big deal,” manager Brandon Hyde said today in D.C.. “I think Cade’s got a great way about him. He’s very, very mild mannered, he’s very composed. I was really impressed with his maturity last year and how much he grew up, honestly.”

That growth was on full display during Povich’s final month of the season. 

He flipped a switch in his five starts in September. After an 11.81 ERA in July and a 7.36 in August, that number plummeted to a 2.60 to close the baseball calendar. 

Jordan Lyles did exactly what the Orioles needed him to do in 2022. 

Lyles was an innings eater. He posted every fifth day, making 32 starts and tossing 179.0 innings, averaging close to six innings per outing. The 31-year-old was the only member of Baltimore’s pitching staff to make at least 25 starts, and provided incredibly valuable stability at the top of the rotation. 

Baltimore won 83 games that year, a shocking 31-win improvement from the previous season. Lyles’ consistency and veteran presence played a big part in that turnaround. 

In 2023, Kyle Gibson was tasked with much of the same. Post every fifth day, eat innings and give the bullpen some breathing room. He delivered exactly that. 

Gibson was tied for the American League lead in starts with 33 and tossed 192.0 innings, 12th most in the bigs. He completed five innings of work in 28 of his 33 outings. 

The top two picks were obvious. 

Gunnar Henderson was always going to be the first selection in “The Bird’s Nest’s” 2025 Orioles fantasy draft. 

As Annie Klaff and I attempted to construct two teams of the upcoming season’s top contributors, Henderson was a slam dunk. Fresh off a fourth-place AL MVP finish and a 9.1 bWAR season, the superstar carried my 2024 iteration of this exercise. 

Adley Rutschman was always going to be the second pick. Despite down numbers in the latter half of last season, Rutschman has as much upside as anyone. A perennial All-Star, the catcher has been mashing his way through spring training, primed for another stellar campaign. 

With the third pick in our snake-order draft, Annie, who lost our coin toss and thus received the second and third picks, was left with a decision to make. 

Jorge Mateo played a baseball game on Sunday, his first since July 23.  

“He adds so much to our team – versatility, the speed,” Brandon Hyde told reporters down in Sarasota. “I love his energy he brings on a daily basis. We missed that last year.”

Despite the encouraging signs that Mateo is nearing a big league return, the odds that the speedster makes the Opening Day roster feel slim. Appearing in a spring training game is a big step, but many more have to be taken. 

Hyde continuously raves about Mateo’s value, noting his speed, defensive versatility and energy. The skipper’s approval is a big box to check. So while it isn’t guaranteed that Mateo will have a roster spot upon his return from injury, it seems likely. 

When that day comes, how will the Orioles make room for him on the 26-man roster?

It’s going to take a while to shake the odd feeling that arises upon seeing Anthony Santander trot onto the field in Blue Jays blue. 

Santander waltzed onto the diamond as Baltimore’s opposition for the first time on Thursday. He’ll do it again on Opening Day after signing a five-year, $92.5 million deal with Toronto this offseason. 

“First time in a spring training game playing against my team,” Santander told reporters down in Florida on Thursday. “They gave me the opportunity to be a big leaguer.”

There’s emotion, and then there’s baseball logic. 

From an emotional standpoint, it would be hard for an Orioles fan not to be attached to the joyous outfielder. 

The baseball gods are hardly ever kind.

Over the last few weeks, the Orioles have been hit with significant injuries. We’re not talking 2024 depths of despair level, but important enough to conjure similar emotions. Agony, dread, synonyms.

This week on “The Bird’s Nest,” Annie Klaff and I broke down the injuries and what they mean for Baltimore moving forward. While the topics will be introduced in this article, you can hear more in-depth analysis by watching the full episode here.

Andrew Kittredge 

Let’s start with the devil we know rather than the ones we don’t. Kittredge underwent an arthroscopic debridement procedure last week to repair cartilage in his left knee. The reliever told reporters yesterday that his original timeline was sometime between June and the All-Star break, but that early indications point to the earlier side of that. That’s good! What’s not good is losing one of the best setup men in baseball for multiple months. Kittredge is coming off a season in which he posted a 2.80 ERA, an off-the-charts chase rate and was money in high-leverage situations.

Over the last few seasons, you may have heard of a relatively new pitch: a “sweeper."

Popularized by pitchers like Yu Darvish and Adam Ottavino, a sweeper features more horizontal movement than a traditional slider. “Sweeping” action, to be exact. According to Major League Baseball's glossary, a slider typically has about six inches of horizontal movement, while a sweeper averages closer to 15.

While the sweeper is a variant of the slider, pitchers can throw both. The two offerings, with their drastic difference in movement, attack hitters in very different ways. The sweeper has been used around the league enough to earn a spot in MLB’s pitch type glossary, and its popularity will most likely continue to grow across the game.

There’s a new popular pitch in town that may earn its way there soon enough, too: the “kick-changeup.”

Perhaps you’ve seen highlights of this relatively new offering from pitchers like Clay Holmes and Andrés Muñoz. So what the heck is it?

The Orioles are in a different era. 

Consistently competing in the American League East, Baltimore can’t afford to give guaranteed, consistent playing time to prospects. Development, while still important, has to give way to winning baseball games at the big league level. 

Of course, this wasn’t always the case. 

Pitching prospects like Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer were never top 100 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, nor were they considered to be in the upper echelon of the O’s top youngsters. However, with a rebuilding phase at the big league level, they were still able to find pathways to relatively consistent playing time in the majors. 

Both players have been able to carve out roles in Baltimore: Akin out of the bullpen and Kremer as a mainstay in the starting rotation. They were given a chance to prove that they had big league ability and they made the most of their opportunities.