SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles are venturing into a unique part of the exhibition schedule today. Not a split-squad, which has been done twice already and is happening again Sunday and March 23. The first Spring Breakout game will be played tonight in Bradenton as the back end of a doubleheader against the Pirates.

Is it over-hyped. Oh God, yes. And the matchup between Jackson Holliday and Paul Skenes, the last two first-overall draft picks, already played out in Sarasota. We’ve seen it, much to the chagrin, I’m sure, of Major League Baseball.

Holliday grounded out on the second pitch thrown by Skenes, and the right-hander was done after the first inning. You blinked at your own risk.

Skenes is starting again tonight in this battle of top prospects, and Holliday probably is leading off again and expecting to play five innings. They probably will square off at least twice.

“I think any time you get to face somebody, it gives you a better idea of the second time you get to face them. So I’m excited about that,” Holliday said this week on a conference call. “It was awesome. It was a really cool experience to have so many No. 1 picks on the field. I don’t think that happens too often. It’s a really talented group down here in the Sarasota and Bradenton area, and it was a lot of fun.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – Cole Irvin didn’t bother to track the entire flight of the ball that Atlanta’s Orlando Arcia hit over the left field wall with a runner on base in the second inning. He turned to catcher James McCann and held out his glove. Bring on the next batter.

Irvin was a more engaged spectator on Jordan Luplow’s ball later in the inning that landed pretty much in the same spot. He thought that one had a chance to stay in play, and he showed just a smidge of frustration as he again spun toward the plate.

This wasn’t Irvin’s night.

The left-hander allowed six runs and seven hits in his first three innings, with three walks and three strikeouts. He threw 63 pitches, only 37 for strikes.

Brought back for the fourth, Irvin walked a batter in between a fly ball and popup and exited at 73 pitches, 41 for strikes.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Kyle Bradish has graduated from playing catch.

Bradish completed his first bullpen session earlier today, throwing only fastballs from the mound.

“Looking well,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

Bradish extended his long-tossing to 140 feet as part of his progression that led to today’s bullpen work.

The Orioles remain hopeful that Bradish can avoid surgery to repair a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He had a platelet-rich plasma injection in January.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Jordan Westburg gets another start at shortstop and is batting cleanup tonight against the Braves in Sarasota.

Westburg is making is third start at short, and also has played second and third base.

Kolten Wong is starting at third base for the second time this spring – and the second time in his professional career.

Colton Cowser is leading off as the designated hitter. Heston Kjerstad is in left field. Jackson Holliday is the second baseman.

Cole Irvin makes his third start. He hasn’t allowed a run in five innings.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles’ bullpen competition tilts in Cionel Pérez’s favor.

It’s the one time that uneven works for him.

Pérez had two distinctly different halves in 2023, posting a 4.45 ERA and 1.780 WHIP in 33 games before the break and a 2.35 ERA and 1.261 WHIP in 32 games after it. Opponents batted .309 with an .825 OPS in the first half and .202 with a .517 OPS in the second. The only two home runs were hit May 31.

The only evidence of any consistency came in his matching 2-1 records, 22 strikeouts and two hit batters. That’s basically it.

Pérez is having a rocky spring training, and that includes yesterday’s outing, when the Rays loaded the bases with one out in the sixth.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Tyler Wells appears to be in first-half season form.

Wells was dealing again today against the Rays, allowing only a solo home run by Orioles tormentor Randy Arozarena over four innings. Coupled with his outing on March 1 in North Port, the right-hander has surrendered one run and three hits in six innings.

Nothing has happened to change the perception that Wells is a favorite to nab one of the open rotation spots.

“I think one thing that me and Frenchy (Drew French) talk about a lot is just execution,” Wells said, “and that’s one of my big things today is focus on the good, continue to execute and the results will take care of themselves.”

Wells retired the side in order in the first inning on eight pitches, seven for strikes. He walked Isaac Paredes leading off the second and got the next three outs on a fly ball, strikeout and grounder. René Pinto singled to lead off the third and was erased on a double play.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Tyler Wells has done most of his work on back fields and away from media fixated on Grapefruit League games. His only start before today was March 1 in North Port, when he shut out the Braves for two innings and faced only six batters after a single and double play.

Twenty-three pitches, 17 strikes and 11 days until his next appearance.

Manager Brandon Hyde said earlier today that Wells remains in the starter competition and should be accumulating the rest of his innings on main stadium fields.

“Try to go four innings today, 60-ish pitches,” Hyde said. “We’re definitely building him up. … It’s important he gets these next few starts in.

“I think he’s thrown the ball really well this spring. Looks like he did in the first half this year.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – Jorge Mateo is playing center field for this afternoon’s game against the Rays at Ed Smith Stadium.

Colton Cowser is in right field and Austin Hays is in left.

Gunnar Henderson is leading off and playing shortstop, with Jordan Westburg at second base.

Jackson Holliday finally gets a break.

Adley Rutschman is catching Tyler Wells, who’s making his second Grapefruit League start. Wells tossed two scoreless innings with one hit allowed on March 1 against the Braves in North Port.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Announcing that Corbin Burnes is the Opening Day starter is like confirming salt content in the ocean or the negative effects of snorting pollen.

Burnes wasn’t acquired from the Brewers to work in a supporting role. The Orioles are holding an ace. He goes on top of the deck.

An elbow injury removed Kyle Bradish from any consideration. John Means might not be ready to pitch in a major league game until late April or early May, since he won’t get any Grapefruit League innings.

Manager Brandon Hyde began Sunday’s media scrum with the Burnes news, which fell considerably short of breaking status. Everyone knew it was coming, like a holiday marked on your calendar. But it still had to be shared.

Burnes was such an obvious choice that the media didn’t bug Hyde incessantly about it. His decision to make it official at that moment froze many of us like a two-strike, 12-to-six curveball.

TAMPA, Fla. – While the Orioles continue to evaluate Julio Teheran as a possible rotation or bullpen piece, they’re about to find out how he handles spring training adversity.

It finally arrived today.

Teheran hadn’t allowed a run or hit in his first two appearances over three innings, but the Yankees scored four runs in the bottom of the first while working him for 27 pitches, and he was done after 2 1/3.

The pitch clock violation before his first offering to leadoff hitter DJ LeMahieu was a bad omen.

LeMahieu struck out on a slider, but Alex Verdugo singled, Anthony Rizzo walked, Giancarlo Stanton reached on a fielder’s choice – Rizzo was safe at second base – Trent Grisham walked to force in a run and Austin Wells drove a changeup into left-center field for a three-run double.

TAMPA, Fla. – Cedric Mullins is getting closer to making his return to the Orioles’ lineup.

Mullins exited last Monday’s game with a sore right hamstring after reaching second base in the first inning. He’s hoping to resume playing Thursday against the Pirates in Bradenton.

“Feeling good,” he said. “Progressions have been going really well. Been running with no problems. Just want to give it a couple of extra days to give the legs some endurance and get back at it.”

Mullins has appeared in five games and received 13 plate appearances, going 2-for-9 with four walks and a stolen base. The Orioles break camp in two weeks and Mullins said he’s got ample time to be ready for Opening Day on March 28.

“I remember I had a spring training where I had 13 total at-bats going into the season and played pretty well,” he said. “It’s about the mental prep, as well. But the swing’s feeling good. I’ve been taking some good at-bats.”

TAMPA, Fla. – Jackson Holliday is back on the road this afternoon, leading off and playing shortstop for a 1:05 p.m. game against the Yankees.

Kolten Wong is Holliday’s double play partner.

Anthony Santander homered twice yesterday in Dunedin and he’s back in gray pants today, batting third as the designated hitter.

Kyle Stowers is in left field and Heston Kjerstad is in right. Daniel Johnson is the center fielder.

The bench includes Coby Mayo, Connor Norby, Errol Robinson and Samuel Basallo, who could receive his first at-bats while recovering from a stress fracture in his right elbow.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles third base coach Tony Mansolino carried his fungo bat to the left side of the cage yesterday and began spraying ground balls to infielders. He moved near the stands behind the plate and fired baseballs into the padding to get his arm loose, then threw his appointed round of batting practice.

Also the team’s infield instructor, Mansolino was separated from two of his prized pupils who made the trip to Dunedin for the other split-squad game against the Blue Jays. Jackson Holliday started at second base again and hit his first spring home run, a grand slam that disappeared over the right field fence and everything beyond it. Coby Mayo made his initial start at first base to put a temporary hold on his tutelage at the opposite corner.

Holliday has a quick bat and he’s a quick study.

If the Orioles were searching for an excuse to reassign him rather than take him to Baltimore for Opening Day, inexperience at second and the need for more reps in Triple-A would have sufficed, especially if he wasn’t performing to their high defensive standards.

An .050 average also might have done the trick, but Holliday is hitting .286 with a .917 OPS, two doubles, two triples and one monstrous homer. Only his 11 strikeouts against one walk in nine games could be held against him.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Corbin Burnes walked out of the dugout today before the top of the first inning and had no one behind him. Players stayed back as the club’s Opening Day starter approached the mound, as if honoring the staff ace. Or maybe they were just a little slower. But Burnes had the field to himself for a moment.

The song “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks blared on the public address system. Burnes has them in high places, too.

Burnes was told this morning that he’d start March 28 against the Angels at Camden Yards, exactly as planned but now made official. Then, he worked 2 2/3 innings, was removed after 51 pitches - only 28 for strikes – returned for the fourth and finished with five runs and six hits allowed.

Not as planned.

More important is what Burnes does in the regular season, and he’s first to hold the baseball.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The assumption became official this morning.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde announced that Corbin Burnes will start Opening Day against the Angels at Camden Yards.

Who else could have received the honor?

Burnes stood on the mound for the last two openers with the Brewers, and he was the obvious choice again after the Orioles acquired him on Feb. 1 for pitcher DL Hall, shortstop Joey Ortiz and the 34^th overall pick in the upcoming draft.

“Take all the guesswork out of that,” Hyde said, smiling.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles didn’t put infielder Errol Robinson on their list of spring training invites. However, he’s got a locker in the main clubhouse at the Ed Smith Stadium complex and said he officially joined the group about a week ago.

Robinson, a native of Boyds, Md., is 5-for-11 with six walks. He signed a minor league deal in January.

Adding Robinson would increase the camp roster to 58 players.

Adley Rutschman is leading off today and serving as designated hitter for the split-squad game against the Blue Jays in Sarasota.

Ryan O’Hearn is in right field and Colton Cowser is starting in center. Kolten Wong is at second base.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Playing second base isn’t dumping Jackson Holliday in unfamiliar territory. He’s been there and done it: 25 starts as a professional, 20 last year scattered among four affiliates.

This isn’t the Orioles experimenting with third baseman Billy Rowell in right field or catcher Javy López at first base, for our older readers. Many of them still traumatized by it.

Has baseball’s No. 1 prospect mastered the art of playing the right side, which he did again last night against the Tigers? No, but he keeps working at it and showing that he’s capable of making the necessary adjustments.

No one doubted it, of course, but still good to see.

“I think it’s been going good,” Holliday said Friday after completing his latest interview with a national baseball writer, his accessibility, maturity and politeness also rating highly in camp.

NORTH PORT, Fla. – Jordan Westburg made the bulk of his major league starts last season at second base. Thirty-five of them among his 50 appearances.

Today marked his first of the spring after four starts at third base and two at shortstop.

Westburg entered the game with five hits in 19 at-bats, including a double, triple and home run. He hadn’t drawn a walk and struck out eight times.

Veteran left-hander Chris Sale walked Westburg to lead off the top of the second inning. Westburg struck out in his next two at-bats.

“I like the way Jordan’s played,” manager Brandon Hyde said during his pregame media scrum in the visiting dugout at CoolToday Park. “He’s going to continue playing all three positions, majority third and second. Think he’s getting more comfortable at third base. I know he’s very comfortable at second base.

NORTH PORT, Fla. – Adley Rutschman has made the trip to CoolToday Park for today’s game against the Braves. He’s catching Dean Kremer.

Kremer is making his third start. He’s allowed three runs and six hits with three walks and five strikeouts in four innings.

Jordan Westburg is playing second base, Colton Cowser is in left field and Kyle Stowers is in right. Coby Mayo is the designated hitter.

Ryan McKenna is leading off and playing center field.

For the Orioles

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles are home again tonight with a 6:05 p.m. game against the Tigers, and Grayson Rodriguez is making his third spring start.

Rodriguez has allowed two runs and four hits with three walks and four strikeouts over four innings.

Gunnar Henderson is leading off and playing shortstop. Jackson Holliday is batting ninth and playing second base.

Kolten Wong is getting the start at third base.

Heston Kjerstad is the left fielder. James McCann is catching.