Heston Kjerstad was making his second visit to Maryland after flying in from the spring training complex in Sarasota to begin working out with the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds. Taking his rounds of batting practice and waiting for the Orioles to activate him. In an unfamiliar setting that just seemed right to him.

He noticed it again as he walked to home plate Friday night in his first professional game.

Right where he belonged. Nothing else about it mattered.

“Honestly, just felt alive again being in the box. Just playing some baseball,” he said the following day after going 1-for-4 with an RBI.

“It kind of all comes back to you. You get locked in again for hitting. I felt at home again being able to dig in the box and have my approach, and just take some at-bats.”

Infielder Ramón Urías was scratched from last night’s lineup with discomfort in his left side and is going on the 10-day injured list today with an oblique strain. The move is retroactive to yesterday.

Richie Martin had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk and is in Kansas City, where he’s starting at second base and batting ninth. He was slashing .295/.382/.442 with 13 doubles, four triples, one home run, 14 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 19 attempts over 41 games.

Martin was on the taxi squad for the trip to St. Louis. He hasn’t played for the Orioles since Oct. 3 in Toronto.

The Orioles selected Martin’s contract today, and he fills the open spot on the 40-man roster.

Urías appeared in 49 games and batted .225/.273/.387 with 10 doubles and six home runs in 188 plate appearances. He played 38 games at third base, seven at second base and four at shortstop.

Grayson Rodriguez’s year might be over after only 56 innings pitched at Triple-A Norfolk. That’s one of the decisions looming over the Orioles this summer.

They also will hold internal meetings later to figure out whether Rodriguez is a candidate to go to the Arizona Fall League.

They haven’t ruled out the idea.

The Orioles first need to establish a real timeline for his recovery from a Grade 2 strain of his right lat muscle, and that can’t be done so soon after his diagnosis.

Rodriguez is aiming to make his major league debut in September. It’s a big carrot to dangle in front of himself. He’s holding the string.

Heston Kjerstad’s positive attitude is reflected in the way he’s handled the extreme delay in reaching his first professional game. How he used the term “a little bump” today to describe the reasons why it took until now to join an Orioles minor league affiliate.

With at-bats that finally count.

In front of crowds who don't just pass through the gates for free on a sunny day in Sarasota to watch practices.

A diagnosis of myocarditis shortly after the 2020 draft, where the Orioles picked Kjerstad second overall, prevented him from participating in the fall instructional camp. It kept him out of spring training after a setback. And when he finally was cleared this year to participate in a minicamp and in intrasquad competition two months later, he strained his left hamstring chasing a line drive in the outfield.

The weeks of rehabbing led to light workouts and hitting off tees and coach’s tosses, to facing live pitching, to building at-bats in extended spring training, to reporting to Single-A Delmarva this week.

Outfielder Heston Kjerstad, the second-overall draft pick in 2020, finally is able to make his professional debut tonight at Single-A Delmarva – exactly two years after his selection from the University of Arkansas. He’s batting third and serving as the designated hitter.

Kjerstad, 23, was diagnosed with myocarditis after the draft and strained his left hamstring while chasing a line drive from Adley Rutschman in a March 11 intrasquad game in Sarasota. He’s been playing at extended spring training.

The initial prognosis had Kjerstad missing eight to 12 weeks.

The Orioles decided to let Kjerstad - the No. 9 prospect in the organization, according to MLBPipleline.com - skip the Florida Complex League, but he’s on a return-to-play progression with the Shorebirds. He’ll be removed from games in the middle innings per hamstring rehab protocol and standard practices.

Meanwhile, pitcher Cody Sedlock cleared waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk, so he stays in the organization.

The Orioles have three more games to play in Kansas City before heading to Toronto. I was supposed to be on the current trip, but was switched to Rogers Centre. My first visit since the 2016 wild card game.

More on that later.

The mailbag is allowed in Canada, but I’ll leave it home. Much lighter than its current condition.

Welcome to the latest sequel to the original. You send along questions, I try to answer them, many of you ignore me and rephrase them.

The editing remains minimal. Please don’t contact a lawyer if I remove a word without first issuing a disclaimer about length, style, clarity and brevity.

The Orioles begin a four-game series in Kansas City tonight with Jordan Lyles on the mound after last night’s rainout adjusted his turn.

Lyles has a 4.50 ERA and 1.484 WHIP in 11 starts. He faced the Royals in Game 1 of a May 8 doubleheader and allowed two earned runs (four total) in a season-high 7 1/3 innings.

Tonight’s game won’t provide a matchup of sorts between the top two draft picks in 2019 - Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman and Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr. A nice sidebar that’s put on hold until Friday.

Robinson Chirinos is behind the plate tonight. Rutschman is going to catch at least two games in the series and likely serve as designated hitter in another. He’s probably going to catch in three of the four games in Toronto, including Monday’s opener.

Rutschman already was going to sit tonight, and the postponement didn’t change the lineup pattern established days ago. Manager Brandon Hyde is easing him into the major league workload after the No. 1 prospect strained his right triceps at the spring training complex.

The creative maneuvering that Orioles manager Brandon Hyde must execute to provide rest to players, sometimes on a rotating basis, also could be necessary late in games with personnel on the field.

Last night’s lineup left the bench without a true utility player. Tyler Nevin plays the corner infield and outfield positions. Ryan McKenna plays all three outfield spots. Robinson Chirinos is the catching alternative to Adley Rutschman.

Chris Owings didn’t hit and he was an easy target for fans on social media, which didn’t go unnoticed by some members of the organization. But he could back up everywhere on the field.

If Hyde needs to replace shortstop Jorge Mateo, he can move Ramón Urías off third base and insert Nevin. Urías is the shortstop if Mateo is rested.

Pretty simple as long as Mateo and Urías don’t slip into day-to-day status with an injury, which they’ve done this season. If that happens, the bench is going to expand again with a phone call to Triple-A Norfolk.

The Orioles are optioning pitcher Spenser Watkins to Triple-A Norfolk after removing him from the injured list.

Watkins has been throwing in the bullpen with no discomfort in his right elbow. The club wants him to make some starts in the minors before perhaps returning him to the active roster.

Bruce Zimmermann, Tyler Wells, Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish are starting in the four-game series in Kansas City that begins Thursday night. The Royals are starting Kris Bubic, Jonathan Heasley, Daniel Lynch and Brad Keller.

The Orioles begin a four-game series in Toronto on Monday and unvaccinated players are forbidden from entering Canada, which shifts a lot of attention to roster moves made by the club.

Manager Brandon Hyde said it’s “possible” the Orioles put some players on the restricted list because of their vaccination status.

Pitcher Austin Voth has joined the Orioles and is headed to the bullpen.

Voth was claimed off waivers yesterday from the Nationals.

The Orioles designated infielder Chris Owings for assignment to make room for Voth, who’s wearing No. 51.

Owings was 6-for-56 with two doubles, 10 walks and 24 strikeouts in 26 games. He signed a minor league deal on March 15 and served in a super-utility role.

Owings was activated from the bereavement list yesterday.

Trey Mancini White Jersey

Baseball’s trade deadline is pushed back a few days this summer to Aug. 2, maybe providing a little more time for Trey Mancini to field questions about his status on the market, the likelihood that he’s moved, how much he hopes to stay.

Stuff he can recite in his sleep because he’s had so much practice with it.

This is an annual event in Baltimore. The Preakness Stakes feel small by comparison.

The Orioles included a $10 million mutual option in Mancini’s contract with a $250,000 buyout that could keep them together in 2023, but it’s rare that the sides agree. And Mancini made it clear after signing his new deal that his status isn’t really impacted. He just as easily could be traded. Embedding the option isn’t equivalent to planting roots.

Mancini actually could be more enticing to some clubs that may not view him immediately as a summer rental. There’s at least a possibility of keeping him an extra year.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde describes rookie Kyle Bradish as having electric stuff, with plus pitches across the board. Says it’s about locating and working ahead in the count, “and not having the high pitch-count innings that he’s had trouble with.”

Bradish’s first pitch of the game tonight was a strike, and Christopher Morel drove it 429 feet to left field for a leadoff home run.

Jumping hard on a trend, Cedric Mullins led off the bottom of the first with a home run to right field off Cubs starter Keegan Thompson, and Trey Mancini launched the next pitch into the home bullpen.

Thompson hit Rougned Odor and Ramón Urías with one out in the second, fans booed, and Jorge Mateo changed their tune with a three-run shot to left. Austin Hays later became the fourth Orioles player to homer into the second deck.

Rain kept falling, baseballs kept flying, and the Orioles welcomed back the Cubs to Baltimore with a 9-3 victory.

Austin Voth isn’t at Camden Yards today, but Orioles manager Brandon Hyde knows how he’s using the right-hander beginning this week.

Voth, claimed off waivers from the Nationals, is going to work in long relief – a role that’s subject to change, of course.

“I just know him from seeing him the last few years with the Nationals,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “It’s a guy that’s given innings out of the ‘pen in his career, spot started at times, been a starter. You’re always looking for starting pitching right now, and we’ll bring him here and see what he can do, and hopefully he can give us some length out of the bullpen to start off with.”

Voth’s arrival won’t change Keegan Akin’s duties as a multi-inning reliever. The Orioles don’t have any plans to put him back in the rotation.

“I still like to use him in the role that he has been in,” Hyde said. “That could, obviously, change with injuries or things that are going to happen in the last half of the year, more than half of the year, obviously, at this point. But I would prefer to keep him where he is right now just because he’s pitching so well in that role.

The Orioles welcome the Cubs to Camden Yards tonight for the first time in five years. A two-game series that features Kyle Bradish starting and Adley Rutschman setting the target.

Rutschman is 0-for-17 since his double in the eighth inning of a May 30 game against the Red Sox.

Bradish is 1-3 with a 6.82 ERA and 1.545 WHIP in seven starts. He’s averaging 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

In four starts since his 11-strikeout game in St. Louis, Bradish has allowed 17 runs and 25 hits with eight walks and 19 strikeouts in 16 innings.

Trey Mancini, who’s the designated hitter tonight, has reached base in 28 of his last 29 games since May 8 and owns a .433 OBP with 13 walks during that stretch.

Gunnar Henderson White Jersey

Promotions earned yesterday also felt like a bone tossed.

The huge disappointment over top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez perhaps missing the rest of the 2022 season with a Grade 2 strain of his right lat muscle was followed a day later by the rush that comes from infield prospects Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg advancing to Triple-A Norfolk.

Out with the bad report, in with the good.

Westburg began the season viewed as closer to the majors than Henderson based on his age and Double-A experience. He’s 23 and appeared in 30 games with the Bowie Baysox last summer in his final three-affiliate stop.

Henderson, still 20, appeared in five games with the Baysox last season and went 3-for-15 with 10 strikeouts.

Grayson Rodriguez walked off the mound at Harbor Park Wednesday night after 5 2/3 scoreless innings, an athletic trainer matching him step for step, and the hope was that a little cramping caused his exit and nothing else.

It never was just cramps. Wishful thinking from his camp, perhaps.

The Orioles announced that an MRI revealed a strained right lat muscle, and the hope was that a second opinion would show only a Grade 1. Not a Grade 2 that would extend his absence, or a Grade 3 that would require surgery.

It never was feared to be a Grade 3 – a nearly or completely full tear, where muscle rips off the bone - but the news yesterday could have been better.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias met with the media and confirmed a Grade 2 strain that can carry a recovery timeline of up to 12 weeks.  

The Orioles are removing pitcher Dean Kremer from his rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk and installing him as today’s starter against the Guardians in the last game of the series.

Kremer has tossed nine scoreless innings in three minor league starts, with two hits, two walks and 18 strikeouts.

This is Kremer’s first appearance with the Orioles since he started the first game of a Sept. 11, 2021 doubleheader against the Blue Jays and allowed five runs and seven hits in four innings. Toronto hit three home runs.

The final touches on a season that Kremer wants to forget.

He went 0-7 with a 7.55 ERA and 1.640 WHIP in 13 starts, competed for a rotation spot in spring training, and strained his oblique while warming in the bullpen during the third game at Tropicana Field. Kremer was supposed to enter in relief, but walked to the dugout with the injury.

Going back to what I wrote yesterday, the Orioles’ draft board is down to five players they could choose with the first-overall selection.

Of course, no one is going to pass around the names, but prep infielder Termarr Johnson obviously is on it. He worked out yesterday morning, his audience including executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias, manager Brandon Hyde, co-hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte, and head athletic trainer Brian Ebel.

Catcher Adley Rutschman walked over to the batting cage and watched part of the session.

Baseball America’s 4.0 mock draft has the Orioles selecting Oklahoma prep shortstop Jackson Holliday. Previous versions have tied the Orioles to Georgia prep outfielder Druw Jones, son of former major league outfielder Andruw Jones.

Probably safe to assume those two also are on the Orioles’ board. But they also are scouting IMG Academy outfielder Elijah Green, son of former NFL tight end Eric Green, and Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee is viewed as a top five talent by many evaluators.

Tyler Wells was hours away from the postgame meal today and he already had lots to digest.

A first inning with the first two batters retired and José Ramírez hitting an opposite-field home run.

A second inning with the first two batters retired and Andrés Giménez hitting a ball onto Eutaw Street.

Wells struck out Luke Maile, walked back to the dugout and replayed the mistakes in his mind. Having his fill of them.

The Guardians ran out of power, the Orioles supplied more in support of the Wells and the bullpen, and they evened the series with a 5-4 victory at Camden Yards.

Adley Rutschman will return to his catching duties on Sunday afternoon, and could come off the bench today. He’s in good health. The team has no concerns about his slow start at the plate.

It’s just being careful with him after the spring training triceps injury. It’s not going to catch him in a day game following a night game. And it won’t bury Robinson Chirinos, who is in today’s lineup.

Rutschman is 7-for-47 (.149) with a double and triple in 12 games. No home runs or RBIs. He struck out three times last night to raise his total to 14 – seven in his last three games – but also lined out to Ernie Clement, who raced to the line and made the running catch in the fifth inning to temporarily preserve Shane Bieber’s no-hit bid.

Thursday night’s 10-inning loss to the Mariners ended with Rutschman lining into the shift, the expected batting average .960.

Expectations were raised to such heights that manager Brandon Hyde said, “That’s why I was downplaying it so much.