The Orioles are starting Shane Baz, Trey Gibson and Trevor Rogers in their weekend series against the Padres, and they reach the end of a 13-games-in-13-days stretch before playing in Seattle, Los Angeles and Anaheim.

Manager Craig Albernez and his staff can push back their starters after Monday’s off-day to provide some rest or do a little bit of tweaking. 

Chris Bassitt, Dean Kremer and Cade Povich are on the 15-day injured list and their returns can’t be measured in imminent terms. Bassitt, as far as we know, is deciding whether to get a cortisone injection in his lower back, take medication or just rest it. Povich was expected to test his left elbow with some bullpen sessions this week.

Kremer threw 35 pitches and had two ups yesterday in live batting practice in Sarasota, a session that confirmed the healing of his right quadriceps and the nearing of a rehab assignment. His last start was April 18 and he still has some boxes to check.

Trey Gibson is probably first to go when a starter returns. Povich could be optioned after he’s reinstated. The Tides would throw a party for him as they try to piece together their rotation.

Kremer went down that path at the end of spring training and made two starts with the Orioles before his injury. Brandon Young lowered his ERA to 3.04 Wednesday with seven scoreless innings, he’s allowed five earned runs in his last four starts over 26 2/3 innings, and the Orioles are 9-1 in his games.

Young would need a thunderous collapse for the Orioles to consider sending him down.

For the “these things have a way of working themselves out” crowd, Bassitt’s injury removes a potential complication down the road with Kremer trending in the right direction. But the Orioles want the veteran in the rotation. They’re just fortunate that Young has done much more than simply occupy the spot.

Ryan Helsley’s three-strikeout appearance yesterday with Norfolk to begin an injury rehab assignment left everyone in the organization encouraged and feeling better about the bullpen’s future.

Helsley will pitch again Saturday and must check the final box, back-to-back appearances, before the Orioles reinstate him.

His velocity was impressive yesterday, with his fastball averaging 97.7 mph and topping at 99.7.

Rico Garcia is second on the team in saves with four, three behind Helsley, but he worked the eighth inning last night after surrendering home runs in back-to-back appearances. He got the first two outs, allowed two singles and was replaced by Grant Wolfram.

Andrew Kittredge was handed the ninth and recorded his first save as an Oriole.

Kittredge had allowed a run in his last two appearances, including Tuesday against the Mariners, to raise his ERA to 7.24 in 16 appearances going into tonight. It didn’t lower Albernaz’s confidence in him.

“Kitt’s been throwing the ball great as of late,” Albernaz said. “When you see his numbers, it’s not indicative of how he’s been pitching. He’s really settled into the rhythm of the season, the cadence, and also, we have a lot of guys that that we can trust with Helsley down, that can go out there and get big outs for us. The situation called for Kitt tonight, and he stepped up big for us.

“We don’t have any apprehension with using Kitt in a big situation or any of our guys, and it’s a long stretch for us of games, and bullpen’s been taxed. So right now, it’s just want to make sure everyone’s upright, and with Kitt coming in, doing his job, it was outstanding.”

The Orioles won’t have a decision to make, or to execute, later today regarding outfielder Tommy Pham.

Pham signed a minor league contract on May 16 that included a June 12 opt-out clause. Today is June 12. And according to a source, Pham is going to opt out and seek another opportunity to play in the majors.

The club hadn’t received official word yesterday.

Pham batted .197 with a .696 OPS in 16 games with Triple-A Norfolk and hit his fourth home run yesterday in Game 2 of a doubleheader. This isn’t beating down the door, but Pham went 7-for-26 with three homers, including a grand slam, and nine RBIs in his last six games.

The choices for the Orioles came down to the following:

Select Pham’s contract and remove a player from the active roster.

Let Pham walk if his agent had a better deal on the table or could get one. Otherwise, he stayed in the organization.

Renegotiate a later opt-out and keep Pham with Norfolk.

The Orioles didn’t have an obvious countermove at the ready. Sam Huff is a third catcher, which normally would be a vulnerable spot, but he started behind the plate in the first three games of the series.

Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo returned to the lineup last night, and it isn’t known how long the Orioles are going to carry three.

“I think when we’re at our best, we have both Adley and Sammy in the lineup, and that’s a credit to both Sammy and Adley,” Albernaz said on Tuesday. “And having the third catcher is a great safety valve for us. So it’s something that for right now it makes the most sense, but also moving forward it could be or it could not be. So there’s a lot of factors that go into that. But right now it’s definitely a benefit for us.”

Only four outfielders are on the roster with Dylan Beavers on the injured list, but Blaze Alexander can play anywhere. Tyler O’Neill is enduring a season-long struggle, but he’s 4-for-12 with three doubles in his last three games and 7-for-24 since May 25.

Pham is 38 and the Orioles would have been his 11th team, with returns to the Mets and Cardinals. He’s in his 13th major league season.

It came down to whether he was viewed as a roster upgrade or at least a depth piece important enough to keep in Triple-A. The Orioles could only control the first one.