The Orioles haven’t used the injured list since May 13, after outfielder Dylan Beavers strained his right oblique. Reliever Grant Wolfram was lost a day earlier to a lower-back strain.

For this club, the healthy streak is almost as impressive as The Streak.

Orioles players have spent 796 days on the injured list, third most in the majors. The Blue Jays have spent 776, which ranks fifth. But they began yesterday with 14 players currently on the IL to tie the Dodgers for the most in baseball. The Orioles are down to 10.

Chris Bassitt’s abbreviated start Wednesday in Boston suggested that No. 11 was around the corner. Not so fast. Bassitt returned to the Orioles after flying to Baltimore to have team physicians exam his back, as manager Craig Albernaz told the assembled media yesterday in Toronto.

Assuming that Bassitt doesn’t experience any setbacks, he’s expected to make his next start Monday night against the Mariners at Camden Yards. That would be his normal turn after exiting Wednesday with three runs allowed in three innings

The Orioles are playing 13 games in 13 days, so they can’t push back a starter without inserting a new pitcher. Trey Gibson probably would have been the choice to start Monday if Bassitt couldn’t do it. He would have worked on regular rest.

There’s still got to be some sort of health drama. Samuel Basallo was removed for a pinch-hitter last night in the sixth inning due to right abdominal discomfort. Albernaz told the media it was “precautionary.”

A much-improved rotation still doesn’t have Dean Kremer, who made two starts before straining his right quadriceps during a workout. He’s on the 60-day IL and eligible to return on June 19.

Updates on Kremer haven’t been useful until yesterday. The last I heard, he was doing some running down in Sarasota, but Albernaz told the media yesterday that the right-hander threw live batting practice earlier this week. Perhaps this is an indication that he’s nearing a rehab assignment.

It won’t be short. Kremer hasn’t pitched since April 18 in Cleveland.

The Orioles will have time to figure out how Kremer fits back into the rotation, assuming that he isn’t optioned again.

The bullpen has been missing closer Ryan Helsley since his last appearance on April 28 before succumbing to elbow inflammation. He completed his first bullpen session on May 30 at Camden Yards and threw again yesterday at Rogers Centre.

Helsley could go on a rehab assignment after the Orioles return home.

There’s also a positive piece of news regarding outfielder Dylan Beavers, who’s on the IL with a right oblique strain. He was eligible to return May 21 and he blew past that date, but Albernaz told the media that Beavers is hitting in the cage. That’s significant with an oblique injury.

A rehab assignment also awaits, but we don’t know how close he is to joining an affiliate.

Let’s take a shallow dive into the mailbag.

Is the lefty/righty matchup stuff overrated? Stability in the lineup for any period of time would seem more beneficial. Gunnar Henderson plays every day. Wouldn’t tendencies improve facing either side with regularity? (Colton Cowser in 2024 comes to mind).
There’s probably some validity to that theory. But also, this is how players don’t rot on the bench. And some players are at a greater disadvantage than others right-on-right or left-on-left. Reverse splits also should be taken into account. Going back to your point, I like that Coby Mayo is getting some starts against right-handers even though his numbers are much better versus lefties. He seems too early into his career to be typecast as a platoon player. And he homered into the second deck last night against Trey Yesavage. Jackson Holliday should be starting against lefties, too, as a former first-overall draft pick and No. 1 prospect in baseball. He, too, is too young to platoon.

Is Weston Wilson starting to rot on the bench?
Um … OK, he isn’t getting much playing time. His last start was May 25. This is one of the challenges facing a manager, and anyone else with input on the lineup. If Coby Mayo should be playing more often and he’s hitting lefties so well, that’s gonna cost Wilson. Blaze Alexander was red hot in May, and that’s gonna cost Wilson. Taylor Ward is an on-base machine atop the order, so he needs to stay in left field on most nights. That’s gonna cost Wilson, who’s the 13th man among position players. It beats playing six days a week in Triple-A.

Any thoughts from a coach or Pete Alonso on why his defensive numbers are so much better this season?
Practicing with the little glove is bringing positive results. His footwork is better, his throws have improved. The guy spends a lot of time in the dirt. Mark Reynolds watches Alonso and says, “Man, he falls down a lot.” But he makes plays. He saves teammates from errors. The foot stays on the bag. Infield coach Miguel Cairo has worked to broaden Alonso’s range, something the Mets apparently frowned upon. Cairo has Alonso being “more athletic” at first. “He was squatting too much, he couldn’t move,” Cairo said recently. “So what we did was, I mentioned to him, ‘Hey, why become more athletic and let the feet dictate the bounce? Move your feet.’ And so far it’s been working for him. Much improvement.”

What is different with Coby Mayo’s defense? Seems like a new player despite being his usual position.
The Orioles also want him to be more athletic at first. Mayo’s size brings its own set of challenges. He can get too upright, too stiff. Arm slot also can become an issue on some of his throws, but not as much lately. Assistant pitching coach Mitch Plassmeyer has joined the infield coaches a few times to offer his input. Let Plassmeyer explain: “I think it was just identifying a couple of things that might help him just find some rhythm. I think when guys are going through any kind of struggle with how their body’s moving, it’s just trying to find something that makes sense to them and clicks. On the pitching side, guys go through a lot of different drills, a lot of different rhythm kind of patterns and stuff like that. So for me it was just kind of identifying maybe a couple of things that might get something to click in his head, and it seems to be going pretty well for him right now. I just think he’s trying to be more athletic and find that timing trigger of when he catches the ball, does he tap, where’s that takeaway to get the hand up quick and then be able to just kind of let the body take over and rotate like he normally does.”

Are the Orioles good now?
They ain’t bad.

How frequently do you dig something out of the mailbag that’s outdated by the time you read it? By the way, how are the talks going between the O’s and Dexter Fowler? He’d be a nice addition to an already playoff-caliber lineup.
Good one! Jim Palmer grilled Fowler on the Peacock broadcast about failing to sign with the Orioles after he reportedly had agreed to a deal. His agent, Casey Close, blasting the local media for the erroneous reports. The man got personal. I would have done the same but our paths never crossed. His agency released a statement that read, in part: “In my 25 years in this business, never before have I witnessed such irresponsible behavior on so many fronts. Both the Orioles front office and members of the media were so busy recklessly spreading rumors that they forgot or simply chose not to concern themselves with the truth. The Orioles’ willful disregard of collectively bargained rules governing free agency and the media’s eager complicity in helping the Orioles violate those rules are reprehensible.” And then he got mad. Meanwhile, I had someone way, way up the Orioles food chain tell me they were signing Fowler. I asked about another player and that info was volunteered to me. I sped into a gas station near my Sarasota hotel to tweet it. And national media also got it confirmed. Fowler told Palmer that he was “nowhere close” to a deal. Dan Duquette told the beat crew, an hour or so after Close’s tantrum, that negotiations broke down because Fowler’s camp wanted an opt-out clause. Duquette despised opt-outs. So why did others in the organization say the deal was done? And why did Adam Jones apparently think so, as well, when we rushed to his locker the next morning after the news broke? Jones said he’d spoken to Fowler and the outfielder was excited to join the team and might be on his way to Sarasota for a physical. And why am I going on and on about this when you were just joking? Yes, I often have outdated questions because I can’t get to all of them in a timely fashion.

How about an actual update on Dean Kremer?
See above.

When will you be starting your Podcast?
That’s the retirement plan from beat work. Stay tuned. And this is definitely a good place to stop.