SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles are playing their fifth exhibition game this afternoon, hosting the Tigers with Grayson Rodriguez making his first start.

Among my camp observations prior to the opener were Jackson Holliday prepping to play second base, teammates being excited to have Dillon Tate back, Cedric Mullins resembling the pre-injury version of himself, players being angry about the Division Series sweep but moving past it, no one worrying about Gunnar Henderson’s oblique or John Means being a month behind, no one showing panic over Kyle Bradish’s elbow injury, Yennier Cano’s stuff remaining filthy, roster composition remaining a mystery, hard-throwing reliever Wandisson Charles being a popular camp dark horse pick, former Orioles infielders in camp loving Holliday and Henderson, and my lame confusion over Albert and Andrew Suárez.

Also, I didn’t get to meet Peyton Burdick before the White Sox claimed him on waivers. I’m sure he’s equally bummed.

Henderson keeps improving from the left oblique soreness that’s kept him out of games. He worked out again yesterday and said he’s feeling much better. His 2024 spring debut is drawing near, though the Orioles aren’t rushing him.

Bradish is long-tossing and saying that his elbow recovers nicely the following day. It’s the ol’ so far, so good.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Dillon Tate threw his second live batting practice session this afternoon in his bid to make the Opening Day roster after missing the 2023 season with elbow/forearm injuries.  

Tate faced six batters. Ramón Urías flied to deep center field, Adley Rutschman bounced a ball up the middle, Ryan O’Hearn produced a sharp grounder past the mound, Ryan Mountcastle and Daniel Johnson lifted fly balls to the outfield and Kyle Stowers struck out.

“That’s a knock,” Anthony Santander yelled from the dugout on Rutschman’s ball.

Tate remains mostly satisfied with his results. More important is his good health.

“So far so good,” Tate said. “The movement is there on all the pitches that I want. At this point, I feel like I need to do a better job just landing my other pitches for strikes. Some I feel better than others right now, but landing the other pitches for strikes.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – Cedric Mullins is healthy. Let’s start there. And he’s putting the barrel on the baseball, which figures to keep happening if he isn’t put on the injured list again.

Mullins was the standout in today’s live batting practice on the Ed Smith Stadium field. He lined a Cole Irvin pitch up the middle in his first trip, nailing the bottom of the screen, squared up another Irvin offering and lined to the shortstop area, and introduced himself to prospect Justin Armbruester with a shot off the top of the scoreboard in right-center field.

That one was epic. He almost cleared it.

Teammates roared in the dugout as Mullins made contact. Mullins began walking toward the bench but turned to check out the flight of the ball and get confirmation on its landing spot.

“I knew that one was gone off the bat,” he said. “Threw me some good pitches, left one hanging, I was able to take advantage of it.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles won’t sit still.

They made another roster move early this evening, acquiring right-hander Kaleb Ort from the Phillies in another cash considerations deal.

Ort, who turned 32 earlier this month, made 21 appearances with the Red Sox last year and posted a 6.26 ERA and 1.565 WHIP in 23 innings. He allowed 16 earned runs (19 total) and 27 hits with 24 strikeouts.

The Mariners selected Ort off waivers in October, the Marlins claimed him in December and the Phillies claimed him six days ago.

Now he’s an Oriole and the latest bullpen candidate after making 47 relief appearances over the past three seasons – all with the Red Sox - and his only two major league starts in 2023.