Hello, friends.
There are now 11 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. Another eight exhibition games remain to be played in Florida, plus the home-and-home with the Nationals next Sunday and Monday. That includes a 6:05 game against the Yankees here tonight, the first night game of the spring schedule so far. The game will be broadcast on MASN as well as on the flagship radio stations of 98 Rock and WBAL 1090AM in Baltimore.
In yesterday’s game, the Orioles dropped an 8-6 result to the Pirates, with a late three-run home run surrendered by Yaramil Hiraldo making a big difference in the game. On the plus side for the Orioles, Adley Rutschman hit his second homer of spring training in the game and Dylan Beavers hit his first. The team is 8-11 in Grapefruit League action with two ties. We are at the point where I would like to start seeing some better results from the players who are definitely going to be on the Opening Day roster. Many players have been delivering through the spring schedule, so there’s not too much reason to panic… well, sorta.
I remain curious about when some more things will be revealed about the contours of the roster, particularly how pitchers will line up in the remainder of the rotation. When will Craig Albernaz make the decision public about whether the team goes with a five- or six-man rotation? Maybe he never will! Maybe we’ll just know from the roster cuts that they make. If Zach Eflin gets put on the injured list so that he can keep building up innings to start the season, then we’ll know. If Dean Kremer gets optioned to the minors, we’ll know that too.
In a typical season, the final, substantial cuts are made before the team heads north from Florida. That could be different this year since there is the presence of the two exhibitions in the District and in Baltimore. The team might hold off until after that game. And it is always possible to have a waiver claim or trade throwing off everyone’s predicted roster between the end of the exhibition games and the roster being set on Opening Day.
Mike Elias has been a big fan of this kind of move in his tenure as Orioles GM. We’ll see what the run-up to the 2026 season brings.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Trevor Rogers likes leading ‘most underrated rotation in all of baseball’ (The Baltimore Sun)
I hope subsequent developments this season make this look like a fun prediction rather than a depressing one.
Albernaz on choosing Rogers Opening Day starter (School of Roch)
Lots of words that don’t really say much other than that Rogers pitched well last year. Which is unquestionably true.
Dylan Beavers likely bound for Opening Day roster – but he’s taking nothing for granted (Orioles.com)
Let’s all say it together: BEAVERS!
Hitting coach Dustin Lind brings unusual perspective to new job (Baltimore Baseball)
The hitting coach saying “Putting the ball in play is step one in being a hitter” is going to make many people happen.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Nothing of particular note is recorded for this day in Orioles history. This is not likely to change today unless there’s really bad news.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2025 outfielder Greg Allen, 2008 infielder Freddie Bynum, 1993 infielder Mike Pagliarulo, and Maryland-born Baseball Hall of Famer/1993-95 and 1997-2000 designated hitter Harold Baines. Today is Baines’s 67th birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: 7th president Andrew Jackson (1767), musician Sly Stone (1943), Sailor Moon creator Naoko Takeuchi (1967), and actress Eva Longoria (1975).
On this day in history…
In 44 BC, famously on the Ides of March, the Roman emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated by several senators.
In 1820 AD, the state of Maine was admitted to the union, becoming the 20th of the United States.
In 1848, a revolution began in Hungary, providing short-lived independence from the Habsburgs to the Hungarians. Ultimately, however, the Russian Empire came to the aid of Austria and the Hungarian revolution was stamped out about 18 months later.
In 1917, a later Russian emperor, Nicholas II, abdicated the throne, bringing an end to the Russian monarchy.
A random Orioles trivia question
I received a random book of Orioles trivia questions for Christmas. I’ll ask a question each time it’s my turn in this space until I run out of questions or forget. Though the book has multiple choice answers, I’m not giving you those because that would make it too easy. Here’s today’s question:
Who did the Orioles trade to the Cubs for Sammy Sosa?
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on March 15. Have a safe Sunday.
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