The Orioles’ exhibition schedule is finished. Next up: the 2025 regular season. Woo!
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
The Orioles’ exhibition schedule is officially in the books. Their planned final-game tuneup against the Nationals in D.C. yesterday ended up as a dud, rained out before it ever got started. Oh well. For the next four years, the Orioles-Nats exhibition matchup will be a two-game event, so hopefully they’ll have better weather next time.
As for now, the O’s are off to Toronto to prepare for the start of the 2025 season in two days. They haven’t officially set their opening 26-man roster yet, but they continued to inch closer, cutting six more players yesterday. As expected, newly signed Kyle Gibson will head to minor league camp to get himself into game shape. Also of note was the O’s reassigning non-roster infielder Vimael Machín, who was competing for an infield spot in Gunnar Henderson’s absence. Machín was, well, a hitting machine in spring training, batting .400 with a team-leading 18 hits, but he struggled defensively.
With Machín powered off, the final infield spot appears to come down to either Livan Soto, the last non-roster invitee remaining, or Jorge Mateo, who debuted late in camp but might need more time to recover from last year’s arm surgery. Soto would appear to have the edge, and he also hit quite well in Grapefruit League play, batting .386 in 19 games.
The Orioles currently have 34 players (including Soto) still with the club, but that number will be pared down further when Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez, Andrew Kittredge, and perhaps Mateo are officially placed on the injured list, Roansy Contreras is sent to the great DFA in the sky, and the injury-delayed Trevor Rogers and Chayce McDermott head to the IL or the minors. The only other spot still up in the air is the eighth man in the bullpen, which appears to be a two-man race between Bryan Baker and Matt Bowman. Orioles reporters had been hyping up a supposedly new and improved Baker for most of the spring, but then he gave up five runs and four dingers in his last five games and reminded every O’s fan why they don’t trust him.
The Orioles have until Thursday morning to make those decisions, and then, at approximately 3:07 PM that afternoon, the 2025 season is a go. Are you ready?
Links
2025 Positional Power Rankings: Bullpen (No. 1-15) | FanGraphs Baseball
FanGraphs ranks the Orioles as the second-best bullpen in all of baseball, which means I’m either vastly underrating this group or 28 teams have some pretty unimpressive bullpens.
Speedy prospects running loose in Orioles’ retooled farm system – MLB.com
Enrique Bradfield Jr. is ridiculously fast, y’all. He may not be the Orioles’ top prospect, but he may be the most exciting to watch play.
Povich honored to be chosen to start Orioles’ home opener – BaltimoreBaseball.com
The schedule lines up in such a way that the least established pitcher in the O’s rotation will be the one who starts the home opener next Monday. No better time for a coming-out party for Cade.
Orioles 2025 predictions: Experts say they’ll go farther this season – The Baltimore Banner
Camden Chat writers will reveal our own predictions on Thursday, but I’ll give you a heads-up that my projected O’s record is far less optimistic than the Banner’s staff. I certainly hope that they’re right and that I’m just a stick in the mud.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Two former Orioles were born on March 25, including 2024 one-game lefty Tucker Davidson (29) and the late infielder Woodie Held (b. 1932, d. 2009).
On this date in 1983, the O’s traded outfielder Tito Landrum back to the Cardinals, from whom they’d acquired him the previous year. Landrum’s very brief Orioles career was highlighted by one magical moment, his 10th-inning home run in Game 4 of the ALCS in Chicago that snapped a scoreless tie and clinched the American League pennant for the Birds.