With injuries mounting, the Orioles face a lot more uncertainty with Opening Day less than three weeks away.

Teams typically enter spring training with multiple positional competitions and seemingly unanswerable questions about who will make the Opening Day roster.

Not the Orioles, though. For the first time in what seems like years, the Orioles entered spring training with a seemingly-set roster.

As reflected in our Roster Projection 1.0, the Orioles starting nine, top five starting pitchers, and bullpen were decidedly set, with the only potential issue being whether Coby Mayo, Jorge Mateo, or Dylan Carlson would earn the final bench spot.

How things have changed.

The Orioles appeared to solve the issue of who would earn the final bench spot when they signed outfielder Ramon Laureano to a major-league deal.

However, as the spring has gone on the Orioles have lost multiple significant players to injury.

Roster Projection 2.0 will prepare for the worst and examine the Orioles roster without key players like Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez, Tyler O’Neill, Andrew Kittredge, and Felix Bautista to start the year.

Positional competitions and seemingly unanswerable questions have arisen as the injuries have piled up.

Spring Training injuries have drastically shifted the Orioles’ Opening Day roster projection.

Around the Diamond: C Adley Rutschman, 1B Ryan Mountcastle, 2B Jordan Westburg, SS Jackson Holliday, 3B Ramon Urias, RF Heston Kjerstad, CF Cedric Mullins, LF Colton Cowser, DH Ryan O’Hearn

Although it is unclear how much time, if any, Gunnar Henderson and Tyler O’Neill will miss to start the year, their absences from the Orioles Opening Day roster are palpable.

If Henderson is sidelined for any period of time, expect Ramon Urias to seamlessly slide into the starting role at third base (as he did last year when Jordan Westburg was out), with Holliday moving to short and Westburg to second.

With Mateo injured, this will open up a competition for a backup infielder until Henderson returns, with Livan Soto, Luis Vazquez, and Vimael Machin the top candidates to break camp with the club.

Although this lineup still contains plenty of talent, the Orioles can ill afford another injury to one of their top starters.

Bench: Ramon Laureano, Gary Sanchez, Emmanuel Rivera, Luis Vazquez

Barring health issues, Laureano and Sanchez are locks to make the team, with Laureano likely seeing time in all three outfield spots which, without O’Neill, are filled with lefty bats Kjerstad, Mullins, and Cowser.

Sanchez’s role as backup catcher and DH against left-handers does not change.

I project Rivera, who has had a nice spring and is out of options, to make the team as long as O’Neill is out to provide extra right-handed pop off the bench as a possible late-game pinch hitter for the lefty-heavy regular lineup.

If Henderson is out, Vazquez makes the team due to his defensive prowess at shortstop. Again, the hope here is that Henderson and O’Neill return soon, with Rivera and Vazquez spending limiting time with the big club.

Starting Pitchers: Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer, Tomoyuki Sugano, Cade Povich

News on projected number two starter Grayson Rodriguez does not appear great, as Rodriguez is expected to miss some time to start the year due to lingering tricep soreness.

While it is unclear how much time Rodriguez will miss, Brandon Hyde announced that he will begin the season on the IL.

This news continues a frustrating cycle for Rodriguez, who has flashed brilliance only to be shut down with injuries at inopportune times, as was the case down the stretch last year.

With Rodriguez shelved, putative starters Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer, and Tomoyuki Sugano figure to move up one spot in the rotation from their prior projections.

Brandon Hyde has already announced that the final spot will be a competition between Albert Suarez and Cade Povich.

Although Suarez pitched well as a starter last season, the clear edge goes to Povich.

Unlike the older Suarez, Povich is only 24 years-old and many envision him to be a significant part of the Orioles’ future.

The lanky left-hander finished 2024 strong and has been dominant in two starts this spring, striking out seven batters over five scoreless innings. Povich would also represent the only left-hander in the Orioles’ righty-dominant rotation, and the final rotation spot should be his to lose.

Bullpen: Keegan Akin, Bryan Baker, Yennier Cano, Dylan Coleman, Seranthony Dominguez, Cionel Perez, Gregory Soto, Albert Suarez

The Orioles have announced that Andrew Kittredge, their big bullpen acquisition from the off-season, will miss the first few months of the year following a knee scope procedure this week. While the Orioles hope to have the big right-hander back by mid-summer, this loss hurts.

Although Felix Bautista has looked strong in two outings this spring, Manager Brandon Hyde revealed that Bautista’s Opening-Day status remains in the air.

If the Orioles play it safe with Bautista and start him on the IL, this will further complicate a bullpen picture that is already reeling from the loss of Andrew Kittredge.

While I expect the Orioles to explore upgrades from outside of the organization (such as veteran free agent David Robertson), the in-house options are decent.

Bryan Baker, who is somehow still with the organization, has pitched well this spring, and would likely draw one of the two open spots if he continues pitching well. He has always had good stuff, and perhaps can turn one final chance into a steady season in Baltimore.

I give the final spot to veteran Dylan Coleman, a hard-throwing right-hander who pitched well for the Royals in 2022. Roansy Contreras could be in the running for a bullpen spot as well, though he has gotten off to a poor start this spring, allowing four runs in only 3.1 innings.

In sum, the vibes around Orioles spring training are not great right now.

The Orioles have caught the injury bug, with Brandon Hyde already confirming that Grayson Rodriguez and Andrew Kittredge will miss time. The hope is that Gunnar Henderson, Tyler O’Neill, and Felix Bautista get healthy and ramped up enough to travel north with the team to Toronto for Opening Day.

But at this time in spring training, the Orioles have a lot more questions than they’d like with Opening Day less than three weeks away.