The Orioles are trimming down their spring roster and appear close to finalizing their 26-man roster for Thursday’s opener in Toronto

The Baltimore Orioles endured a rash of injuries this spring, which raised several questions as to whether certain key players would be healthy enough to join the team in Toronto on Opening Day.

The Orioles’ health significantly affected our projections, as Version 1.0 reflected the relatively clean bill of health the team had entering spring training, while Version 2.0 considered a worst-case scenario if certain injuries carried over into the season.

The Baltimore Orioles are likely down to one or two final roster decisions with Opening Day three days away
The Orioles provided some much-needed clarity to their Opening Day roster ahead of their 5-5 tie against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday afternoon.

Much to the chagrin of fans, the Orioles announced on Sunday that Gunnar Henderson will begin the season on the IL and will miss at least the first seven games of the season.

In more positive news, the Orioles confirmed that closer Felix Bautista will be available for Thursday’s opener in Toronto.

The Orioles also finalized their five-man rotation, with Cade Povich edging out Albert Suarez for the final spot.

Finally, the Orioles’ also optioned outfielder Dylan Carlson, signaling that Heston Kjerstad will likely break camp with the team.

Let’s take a look at our latest projection:

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

Days ago, it appeared that Gunnar Henderson would be ready for Opening Day.

Unfortunately, the Orioles have decided that Henderson needs a little more time in Florida to ramp up, and have announced that he will not be with the team for their opening series against the Blue Jays.

With Henderson officially ruled out, Version 2.0’s projection with Jackson Holliday at short, Ramón Urías at third, and Jordan Westburg at second, appears correct.

Indeed, Holliday has received several starts at shortstop (including in Sunday’s game against Atlanta) to prepare him for regular season games at the position. Expect to see Holliday starting at short on Thursday in Toronto.

Fortunately, Tyler O’Neill’s injury scare was just that: a scare that did not cause him to miss significant time. Assuming O’Neill makes it through the week, he should be starting in right field on Opening Day.

Bench: Ramon Laureano, Gary Sanchez, Heston Kjerstad, Jorge Mateo

The Orioles’ decision to option Dylan Carlson, who had a tremendous spring with the team, cemented Heston Kjerstad as the complement to Ramon Laureano as the Orioles’ backup outfielders on Opening Day.

Kjerstad started the spring strong but faded to a quiet .672 OPS through Sunday’s game.

However, in a much more meaningful sample size, Kjerstad has crushed pitching in the minor leagues, and hopefully gets significant at-bats with the Orioles this season, both in the outfield and at DH.

Ultimately, the Orioles may need to move lefty-DH Ryan O’Hearn for that to happen.

The final spot on the bench rests on whether Jorge Mateo is healthy enough to take Henderson’s spot. Mateo appears to be competing with the hot-hitting Vimael Machin, Luis Vazquez, and Livan Soto for the final spot. If Mateo is healthy, he should have the edge.

Mateo missed nearly a month of spring training games, debuting on March 16 against the Tigers. Overall, he has gone 1-11 this spring; however, the Orioles are familiar with Mateo and will likely carry him if he is sufficiently up to speed.

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

The Orioles confirmed what many expected on Sunday, announcing that Povich had beaten out Albert Suarez for the final spot in the rotation.

While the news about Povich is encouraging, the Orioles’ 2025 rotation figures to be a moving target, with Kyle Gibson joining the rotation at some point and Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish hopefully pitching in 2025.

There will also be discussion throughout the season about the Orioles supplementing their rotation via trade. But for now, the Orioles appear set with Eflin, Morton, Kremer, Sugano, and Povich leading the way.

Bullpen: Félix Bautista, Yennier Cano, Seranthony Dominguez, Cionel Perez, Gregory Soto, Albert Suárez, Keegan Akin, Matt Bowman

The Orioles’ clarified any bullpen uncertainty on Sunday when they announced that Felix Bautista would be on the Opening Day Roster and that journeyman reliever Matt Bowman had made the team.

We have made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/ZVYXGwOAvX

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) March 23, 2025

Bowman’s inclusion appears to come at the expense of Bryan Baker, who appeared to have the inside track on one of the Orioles’ final bullpen spots due to the organization’s familiarity with him. However, Bowman seems to have earned the last spot despite pitching to a 5.19 ERA this spring.

To Bowman’s credit, he pitched very well until a rough outing Thursday night against the Yankees, where he allowed 3 runs over 1 inning of work. Bowman’s strong start likely locked up the final spot for him.

Like the rotation, the bullpen figures to change regularly throughout the season. The Orioles hope to get Andrew Kittredge and Tyler Wells back before too long, and could also shuffle out Bowman or any other underperformer with early season struggles.

Former All-Star closer David Robertson remains available in free agency, though with news of Bautista making the Opening Day roster, a deal with Robertson seems unlikely at this time.

The Orioles have a final tune-up in Washington against the Nationals on Monday before kicking off their season on Thursday in Toronto. Baseball is finally, almost back.