Birdland Metrics

How in the world is Gunnar not in the lineup again tonight?

Gunnar Henderson celebrates a two-run double at second base

Four-hit game for America's shortstop!

Reminder that Gunnar Henderson is 24. It’s early but he’s on a clear HOF trajectory. He was more banged up than anyone realized last year and still managed 4.8 fWAR. The idea that he wouldn’t be a starter for this team will look silly in a year.

Not only did Gunnar Henderson smoke four hits today, they were all with two outs.

Final stat line for Gunnar tonight:

-4 for 5 with a double, 1K, 2 RBIs

Exit velocity on his four hits (ranked among all batted balls):

-111.4 mph (#1 - hardest-hit ball in the game)
-108.9 mph (#3)
-108.1 mph (#5)
-106.3 mph (#6)

He also saw the most pitches by any batter in the game (31).

…and even better haha

Some excellent at bats from Gunnar tonight with 2 RBIs, and currently sitting #1 (111.4 mph) and #4 (108.1 mph) on the exit velocity leaderboard according to Statcast — love to see it

Primarily pitching in the Low-A California League, Najer Victor has struck out four batters twice and five batters once in a game in 42 MiLB games.

Facing Team USA, he faced six batters and struck out Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony.

GUNNAR HENDERSON BRINGS EM HOME

Gunnar Henderson is batting 1.000 for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic after knocking a 108.1 mph single in the 2nd inning against Great Britain.

Appreciate it! Been out grocery shopping with my toddler so haven’t had a chance to check for the lineup release. Great to hear!

Heston Kjerstad's strong spring continues.

The 27-year-old outfielder goes deep in the bottom of the 6th, powering a go-ahead 2-run home run the opposite way to left-center field.

Kjerstad is hitting .318 (7-for-22) with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs in 8 Grapefruit League games.

A good showing for Orioles LHP Cade Povich vs. the Twins.

His final line: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. 53 pitches, 33 strikes.

Povich has a 1.59 ERA in 5 2/3 Grapefruit League innings this spring.

Anyone hearing anything about the lineup for the game against GB tonight? Hoping Gunnar gets a chance to play 🤞 #WBC #WorldBaseballClassic

'I want the fire': Wells ready for pressure of the 'pen This story was excerpted from Jake Rill's Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

It's been a while since Orioles' Tyler Wells was a full-time reliever, but he's ready.

"Being a starter and being a high-leverage reliever, those are the 2 spots that a lot of people have a lot of pressure in.

"I want the pressure. I want the fire."

www.mlb.com/orioles/news...

Chris Bassitt threw three innings with 2Ks, a hit, a walk and no earned runs allowed.

Talking about the Orioles rotation, Bassitt said "I think we're very underrated. ... I would rather be a stealth bomber, so to speak, and not have anybody talk about us. Just surprise people."

Ryan Mountcastle is 3-for-3 with 3 singles today.

The 29-year-old is now 7-for-18 (.389) with a .921 OPS in 7 Grapefruit League games this spring.

Final line for Chris Bassitt in his 2nd start of spring for Orioles:

3+ IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 2 K's. 43 pitches, 26 strikes.

Bassitt retired first 9 Cardinals batters. The unearned run scored following his departure.

Orioles manager Craig Albernaz continues to keep all his pitching plans close to the vest.

On potential 6-man rotation: “Everything is on the table.”

On piggybacking starters: “Everything’s on the table.”

On when he’ll name Opening Day starter: “I have no clue.”

Heyman basically confirms here what we’ve heard rumors about. The Orioles offered Ranger Suarez a 5-year deal for close to the money Boston guaranteed. He doesn’t specify the timeline.

Final line for Orioles RHP Zach Eflin in his 1st start of the spring vs. Rays: 2+ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. 40 pitches, 21 strikes.

An encouraging first showing for the 31-year-old, who is coming off of back surgery.

Also a good sign -- these velo numbers.

Eflin sat 93.6 with the 4S and 92.8 with the sinker in that first inning, numbers he has not averaged over a full season since 2020.

I’ll be updating this post weekly in-season, and the histogram with all 5 AL East teams at the beginning of the article will update every morning, so you’ll see more confident (skinnier) curves take shape over the course of the season!

2026 AL East Win Projections: Where do the Orioles Stand? — Birdland Metrics Daily win projections for all five AL East teams from 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations. Track how standings and playoff odds shift all season.

Discussed this on the podcast this morning - 2026 AL East projections (10k sims):

NYY: 88W
TOR: 86W
BOS: 85W
BAL: 81W
TBR: 78W

Likely not much movement ahead of Opening Day. Orioles have the widest variance - 4th place floor, wild card upside.

birdlandmetrics.com/articles/al-east-win-projections

A strong start to Orioles RHP Zach Eflin's first game action since undergoing back surgery last August.

A 1-2-3 first inning vs. the Rays. Struck out Theo Gillen swinging and induced a pair of groundouts. 14 pitches, 8 strikes.

Velo is up on everything from his 2025 numbers.

Brandon Hyde just met with Orioles and Rays reporters ahead of today’s game in Port Charlotte. Talked about his new role, the “weird feeling” of seeing O’s.

On the Orioles’ slow start to ‘25: “It was just a struggle. I wish I could have done more, and would have done more.”

Peter Schmuck: Save the angst for later…Orioles are OK A very good friend of mine, who happens to be a former Maryland legislator, just got back from a visit to spring training and called me to tell me how bad the Orioles look right now. I’m not surprised, but my older brother Paul – a Viet Nam vet and retired police officer – has […]

Peter Schmuck: Save the angst for later…Orioles are OK #Orioles

Great Q! First-time managers are tricky — you can't really credit them with a managerial ELO boost yet. Alby starts neutral. Over time, if the O’s consistently out/underperform their talent level, that gets baked in. For now, it's mostly projecting the roster itself rather than any manager effect.

Orioles reliever Yennier Cano returns to old training methods As Cano aims to recapture the form he had during the best season of his career, his first step was returning to the routines he developed in Cuba that helped him blossom in 2023.

To rekindle his 2023 success, Orioles reliever Yennier Cano returned to old training methods

www.thebanner.com/sports/oriol...

What do projection systems say about the 2026 Baltimore Orioles? Podcast Episode · Locked On Orioles - Daily Podcast On The Baltimore Orioles · March 5 · 31m

Had a great time on @lockedonorioles.bsky.social this morning talking Orioles projections, the Birdland Metrics models, and which players could swing the O's season the most in 2026. A big thanks to Connor for having me on the show!

Give it a listen 👇
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...