This might end up being a few days early. More to the point, considering it is spring training, it might be so early as to be totally irrelevant.

As I sit here waiting for the Orioles to come north and finally start playing games that matter, though, it seems like at least where the Orioles’ free agent additions are concerned, things are largely going according to plan.

If there are good signs to come out of spring training, this would be one of them.

This conversation starts with Tomoyuki Sugano and Charlie Morton, the two rotation additions. Sugano is one of Japan’s most decorated pitchers and is carrying that success into his first spring training in Major League Baseball.

He’s struck out 11 without allowing an earned run and a 0.77 WHIP in 10 1/3 innings, with the following caveats: Just one of his outings has been at a Statcast park, so it’s hard to analyze his pitches much; and in pitching mostly at home, he’s faced weaker lineups than he would on the road. Also, it’s March.

The best we can glean, based off manager Brandon Hyde’s comments, is that they’re seeing exactly what they thought they would — a starting pitcher worth $13 million.

The same can be said for Morton, a $15 million addition who has struck out five in six scoreless innings with an 0.83 WHIP. All those same caveats apply, he’s demonstrated exactly what he has for the majority of his major league career when healthy.

A lot can happen over the course of a six-month season, where these signings will ultimately be judged. The Orioles getting what their internal projections suggested they might from these pitchers would go a long way toward this being a successful season.

In the outfield, there are similar early markers of success. Tyler O’Neill had a bout of side soreness but has a 1.061 OPS against good competition and is hitting righties well, which is something he predicted he’d do after leaving Fenway Park.

The opposite is true for the other two outfield signings, with Ramón Laureano’s overall .682 OPS dragged down by righties who he may not face during the season. He has a 1.178 OPS in nine plate at-bats against lefties, and a .461 OPS in 20 against righties — which would work fine for a platoon with the left-handed hitting Cedric Mullins.

Switch-hitting Dylan Carlson has a 1.431 OPS with a pair of home runs in 16 at-bats against righties; considering that hitting from the left side was his weaker one in recent years, that’s a welcome development and could bode well for him reclaiming some of his top-prospect potential.

Acknowledging that no amount of depth reinforcement can truly make up for any meaningful loss of Gunnar Henderson (intercostal strain) and Grayson Rodriguez (elbow soreness), and that reliever Andrew Kittredge, the last of their free agent signings, will be out several months due to knee surgery, this feels like it’s been a good spring for the Orioles’ newcomers.

I realize how tenuous a statement like that sounds. This is the time of spring where everyone involved can’t wait to get going, for a variety of reasons, but mostly so nothing else bad can happen. This time next week, we’ll be in the clear. Hopefully, this all still holds true.

Ballpark chatter

“[Name redacted] have any chance of making the roster?”

— NL evaluator 

Identities are withheld for obvious reasons here, but at this stage in spring, teams are starting to formulate opinions about players who may come available on waivers or with contract opt-outs, and want to know who to home in on for the last week. People also check in on players they have relationships with, and it’s been picking up lately. My answer to them, outside of sharing whatever info I have, is that the Orioles are always going to make the simplest choice in terms of keeping players in the organization. If they don’t have to lose the player, they probably won’t.

On the farm

Zach Fruit

Last spring, I went to Aberdeen for Luis De Leon’s first outing there — he was piggybacking — and knew within a few batters that the starter was worth my attention, too. It was Zach Fruit, who many are now noticing for his impressive Grapefruit League cameos in his appearances from minor league camp.

His story is a fascinating one, and his stuff is impressive. He’s yet another illustration of the quick work the Orioles are doing to help scale major league caliber skills on the mound in the minors. He’s clearly on a starter’s trajectory now, but that could change that if there’s a need in the Orioles’ bullpen, potentially quickly.

📰 For further reading

⬆️ Who’s up? These weekly exercises from our beat reporters in Sarasota are incredibly useful exercises. At this point in spring, the top performers list means something, which is why the names highlighted here by Danielle are worth paying attention to.

🤞 Mullins looks ahead: Cedric Mullins is such an important part of these recent Orioles teams. It’s kind of hard to believe this year could be his last with the team, but at this point, I mostly just hope that he has a good year to set himself up well for whatever happens next. Here’s Danielle again on his mindset.

🍳 The breakfast club: I learned more about Kyle Bradish and Dean Kremer in this simple story about their breakfast dates than I thought I would. That’s what made it a really good story, one I recommend to everyone.