Nearly three weeks into Spring Training, the Orioles have cycled through a full round of exhibition starts, injuries, and practices. So far the news is good. The black-and-orange dominated the Dominican national team today by riding a second straight solid outing from Koji Uehara. He looks like a nice pickup, no?

They’re 4-2 in the Grapefruit League and the only injuries of note are to pitchers Brad Hennessey and John Parrish. Rich Hill should be back in action soon, the elbow issues he experienced having been found unserious.

Mark Hendrickson is on the injury list, as well, but it doesn’t seem to be much.

My sense from the first few weeks of camp is that things are moving along the way we hoped they would. Brad Bergesen seems to be the standout competitor, although I’m having a hard time digging up his spring training stats. I like the idea of him in the rotation for this reason: as a strike thrower, he has the potential to go deep into games because he keeps his pitch counts low. We desperately need that, whether from him or somebody else.

Of course, you could also say something like “as a strike thrower, he has the potential to get knocked out of a lot of games early.” It’s a tough call, but I’m comfortable seeing him in the #5 role ahead of someone like Adam Eaton. Pending Eaton’s spring performance, naturally. I’m open to the possibility that he shocks the world.

Hayden Penn has looked good, and I like the way the back-end is shaping up with Chris Ray and Jim Johnson slotted into setup roles while George Sherrill stays as closer. Let’s adjust that as necessary during the season rather than upset the cart early. Continuity is a good thing.

There’s no news to report regarding the hitters/position players. Everybody seems to be keeping their heads down and putting in work. As far as that goes, no news is good news.

Nice, low-key spring so far. I figure we’ll start to see separation in the next ten days.

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