Baltimore Orioles 2024 Opening Day roster projection 4.0: Pivoting from Jackson Holliday

Starting Pitchers: Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, Tyler Wells, Dean Kremer, Cole Irvin (5)

No more suspense here. The Orioles have confirmed that Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, and Tyler Wells will start the three opening games against Los Angeles. Dean Kremer, Cole Irvin, and Coribn Burnes will start the next three games against the Royals.

The real suspense will occur when John Means and Kyle Bradish, both projected to return early in the first half of the season, are ready to make their debuts. It would appear that Wells, Kremer, and Irvin are the most likely to lose their spots to Bradish and Means.

Relief Pitchers: Craig Kimbrel, Yennier Cano, Danny Coulombe, Cionel Perez, Dillon Tate, Mike Baumann, Keegan Akin, Julio Teheran (8)

In a recent blog post, Roch Kubatko reported that Kimbrel, Cano, Coulombe, Perez, Tate, Baumann, and Akin are considered locks for the bullpen. This makes sense, as all seven of these relievers have appeared on Versions 2.0 and 3.0. I continue to believe that the eighth and final spot will go to veteran Julio Teheran.

Teheran did nothing to hurt his chances Saturday, delivering four shutout innings against a Tampa Bay Rays squad that included most of its regulars, including Brandon Lowe, Yandy Diaz, Randy Arozarena, and Isaac Paredes. Despite the solid effort, Brandon Hyde was non-committal on Teheran, saying after the game that he is in "limbo" and that the Orioles are just "waiting to see." If the Orioles do not keep Teheran, who, like Wong, opted out of his contract with the Orioles on Saturday night, Jacob Webb seems to have the edge over Bryan Baker for the final spot, since he is out of options.

With only five days until Opening Day against the Angels, the Orioles are running out of time to put together their final roster. There appear to be only a handful of decisions left - namely who gets the eighth bullpen spot, and whether the Orioles keep Kolten Wong as their starting second baseman until Holliday returns. But soon enough, it will be time for regular season baseball. And as much as I have enjoyed preparing these roster projections, I cannot wait to start writing about meaningful baseball games again.

Enjoy the final few days of spring training, everyone.