SARASOTA, Fla. — Early in spring training, when Brandon Hyde was asked about how Grayson Rodriguez can take the next step in his career, the Orioles skipper made sure to mention Dean Kremer too.

“I got some high expectations for those two guys this year,” Hyde said. “I think that they’re really, really ready right now.”

With Rodriguez out to begin the season with elbow inflammation, it’s up to Kremer to be the pitcher Hyde believes he can be. To get there, the 29-year-old right-hander said “consistency” will be the differentiating factor.

“I think a good quote is, ‘Being good is boring,’” Kremer said. “You do the same thing over and over again. You keep doing it, you might get bored, but if you’re really good at it, it ends up working out for you.”

Since establishing himself in the big leagues in 2022, Kremer has been a slightly above league average starting pitcher with a 3.85 ERA, but he’s shown flashes of being more. In 2023, he added a sinker to his repertoire; last season, he altered his changeup into a splitter and improved the efficiency of his pitch mix.

Still, he’s yet to level up, but Hyde believes 2025 can be the year that it happens.

“He’s been a pretty good starter for us the last couple years numbers-wise. I think he can be even better, though,” Hyde said before Kremer’s start Wednesday against the visiting Atlanta Braves. “The split-finger was a huge add for him. When you’re talking about starting pitching, you’re always talking about command. He fell in love with his cutter a few years ago. Now he’s using it in better times, better spots, not missing the middle so much with it. Just continuing to develop command of all his pitches.”

Hyde said Kremer’s camp has been “a little up and down,” and his fourth spring start Wednesday was more of the same. Kremer surrendered two solo homers — a problem for him in 2023 — and allowed 10 base runners (seven hits and three walks) in four-plus innings.

For an established pitcher like Kremer, though, spring training is solely about preparing for the season and working on his stuff, not the results. He achieved his main goal of pitching into the fifth inning and reaching 77 pitches, a good step as he gets ready to likely be the Orioles’ Nos. 3 or 4 starter to begin the season.

“I think there were some positives outside of the pitch count,” Kremer said. “But always pushing for that extra up and really kind of pushing the threshold of what your body can handle building up.

“Overall, I’ll take it.”

As cliche as it sounds, Kremer isn’t operating in camp as an established big leaguer, but instead as someone who still needs to make the club.

“I still feel like I need to compete for a spot here,” he said. “If I don’t have that mindset, I don’t know what I’m going to do. That’s just who I am.”

A bullpen arm bounces back

Spring training stats don’t matter. Until they do.

Seranthony Domínguez’s first bad outing — one homer and two runs in an inning — didn’t matter at all. It’s spring training, and he’s an established big league reliever. His second bad outing — two solo homers in an inning — wasn’t ideal, but it still didn’t raise alarm bells.

His third one, though, was concerning. The right-hander gave up five runs on five hits, including another homer.

“I feel really bad that day,” he said. “We work a lot to be ready for the season and give your best every time you go out there and compete. When things aren’t going the way you want to, it’s a real struggle.”

Domínguez got back on the bump on Wednesday and took a much-needed step in the right direction. He walked the leadoff batter and gave up a single, but he escaped the frame without allowing a run. Domínguez, who became the Orioles’ closer last season after the club acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies, said he’s making some changes to his mechanics, notably altering his hand positioning in the set.

“[Today] meant a lot for me because I’m trying to make adjustments [and] that I struggled a little the first couple of outings,” he said. “I know the team needs me, the opportunity they’re going to give me to be here. I know myself, I know I’m better than I’m showing.”

Domínguez has a career 3.59 ERA in 243 1/3 relief innings since 2018. Given his track record, Hyde said he’s giving Domínguez a long runway to find his command this spring.

“His command isn’t perfect right now, but I’m expecting it to improve over the course [of spring] and be ready for the season,” the seventh-year skipper said.

Also in the Orioles’ 13-5 loss to the Braves, Ryan Mountcastle homered again, this time a mammoth two-run shot off left-hander Jake Diekman. Mountcastle went deep to right field in Tuesday’s win over the New York Yankees. Dylan Carlson, an outfielder on the outside looking in of the opening day roster, hit a solo shot in the ninth.

The Braves scored nine of their runs during a nightmarish fifth inning in which three Orioles took the mound, Jordan Westburg committed two errors at second base and Michael Harris II hit a pair of homers. After scoreless frames from Domínguez and Gregory Soto, Keegan Akin gave up a two-run homer in the eighth.

Kittredge optimistic about knee

Andrew Kittredge compared his knee injury to when you have a pebble in your shoe. Often, it’s not noticeable. Other times, it’s annoying. And sometimes, if it gets in just the wrong spot, it hurts.

Of course, a piece of cartilage growth in the left knee for a right-handed pitcher is more impactful than a pebble in a shoe, and that’s why doctors recommended Kittredge undergo arthroscopic surgery to fix the problem.

“Doctor’s recommendation was to take care of it now,” he said before the game Wednesday. “She said it was hard to predict when it would come back. She said more than likely it would come back at some point. She said this was the only way to predict how it was going to do would be to go in and trim it out.”

Kittredge’s plant-leg knee started bothering him during his live bullpen sessions early in spring training, but he didn’t think much of it, just assuming it was an “annoyance” he would get over as camp progressed. It improved for about a week with treatment, but it flared up while warming up for his second Grapefruit League appearance.

Hyde said Kittredge, whom the Orioles signed for $10 million this offseason, would miss at least a couple of months, and the veteran reliever confirmed that “broad timeline” Wednesday. He was told he could return to action sometime between June and the All-Star break in July. How much swelling his knee has will determine the length of his recovery, and Kittredge, who is walking with just a sleeve on leg, is pleased with how his knee has responded so far.

“I know the original timeline was kind of June to All-Star break,” he said. “But everything so far has me leading to believe it would be on the earlier side of that.”

Around the horn

Hyde said that Henderson continued his hitting progression in the cage Wednesday morning and took ground balls for the first time since suffering his ribs muscle injury in late February. “Both have gone extremely well,” Hyde said. The Orioles haven’t given a timeline for Henderson, and his availability for opening day remains up in the air.

Hyde spoke highly of the guest coaches who have made their way through Sarasota, including most recently Nick Markakis and John “T-Bone” Shelby. “I think it’s great for our guys to be around,” Hyde said. The skipper was asked which former Oriole he’d most want to be a guest coach in the future (among those who haven’t served as one yet). His answer: Mike Mussina, who Hyde would love to see teach “the art of pitching.”

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