SARASOTA, Fla. — Cole Irvin wanted to quickly envelop himself in the history of his new team. In an unintentional ode to the 2022 Orioles, he did so with T-shirts.

With a clubhouse culture devoted to winning and collection of clothing recognizing the club’s personalities and successes, last year’s Orioles won 31 more games than the previous season, riding good vibes and a massively improved pitching staff. Throughout the year, new tees sprouted in Baltimore’s locker room: the word “Chaos” in classic Orioles script, reflecting the unexpectedness of their breakout; a tribute to closer Félix Bautista’s “The Wire”-themed entrance as the team’s closer; the angry Oriole Bird logo donning the team’s home run chain.

Irvin, a left-handed starter acquired last month in a trade with the Oakland Athletics, brought his own collection to Ed Smith Stadium. Before and after Thursday’s first official workout, he donned a shirt featurRipken Jr. He walked the clubhouse Friday with a tee recognizing Oriole Park, the team’s 31-year-old ballpark; he noted the image was “pre-Mount Walltimore,” a moniker for the venue’s new left field dimensions.

But Irvin’s wardrobe and buoyant personality aren’t an attempt to establish a new aura. Like the team at large, he’s simply hoping to build on last year.

“There’s a good buzz,” Irvin said. “It’s a good energy, and that’s what happens when you’re coming off a pretty successful season, based on where the team has been.

“We’re all just trying to get together as quickly as we can and be able to put on a show when we hit the road.”

After posting one of the majors’ five worst records in four straight seasons, the Orioles went 83-79 in 2022, finishing as the American League’s best team to miss the postseason. Although Irvin wasn’t part of the campaign, he said he’s sensed the residual effect, comparing it with what he felt with the Philadelphia Phillies heading into 2020 and in Oakland’s camp the next year coming off a playoff appearance.

“When a team is getting close to the postseason, there’s a little bit more eagerness to get the camp,” Irvin said. “There’s a little bit more guys are early, there’s a little bit more energy throughout the clubhouse and on the field, and the intensity’s there, so I think that’s just what it is. There’s an eagerness about it.”

Earlier this month, executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said the Orioles’ rebuild is “behind us” and has repeatedly said his goal for this year’s team is to reach the playoffs. Players who endured the losing seasons welcomed having that be the stated objective as camp began.

“Most of the time, going into spring, we didn’t have much expectations,” said first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who made his debut in 2020. “Now, we do, so anytime you do have that, it’s definitely pretty cool.”

Despite those internal beliefs, the public is dragging behind. The projection systems PECOTA and ZiPS, which use players’ past performance to predict future outcomes, forecast the Orioles to win 74 and 80 games, respectively, with many sportsbooks setting Baltimore’s expected win total around 77 victories.

“Those are lower than I would expect to see,” Elias said. “Look, I think that’s the nature of it. You kind of tend to have some in-house bias, so to speak, on your own players with any kind of projections because you’re acquiring and keeping those players for those reasons, but we really like this team. It’s going to be a dogfight, I know that, but I think we’ve got a good shot to get into the playoffs this year, and we’re going for that.”

Players are aiming even higher. Right-hander Mychal Givens arrived in the majors with Baltimore in 2015 and pitched out of the Orioles’ bullpen until being traded to the Colorado Rockies in 2020, part of the rebuild’s pattern of moving experienced major leaguers for prospects. Re-signed this offseason, he joins Irvin, right-handed starter Kyle Gibson, second baseman Adam Frazier and catcher James McCann as the Orioles’ significant offseason additions.

Givens brings with him perspective on the organization, having pitching for Baltimore during the end of its five-year run as the AL’s most successful team and into the rebuild’s early seasons, back now as the Orioles return to an effort to compete while possessing the sport’s top-ranked minor league system. He mentioned the smile Elias had on his face when they saw each at Ed Smith Stadium on Thursday.

“Still a lot to do, but he’s accomplished a lot, I believe, from what I’ve seen and seeing all the great prospects,” Givens said. “… Our end goal is to try to win a World Series. Not try to get to the playoffs, to try to win a World Series, and I think with the talent they have, we just need to try to be consistent. James McCann and Kyle Gibson and Adam Frazier have had great careers, and we’re gonna try our best to just not stand in the way and just help the young guys.”

Both Elias and manager Brandon Hyde have both said this is the deepest group of players they’ve had in their five springs leading the team. In addition to the newcomers, the Orioles have players who established themselves as core pieces during the rebuild’s challenging years; others who broke out alongside the team in 2022; and a wave of young talent, led by current or former top prospects Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez, collectively approaching their first full major league seasons. Given how the Orioles played in 2022, especially the 89-win pace they had after Rutschman was called up in late May, they’ve begun spring training confident in their chances in building on it.

“There’s conversations going on right now that I didn’t hear the last three or four years, and so that’s extremely positive,” Hyde said. “I think our guys, the way we played that second half, really from June on, they have every right to feel like they could be a team that’s playing in October.”