Orioles’ Bundy gets first start; Cobb is scheduled to go Friday; Araujo makes pitch to sta

FORT MYERS, Fla.-What’s happening? –Dylan Bundy makes his spring debut against the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, Fla., today. Bundy will be followed by David Hess, Jimmy Yacabonis, Cody Carroll, Miguel Castro and Pedro Araujo.

Alex Cobb will make his first Grapefruit League start for the Orioles on Friday at Sarasota in the first half of a split-squad against the Tampa Bay Rays. Nate Karns will pitch the night game against the New York Yankees in Tampa.

Andrew Cashner will throw in a side session on Sunday before he’s scheduled for a start.

Josh Osich, acquired on Feb. 19 from the San Francisco Giants on a waiver claim, hasn’t pitched, and manager Brandon Hyde wants to make sure that he throws a live batting practice before he pitches in a  game.

Gregory Infante, who hasn’t reported to camp because he was ill in Venezuela, has arrived and is being examined by Orioles physicians in Miami.

Hyde said that he’d like to wait until at least after Friday’s split-squad games before making any cuts.

“I want to give these guys ample opportunity to get at-bats and get a couple of appearances under their belt before we start to get numbers down, but that’s coming up pretty soon,” Hyde said.

Hyde knows the Orioles’ defense must improve. “We have a long way to go defensively,” Hyde said. ‘We are getting there every single day. I really like the work that we’re putting in. We’re just scratching the surface on the defensive club we need to be, but our guys are working the right way.”

What’s happened?—Chance Sisco had five RBIs on two two-run home runs and an RBI single in the Orioles’ 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers, Fla.

Sisco is hitting .667 and has three home runs and eight RBIs.

Gabriel Ynoa allowed a run on three hits in two innings. Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a leadoff home run. Ynoa, who missed last season because of a shoulder injury and shin splints, is hoping to make the team as a non-roster invitee.

“This is a very important year for me,” Ynoa said though a translator. “They want to meet me, they want to see me out there, and I want to show them what I can do, and that I can help this team.”

Hyde said he thought Ynoa was “pretty good. He made a bad pitch the first hitter of the game. Hung an 0-2 changeup to the leadoff hitter that we’d obviously like to have back. After that, I thought he pitched well, threw some good sliders…Been around a little bit. Knows how to pitch.”

What’s up with?—Pedro Araujo. He was supposed to pitch in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s game, but rain ended it in the eighth. Araujo is scheduled to make his spring debut today against the Phillies.

A year ago, Araujo made the team as a Rule 5 draft choice, and was 1-3 with a 7.71 ERA in 20 games before an elbow injury ended his season in June.

“I was trying to do too much, trying to impress too many people,” Araujo said through a translator. “I need to take it more slowly, calm down, under control and just be myself.”

Araujo must spend the first 17 days of the season on the roster to enable the Orioles to option him freely.

“My mentality is to stay up in the big leagues the whole time and not allowing them to send me down,” Araujo said.

What’s what? The Orioles announced their promotions schedule, and there are some interesting new ones. On Aug. 9, they’ll have a 30^th anniversary reunion and a T-shirt giveaway honoring their 1989 “Why Not?” team.

There’ll be a Brooks Robinson bobblehead on July 16, and Star Wars Night on May 4 with fans receiving a BB-8 beanie.

Other promotions include Orioles Lunch Bag (April 7), Orioles Tote Bag (April 20) and A League of Their Own Night (May 11), featuring a showing of the move and a team shirt.

There’ll be two Bark at Oriole Park nights (May 29 and Sept. 10), LGBT Pride Night (June 12), Yoga at the Park (June 1) and the return of Floppy Hat Night (June 28) and Hawaiian Shirt Night (July 12).

Here is a full list.

What’s the word? “I don’t want to put too much stock into results, but I am putting a lot of results in showing their stuff and showing their aggressiveness, the kind of at-bats we take offensively, how they run the bases.”-Hyde on what he’s seen from the Orioles so far this spring. 

What’s the number? 4. The Orioles visit Fort Myers four times within a week. They played the Twins on Monday, the Red Sox Wednesday, return to play Boston again Saturday and visit Minnesota on March 4. 

What’s the record? 3-2. The Orioles play the Philadelphia Phillies at Spectrum Field at 1:05 p.m.