Orioles’ spring training update: Mateo unlikely for Opening Day, Bautista on track, Rogers’ kneecap injury, Sugano waits on visa

SARASOTA—While most of the Orioles were healthy for their first workout of spring training on Thursday, there were two players who were absent, and a few with medical issues, according to executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias.

Tomoyuki Sugano, the 35-year-old Japanese right-hander, was reportedly acquiring his visa in Tokyo. Elias expects him to report over the weekend.

Zach Eflin, who could start on Opening Day, is with his wife, who gave birth to the couple’s fourth child, a baby boy. He’s also expected in a few days.

Elias said that infielder Jorge  Mateo, who had Tommy John surgery on his left elbow last August, was unlikely to be ready for Opening Day.

“Everything’s going well, but he’s likely to be held back in camp, probably not somebody we’re going to see in Grapefruit League until very, very late in camp,” Elias said. “That will probably put him in a position where he’s unlikely to make the Opening Day roster, but we anticipate him being a huge part of this team. He’s going to be back in the early part of the season, hopefully not too long after Opening Day. I would expect that he’ll miss Opening Day, but he’s in a very good spot.”

Elias thinks that Félix Bautista, the team’s closer who had Tommy John surgery in October 2023, will be ready for Opening Day.

“I think there’s a very good chance he’s ready for Opening Day,” Elias said. “It’s not something we’re going to force. I want to see where he’s at in game action here in Sarasota before we make that determination, but it’s very possible. We’re going to try to be smart about it with him.”

Bautista wasn’t in the clubhouse on Thursday morning when it was open to the press.

“Obviously, we have a team with strong playoff aspirations, and we want Félix to be a big part of that playoff push if we’re able to get that far, and so we’ll be keeping an eye on his buildup in that regard,” Elias said. “We’re going to take it slow. We’ll see him in Grapefruit League, but it will be a little bit later. We’re going to utilize the controlled environments of the backfields to make sure he’s kind of in a good position to take the reins off when we’re ready to throw him into game action.”

Left-hander Trevor Rogers, who was acquired last July from Miami, will be held back because of right kneecap subluxation (a subluxation is an incomplete or partial dislocation).

“That’s going to put him some number of weeks behind,” Elias said. “I don’t know the exact timetable on that, but right now, he’s still in the mode of recovering for that. When we start building him up, exactly still a little bit TBD. Safe to say this is going to put him materially behind schedule, and I would say, he misses Opening Day.”

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