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With three weeks of the regular season now in the books, it’s becoming evident that this could be one heck of a roller-coaster season for the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles lost five straight games but then busted out in Sunday’s contest against the Boston Red Sox, scoring 18 runs.

Defensive errors and mental mistakes have plagued the Orioles so far this season, and all of their losing woes have seemingly come at their own hand.

With veterans J.J. Hardy and Matt Wieters still shelved, a large part of the clubhouse leadership is missing, which could possibly be a detriment to team chemistry.

With a handful of newcomers to the team, it’s important that they get up to speed with the Oriole way and understand that fundamentals and defense come first in manager Buck Showalter‘s mindset.

Baltimore’s newest acquisitions have had their share of successes and failures so far, so let’s look deeper into their individual performances.

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Pitchers and catchers reported last week to their respective clubs for spring training, and now the full squads have shown up ready to get back into playing shape.

The Baltimore Orioles will be looking to get right back into things, as they will be looking to defend their AL East division crown from last season and will be striving to be serious contenders once again in a much improved American League.

Across the board, there is a lot of talent in the Orioles’ organization including those in the minor leagues. Several starting pitchers and hitting prospects will be looking to impress manager Buck Showalter and company in hopes of earning one of the final spots on Baltimore’s 25-man roster.

Nearly all starting positions have clear-cut locks as to who should be starting, but there are still a few spots here and there that are up for grabs.

What follows is a position-by-position breakdown for the Baltimore Orioles at 2015 spring training.

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Spring training has officially kicked off for the majority of MLB teams, and they are all excited to see what players of theirs will step up and put them above preseason expectations.

For the Baltimore Orioles, not much talent was brought in this offseason, which means they will have to hope for several of their younger guys to take the next step in reaching their individual potentials.

Last season, the Orioles saw a few players break out to make considerable impacts on the club.

Steve Pearce is the perfect example of a breakout player who was not expected to do much in the 2014 season.

Last season, Pearce hit for a .293 batting average, nearly 40 points higher than his career average, and hit 21 of his 38 career home runs while helping the Birds to an ALCS appearance.

Orioles ace Chris Tillman was another player who broke out in a big way.

Tillman posted a career-best 3.34 ERA when pitching a full season’s worth of starts and managed to pass the 200-inning milestone for the second time in two seasons.

Who will be this year’s breakout performers for the Orioles?

Let’s take a look into the three best candidates to do so.

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The Baltimore Orioles are set to put on an encore performance of last year’s ALCS run. A majority of their team is intact, and they are banking on many of their players taking the next step forward in their individual progressions.

While the Orioles have been extremely quiet this offseason, they will be looking to finish the 2015 season as a top 10 team in both offense (runs) and pitching (ERA), just as they did in 2014. Despite losing two of their lineup stalwarts in right fielder Nick Markakis and designated hitter/outfielder Nelson Cruz, the Orioles will have more than enough firepower returning to the lineup from the get-go.

Down on the farm, there isn’t much depth past the top echelon of prospects, but the boys at the top expect to be game-changers at the major league level.

Spring training officially kicks off when pitchers and catchers report down in Sarasota, Florida on Feb. 19. The rest of the club reports on Feb. 24, and the first full squad workout takes place the following day.

Here is your complete spring training preview for the 2015 Baltimore Orioles.

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We are now less than three weeks away until pitchers and catchers report to their respective teams for spring training, and players and fans everywhere are gearing up for what should be another exciting MLB season.

For the Baltimore Orioles, they’ll be looking to return to tip-top shape and pick up where they left off at the end of one of their most historic postseason runs in team history.

In addition to shaking off the rust, spring training will offer manager Buck Showalter and Co. time to evaluate some of their fringe players who are on the cusp of making the major league roster.

Their decisions won’t be easy considering the Orioles’ brass needs to take into account minor league options available to some of their major league players, as well as a pair of Rule 5 selections in right-handed pitchers Jason Garcia and Logan Verrett.

A large portion of last season’s roster will be returning, however, and there are still a few key decisions that will eventually need to be made regarding starters.

As of right now, right field seems to be the position that will be most highly contested come spring training.

It seems as if Alejandro De Aza will be the everyday leadoff man and starting left fielder for the Orioles in 2015, with incumbent All-Star Adam Jones manning center field per usual.

That leaves a bit of a question mark for who will end up with the starting right fielder gig.

The Orioles acquired left-handed hitting outfielder Travis Snider in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates, which involved sending left-handed pitching prospect Stephen Tarpley to the steel city.

Snider, who hit for a .264 batting average with a .338 on-base percentage, seems like the best bet to win the job when you add in his above-average defensive ability.

Snider totaled just 13 homers in 2014, but it isn’t hard to imagine him hitting at least 20 in a hitter’s haven like Camden Yards.

A few other candidates for the right field position include Steve Pearce, David Lough and Dariel Alvarez.

If the Orioles were to start Snider in right field, they would then remove the need to play Pearce in the outfield just to keep his bat in the lineup.

Pearce’s everyday role would either be at first or designated hitter with Chris Davis holding down the other slot.

Lough’s hopes at having a starting role in 2015 were essentially torn away after the trade for Snider.

In 197 plate appearances in 2014, Lough only managed to tally four homers and eight stolen bases with a .247/.309/.385 slash line.

Lough’s only true advantage over Snider is his speed and base-running ability, which Snider makes up for and then some with his on-base skills and power from the left side.

With the lack of opportunity given the logjam in the outfield positions, the best option for Alvarez is to get as many at-bats as he can in the minors and fine-tune his skills.

In an interview with MASNSports.com’s Steve Melewski, Jeff Manto, Orioles’ coordinator of minor league hitting, had this to say on Alvarez’s next step in improvement:

His next step is pitch recognition and realizing what pitchers are doing.

It may hurt him, all that swinging. He has to get a little more disciplined.

The best hitting coach for him at this point is going to be the opposing pitcher. They are going to give him all kinds of information as to what he needs to do. That is what is going on right now in Norfolk. He is seeing 1-0 and first-pitch sliders. And if he doesn’t hit them, he won’t need a hitting coach to realize he has to lay off that thing.

No matter how bleak Alvarez’s chances look to earn a starting spot and at the least make the Opening Day roster, he could still earn a call-up midseason depending on his improvement at the Triple-A level.

One thing is for sure, though; you can never have too much depth.

Snider: 80 percent

Pearce: 12 percent

Lough: 6 percent

Alvarez: 2 percent

All statistics provided by Baseball Reference unless otherwise noted.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Baltimore Orioles are heading into the 2015 season with a less-than-below-average farm system after stud righty Kevin Gausman and second baseman of the future Jonathan Schoop shed their prospect labels this past year.

In addition to the loss of a highly ranked lefty in Eduardo Rodriguez, who was involved in a trade that netted reliever Andrew Miller from the Boston Red Sox, the Orioles are going to need to get a lot of value out of some of their prospects outside of the elite tier.

Top prospect Dylan Bundy is hoping to make a significant impact at the major league level this season, after being selected fourth overall in 2011. After several setbacks, Bundy needs an uninterrupted season in order for him to complete his development into a major league hurler.

All is going according to plan with fellow blue-chip Hunter Harvey, who dazzled in his first full professional season, compiling a 3.18 ERA with the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds in 17 starts.

First baseman Christian Walker will be looking at securing a considerable amount of playing time at designated hitter this year, as it looks more and more likely that Steve Pearce will man left field with Chris Davis holding down first.

That leaves us with several prospects who no one has been talking about but could turn a few heads as early as this season.

Here’s a look into the most underrated prospects in the Orioles farm system right now, ranked in order of most major league ready.

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The Baltimore Orioles have had a characteristically quiet offseason so far, but it has been extremely quiet even for a club such as Baltimore that tends to not overspend and rather builds from within.

While other teams have been working the telephones organizing blockbuster trades or courting huge free-agent superstars, the Orioles have been content with what got them to the American League Championship Series in 2014.

If it ain’t broke, they won’t fix it.

Nonetheless, the decision to not bring back either corner outfielder in Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis has opened up opportunities for other players to inherit more playing time than they would have been given had the club chosen to re-sign either free agent.

In addition, the decision not to move any of the club’s impending free-agent starting pitchers has caused a logjam at the position, leaving one man out due to the positional surplus.

While any organizational move has the chance to put a negative impact on any player’s season or even career, it seems that Baltimore’s lack of activity this offseason has opened up a lot of opportunity for playing time across the board.

Let’s take a look into the biggest winners and losers on the Baltimore Orioles this offseason.

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The 2014 winter meetings have come and gone, and for the Baltimore Orioles, no transactions occurred that could have improved the team aside from a few Rule 5 draft selections.

The Orioles acquired right-handed pitcher Jason Garcia from the Houston Astros in exchange for cash considerations and also claimed right-handed pitcher Logan Verrett from the New York Mets.

In subtraction, though, the Orioles lost lefty Scott Barnes to the Texas Rangers after he was claimed off waivers.

Rule 5 selections have worked out for Baltimore in the past in the forms of utility infielder Ryan Flaherty and relief pitcher T.J. McFarland, but high expectations shouldn’t be placed on this pair of incoming hurlers.

The Orioles should instead be looking at other areas to fill some glaring needs.

Per Eduardo A. Encina of The Baltimore Sun, Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said he is looking for bullpen help and needs a left-hander to replace shutdown reliever Andrew Miller. The Orioles will go after value, however, looking to sign pitchers who are coming off bad seasons but have a prior track record of success.

Encina also notes that the Orioles would ideally like to add one hitter from each side of the plate to plug in holes in the outfield and at designated hitter.

Baltimore may be content now not making a move to sign a free-agent corner outfielder, considering one of the biggest names on the market, Melky Cabrera, signed with the Chicago White Sox, which left the free-agent pool for corner outfielders very depleted.

The Orioles may just stick with where their offense is right now considering Steve Pearce can play a corner outfield position, alleviating the need to play both Alejandro De Aza and David Lough.

First baseman Chris Davis would then take over designated hitter duties, while fellow first baseman Christian Walker would get the opportunity to develop with full-time action.

John Sickels of MinorLeagueBall.com projects Walker to be a .270 to .280 batting average hitter, with 20-homer power and a reasonable on-base percentage. Sickels suggests that he may turn into a player with the caliber of Lucas Duda or Matt Adams.

The Orioles’ prime focus in improving the club before Opening Day would be to acquire an affordable lefty reliever, whether it be by trade or free-agent signing.

The Orioles may opt to move Brian Matusz in a trade considering he is coming off an underwhelming year and made $2.4 million in 2014. Potential trade partners may view Matusz as a starter and thus would place a higher value on him than the Orioles have.

Money freed up in any potential trade involving Matusz would help the Orioles afford a quality lefty reliever if they opt not to go bargain bin shopping.

Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how Duquette and company choose to attack the rest of the offseason considering no notable moves were made at the winter meetings.

We’ve seen late moves from him work out in the past, so the panic button can be tucked away…at least for now.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Baltimore Orioles have secured their spot in the 2014 MLB playoffs as they clinched the AL East division crown last Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

While the Orioles have lost a few vital pieces, the club has embraced the “next man up” mentality. It’s not a question whether someone may be a good replacement—he needs to be.

The Orioles have also been relying on their younger players more than they have in the past.

One player of note is second baseman Jonathan Schoop, who has stayed up with the major league club all season long after an incredible performance in spring training.

It was clear that Schoop was the most major league-ready prospect in the system who fit their need in filling a hole at second base at the time.

Looking ahead to next season, it’s interesting to see who will be the next Schoop for this club and make a considerable impact with essentially no major league experience under their belt.

Here’s a look at the top major league-ready prospects for the 2015 season.

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The Baltimore Orioles have been on a tear in the past week, winning eight of their last nine games and further lengthening their division lead in the AL East to 12.5 games over the Toronto Blue Jays.

At this point, the Orioles have managed to dwindle down their magic number to clinch the division all the way to just one game, which means they could capture the division crown as early as Tuesday night.

The team has been adapting to several changes within the club, which includes the 25-game suspension of first baseman Chris Davis after testing positive for amphetamines and the addition of several key players, including outfielder Alejandro De Aza and utility infielder Kelly Johnson.

A group of players who could go unnoticed, however, are the September call-ups, which haven’t made considerable impacts as of yet but have seen action that would indicate their roles in the coming weeks.

Here are a few things we’ve learned so far from some of the September call-ups and what they might mean going forward.

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