This story was excerpted from Jake Rill¡¯s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BALTIMORE -- The Orioles¡¯ Birdland Caravan tour traveled around Maryland on Thursday and Friday, with the final stops taking place in various areas on Saturday. Ten players participated in events this year, and each of them met with the media at PBR Baltimore on Friday evening.

Here¡¯s a roundup of some of the topics that were discussed.

The Camden Yards left-field wall modifications

No player in baseball was tormented more by the cavernous left-field wall in Baltimore the past three seasons than Ryan Mountcastle. According to Statcast, the first baseman lost 11 home runs to the wall, which was pushed back from its original dimensions ahead of the 2022 season.

What was Mountcastle¡¯s first reaction when he heard the news in November that the Camden Yards left-field wall would be partially coming back in for 2025?

¡°Excited,¡± the 27-year-old said with a grin.

Mountcastle slugged a career-high 33 homers as a rookie in 2021, but his home run totals have dropped every year since -- from 22 in ¡®22, to 18 in ¡®23, to 13 in ¡®24. There¡¯s a good chance that number could go up in ¡®25, considering he plays half of his games at Camden Yards.

¡°It¡¯s a good feeling knowing you can pull the ball again and get good results out of it,¡± Mountcastle said. ¡°So, hopefully I can.¡±

Switch-hitting catcher Adley Rutschman -- who lost seven homers to the wall over the past three seasons -- felt the same way as Mountcastle when he learned of the upcoming change.

¡°I mean, I¡¯m not disappointed,¡± Rutschman said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s definitely nice as a righty, and maybe as a lefty a little bit better. I think everyone¡¯s excited.¡±

The impending arrival of Tomoyuki Sugano

Among the moves made by the Orioles this offseason was the signing of Sugano, a 35-year-old Japanese right-hander coming to MLB for the first time. A 12-year veteran of Japan¡¯s Central League, Sugano inked a one-year deal worth $13 million.

Manager Brandon Hyde met Sugano on two Zoom calls -- one that took place before he signed with Baltimore and another that occurred afterward. And Hyde is excited to slot the experienced righty into his club¡¯s 2025 rotation.

¡°Watched some video on him. I know our pitching guys dove into it, as well as our pro scouting department and front office,¡± Hyde said. ¡°He¡¯s a really impressive guy. He knows exactly what he¡¯s doing. He¡¯s had some amazing years in Japan. I¡¯ve never seen him throw, so looking forward to seeing him throw in Spring Training.¡±

During his introductory Zoom call with the Baltimore media on Dec. 19, Sugano expressed how excited he was to get to work with Rutschman, whom he called a ¡°fantastic catcher.¡± On Friday, Rutschman shared how eager he is to catch bullpen sessions and live batting practices from Sugano this spring.

¡°A lot of it¡¯s going to be once we get into bullpens in Spring Training, catching lives. But I think we¡¯ve already got a good feel,¡± Rutschman said. ¡°I think everyone¡¯s excited to actually have those in-person interactions.¡±

The recent postseason struggles

The Orioles have won 192 regular-season games over the past two seasons, but they¡¯ve gone 0-5 in the postseason. In 2023, they were swept in three games by the Rangers in the American League Division Series. Then, in ¡®24, they got swept in two games by the Royals in the AL Wild Card Series.

Several O¡¯s players shared their beliefs that the playoff failures will only help the team in 2025, including shortstop Gunnar Henderson and first baseman/designated hitter Ryan O'Hearn.

¡°That¡¯s my No. 1 goal, and it¡¯s been my No. 1 goal since I¡¯ve been up in the big leagues, is to make a strong playoff push. It stinks that we really haven¡¯t done that, and that¡¯s something that I¡¯m really looking forward to going through this year, is getting over that hump and making a strong push,¡± Henderson said. ¡°Every ongoing year, you get that experience. I mean, obviously, it hasn¡¯t been great experience, because we haven¡¯t gone very far. But any experience is good, especially with the young guys that we have on the team.¡±

¡°You can¡¯t replicate the playoffs. It¡¯s the height of the sport, it¡¯s the most pressure, the most eyes on you. It¡¯s something that until you experience it, you really don¡¯t know how you¡¯re going to react,¡± O¡¯Hearn said. ¡°We have that bad taste in our mouth. We want to do something special as a group. And we¡¯re going to take our past experiences and use that to benefit us.¡±