FORT MYERS, Fla. -- It happens in Spring Training: A manager needs to begin stretching out his pitching staff and soon he runs out of innings.

Such was the case on Monday for right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis, scheduled to throw an inning of relief against the Twins. But he got caught up in the numbers and instead was left back in camp to throw live batting practice there.

“We had [pitching coach Doug Brocail] stay back with him, face some hitters,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, who had Jesus Sucre do the catching for Yacabonis. “We had just so many innings for the game today.”

Hyde’s plan on Monday included extending right-hander David Hess and righty starter Dylan Bundy to three innings apiece.

“That kind of fell on Yac’s day and so we threw him on the back field,” Hyde said. “[Mark] Trumbo is hitting off of him. Some other guys are taking some at-bats against him.”

Bundy went three innings in his second spring start, a 9-4 O's win, allowing three runs on five hits, including two homers. Bundy led the American League last season in home runs allowed (41).

“Pitch-wise, I thought all my pitches were better today,” Bundy said. “Now the location, the fastball was not so good from that.”

With the additional inning, Bundy was able to mix in his curveball, which he was pleased with.

“That’s what I was going to do today, throw some curveballs in there and see what the action was,” said Bundy, who added that working on the changeup to right-handed batters is a focus as well.

Hess worked three perfect innings on Monday, retiring all nine batters he faced and striking out three.

Those additional innings of work just don’t leave enough for everyone, especially with so many questions still lingering.

“I think we’re just so unclear on our No. 4, 5 [starters], long [relief] guy, who’s in our bullpen,” Hyde said. “So we want to see so many guys throw, and we’re not sure who’s a starter yet and who’s not a starter. Allowing guys to throw multiple innings, we just don’t have enough innings. So we have to do back field stuff, ‘B’ game type stuff to get guys stretched out.”

Over two seasons with the Orioles, the 26-year-old Yacabonis has appeared in 26 games, including seven starts, with a 2-2 record and a 5.04 ERA.

Nunez slams

Renato Nunez belted a third-inning grand slam on Monday, his first home run of the spring. Patience at the plate made the difference for him the second time around.

“I feel like I’ve been having better at-bats,” Nunez said. “I’m trying to see more pitches. My first at-bat today, I swung at the first pitch. My second at-bat, I took my time, saw a couple of pitches. I think that’s what [the difference] is.”

Listed on the Orioles’ depth chart as the starting third baseman, Nunez played first base on Monday and he took the switch in stride.

“I played first base today, I don’t mind it at all,” Nunez said. “I play first, third, whatever the manager wants me to play.”

Sucre expected to see action later in week

Sucre caught live BP from Yacabonis back in camp on Monday. Based on that, Hyde said he’d determine when the Venezuelan would see game time.

“I’m going to talk to him tomorrow about how today went,” Hyde said. “I think we could target Thursday or Friday for a few innings behind the plate. But I don’t want to rush him back. I want to make sure he’s fully ready to go before I get him back there.”

Sucre’s arrival into camp was delayed by paperwork. He arrived in Florida on Thursday night.

Next two weeks crucial in evaluation

It’s still early, but Hyde is about to step up the evaluation period.

“Guys are still coming into the mix,” Hyde noted. “Sucre just got here [for example]. I think you’re going to see guys play more back-to-back games now to increase their at-bats. You start playing the guys that you feel have a better chance of making the club more here as we go along.

“I think these next two weeks, that will be the separator,” said Hyde, who said he is generally pleased with the progress the team has made this spring.

“There’s multiple spots on the roster where we still at this point have no idea,” Hyde said. “But I’m encouraged by those guys playing well. That’s the great thing. A lot of guys are playing well. So they’re making our decision hard, which is what you want. “

Up next

The Orioles return to Ed Smith Stadium to host the Pirates on Tuesday for a 1:05 p.m. ET game. Right-hander Alex Cobb gets the start for the O's. Left-hander Josh Rogers and righties Nate Karns, Mychal Givens and Josh Lucas are also expected to take the mound for Baltimore. The Bucs counter with starting right-hander Chris Archer.