How are you feeling, Birdland? Between the scheduling uncertainty and the club’s first series sweep in almost two years, it’s been a week unlike any in recent memory for the Orioles. And this 60-game season, for all intents and purposes, is just getting started.

Let’s take Monday’s off-day as a chance to regroup, and take our first in-season dive into the ol’ Inbox.

Mountcastle must be getting close to an eligibility date. When he comes up, where does he play?
-- @BirdsofBlmore

“Where” is the easy part. It’s “when” that has everybody wondering.

At this juncture, the Orioles have been clear in their desire to see the majority of Ryan Mountcastle’s defensive reps come in left field. That’s where he began playing this spring, it’s where he worked out this summer, it’s where he’s training right now down at Bowie and it’s where he’s going to play when that Major League call finally does come. With Trey Mancini out for the year, Anthony Santander having moved over to right and DJ Stewart off to a slow start, there really isn’t much of a positional logjam that would prevent Mountcastle from getting as much playing time as possible.

The question, of course, is when does that opportunity arrive? The Orioles have been adamant in their belief that Mountcastle’s defensive and plate discipline issues warrant more development, despite his strong statistical year last summer. The date for the Orioles to acquire an extra year of club control has come and gone, so if they do keep Mountcastle in Bowie for much longer, it’s because they really believe the developmental work he’s getting there outweighs a few extra weeks of MLB game experience.

“We’re utilizing this time and when any of those guys are ready and the opportunity lines up, we’ll make that decision when it comes. But there is no script or plan or date for any [prospects],” general manager Mike Elias said this weekend. “The guys in Bowie are working on stuff. They are really working on stuff. We have all our technology down there. There is swing decision feedback. This is a unique opportunity to get real development work done outside the pressures of the game environment.”

What’s going on at the alternate training site? How are those guys spending their time?
-- @scottymoran11

Good question. Let’s see if I can lay this out as simply as possible. There are currently 23 players at the O’s alternate site in Bowie, including nine of the organization’s top 11 prospects per MLB Pipeline. Some -- like Adley Rutschman, Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall -- are focused strictly on development and are not candidates to be promoted this summer; Mountcastle, Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer are among the prospects who could be promoted and are actively working toward that goal. Players like Hunter Harvey and Dillon Tate are rehabbing injuries. And others still -- like Branden Kline and Cesar Valdez -- are non-prospects there as depth options in case a need arises at the Major League level.

The camp is being run by Triple-A manager Gary Kendall and Double-A skipper Buck Britton. They are playing a regular schedule of intrasquad games and have also tailored individual training plans for players to work on specific points of emphasis. Mountcastle’s plate discipline (pitch recognition technology sessions) and Yusniel Diaz’s strength (increased weight training) are two examples.

Which pitcher has a chance to be a surprise out of the bullpen this year?
-- @JasonBenowitz

I think we’ve already seen a few that have, the most prominent being Cole Sulser. The 30-year-old journeyman righty is going to continue to get high-leverage opportunities, including in the ninth, so get used to him.

Besides him, though, I’ve been saying Miguel Castro and Tanner Scott are breakout candidates for a while now. 2020 might be their years. Castro’s stuff has ticked up even more -- he’s throwing 99 mph sinkers -- and so far that’s translated into a handful of really nice appearances. Scott’s command issues aren’t completely gone, but he’s missing enough bats in a small sample to survive them for now. Whether he breaks out in earnest or not likely depends on how far he can walk that tightrope.

Which players are arbitration-eligible after this year?
-- @oriolesfactoids

As it stands now, the Orioles are looking at a large 10-man arbitration class for 2021. Let's break it down by year.

Third-year eligible: Mychal Givens

Second-year eligible: Trey Mancini, Hanser Alberto, Miguel Castro

First-year eligible: Shawn Armstrong, Anthony Santander, Pedro Severino, Pat Valaika, Asher Wojciechowski, Renato Núñez

With the Orioles opening spots on the 60-man roster, do you think Sedlock has a chance to get onto it and potentially reach the big league club?
-- @claytraingaming

Cody Sedlock is probably on the bubble, but he could be on the outside looking in. The Orioles want to keep one or two spots in their pool open for roster flexibility, so they have only about one spot left for prospects after adding outfielder Ryan McKenna, righty Kyle Bradish and lefty Bruce Zimmermann to their player pool on Monday. Sedlock might be still be in the mix, but it's also possible guys like shortstop Gunnar Henderson and southpaw Zac Lowther get priority.

Who is the most unsung prospect? The guy whose name we don't often say but will make the big league club and make a difference.
-- @fisher3030

Zimmermann.