PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Orioles left-hander Adam Loewen will likely be scratched from tomorrow's start because of discomfort in his left shoulder.
Loewen, who is nine months removed from elbow surgery, participated in pitcher fielding drills yesterday at Fort Lauderdale Stadium, but he either threw the ball underhand to second base or flipped it with his right hand. Club officials are hopeful the problem is nothing more than mild tendinitis.
"Nobody is too concerned," Orioles president Andy MacPhail said. "It might back him up a start."
Reached last night, Loewen acknowledged that he has felt soreness between starts but described it as normal and hadn't ruled out starting tomorrow.
"I feel fine to make my next start," he said. "That's the way I look at it. Every start I've had, I've felt no pain. If I had a little soreness in between starts, that's normal."
Loewen said he went to the athletic training room yesterday to start a more "aggressive treatment program" that will get rid of the soreness faster.
"I just wanted to get a stronger treatment schedule to nip it in the bud and be done with it," he said. "It's not supposed to be a big deal. I guess we'll see tomorrow."
MacPhail said it's not unusual for pitchers coming off elbow injuries to experience shoulder soreness during their comebacks. Loewen is 1-1 with a 9.53 ERA in three spring starts. He said he felt 100 percent healthy after his start Sunday, in which he allowed three runs and seven base runners in 2 2/3 innings.
MacPhail said Loewen, 23, will continue to get treatment on his shoulder, but there are no plans for him to get a magnetic resonance imaging.
If the Orioles lose Loewen for any length of time, they would have two open spots in their rotation behind Jeremy Guthrie, Steve Trachsel and Daniel Cabrera. It would be another serious blow to a team that has little starting pitching depth.
Troy Patton, a candidate for the fifth starter spot, has already been lost for the season. He's expected to have surgery to repair a labrum tear in his shoulder early next week.
Rotation competition
Orioles manager Dave Trembley is trying to narrow that list of fifth-starter candidates.
Matt Albers, Brian Burres, Hayden Penn, Garrett Olson, Radhames Liz, Lance Cormier and Jim Johnson are believed to be in the running, barring late trades or free-agent acquisitions. Penn allowed an unearned run in the fifth inning yesterday. Johnson retired all three batters he faced in the sixth. Olson will start today's game against the Minnesota Twins in Fort Lauderdale. Albers and Burres will pitch in a minor league game.
Scott getting healthy
Outfielder Luke Scott did some hitting and ran the bases in Fort Lauderdale to test his injured groin. He is nearing a return to the lineup.
Scott Moore can't run the bases and remains unavailable with a lower-abdominal strain. The injury has wrecked the Orioles' plans to evaluate him at the middle-infield positions and as a possible utility candidate.
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