Jake Arrieta

The Orioles' decision to start right-hander Jake Arrieta on Wednesday instead of scheduled starter Brian Matusz included plenty of moving parts. Matusz, who bunted a ball off his nose before Tuesday's game, said he could have pitched - X-rays taken Tuesday night were negative and he said he could breathe fine through his nose - but manager Buck Showalter said he didn't want to risk Matusz having problems breathing early in his start, forcing the Orioles to use the bullpen early.

TORONTO - Right-hander Jake Arrieta , who hasn't pitched in 16 days, was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk before Thursday's game to make space on the 25-man roster for starter Kevin Gausman . Orioles manager Buck Showalter said the team was deciding between "two or three" possible moves but decided it was most important to get Arrieta back on the mound. While disappointed, Arrieta agreed. "I need to get innings," Arrieta said Thursday. "I need to pitch in games, whether it's here or there.

Orioles right-hander Jake Arrieta made a huge push toward solidifying his case for the team's fifth starter spot on Thursday night, tossing six shutout innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates -- his third straight scoreless Grapefruit League outing -- at Ed Smith Stadium. Arrieta hasn't allowed a run over 14 2/3 innings in his past three spring outings. He allowed an unearned run in an exhibition start against Spain's World Baseball Classic team in the outing before that stretch. In five Grapefruit League outings, Arrieta has allowed just three earned runs and 11 hits, recording a 1.56 ERA with 16 strikeouts and eight walks.

Jake Arrieta said he's going into his next start Monday against the New York Mets at CitiField refreshed and with a much better frame of mind than the cluttered one of frustration he experienced before being demoted to the bullpen. Arrieta, the Orioles' Opening Day starter, only spent a few days in the bullpen and never made an appearance there before receiving a spot start Wednesday against the Pirates. He took advantage of the opportunity with a seven-inning, one-run outing against Pittsburgh.

While watching Jake Arrieta struggle on the mound against the Phillies on Friday night, Orioles manager Buck Showalter firmly believed that sending Arrieta to Triple-A was the best solution. Arrieta himself thought it was a real possibility. He talked to his father on the phone Friday night about the likelihood. But the Orioles brass contemplated Arrieta's fate to the 11th hour and decided to move their Opening Day starter to the bullpen to work out his problems instead of optioning him to Norfolk.

UPDATE (4:22 p.m.): Jake Arrieta will start tonight because of the injury to Brian Matusz's nose, so his trip to the bullpen will have to wait. But that doesn't mean you can't still read John Smoltz's analysis on Arrieta and the O's.   There haven't been many pitchers in baseball history who could master the different mindsets necessary to thrive as both a starter and reliever. I had the opportunity to catch up with one of them Tuesday afternoon, and John Smoltz shared a bit of the psychology that comes with Jake Arrieta's transition into the bullpen.

It didn't take long for right-hander Jake Arrieta to retreat to the video room inside the Orioles' clubhouse to go over another tough start Wednesday afternoon. Shortly after the Orioles' 6-5 series-finale loss to the Boston Red Sox at Camden Yards, Arrieta could be found inside a dark room full of computers, trying to find answers to explain his up-and-down season. When the 26-year-old right-hander has pitched well, he has shown the potential to become the front-line ace the organization needs, but when he has struggled, he has had heads shaking.

Right-hander Jake Arrieta's demotion to the bullpen didn't last long. Arrieta will start tonight against the Pirates here at Camden Yards, as Orioles manager Buck Showalter decided to push scheduled starter Brian Matusz back two days after he bunted a ball off his nose before Tuesday's game. Arrieta, who has lost eight of his last nine starts, will work on normal rest, which made the decision easy for the Orioles. Arrieta was told he would start about four hours before the game.

The Orioles' decision-makers gathered in manager Buck Showalter's office Saturday afternoon to decide their next step with Jake Arrieta. Their closed-door discussion went to the brink of the deadline to make a roster move - three hours before the first pitch of their game against the Phillies. They weighed sending their struggling Opening Day starter toTriple-ANorfolk to work out his struggles, but ultimately decided otherwise, choosing to move Arrieta to the bullpen instead. The 26-year-old right-hander hasn't pitched as a reliever since his first days as an Orioles farmhand in 2007, when he threw 18 scoreless innings in the Arizona Fall League, but that's where the Orioles will try to rebuild him and his confidence.