League Club

Orioles left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada, who is recovering from last May's Tommy John surgery, will make his first minor league rehab start for Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday afternoon at Lehigh Valley. It will be the first time Wada pitches in a minor league game since last April, when he lasted just 2 2/3 innings in a minor league rehab start for Norfolk. Wada, a former standout in the Japanese Pacific League who signed a two-year, $8.14 million contract before the 2012 season, has yet to pitch in a regular season game for the Orioles.

Orioles left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada, who is recovering from last May's Tommy John surgery, will make his first minor league rehab start for Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday afternoon at Lehigh Valley. It will be the first time Wada pitches in a minor league game since last April, when he lasted just 2 2/3 innings in a minor league rehab start for Norfolk. Wada, a former standout in the Japanese Pacific League who signed a two-year, $8.14 million contract before the 2012 season, has yet to pitch in a regular season game for the Orioles.

The decision the Orioles face with Ryan Flaherty was already one of the most difficult ones of the of the spring before major league camp began, and as the team's days in Sarasota are whittled away, the 26-year-old utilityman has done nothing to make the organization's choice any easier. Last season, as the Orioles' Rule 5 draft pick, the choice was more definitive. If the Orioles didn't keep Flaherty on the roster for the entire season, they'd very likely lose him. This year, Flaherty can be optioned to the minor leagues.

Xavier Avery is not satisfied. Since being taken in the second round by the Orioles in 2008, the 23-year-old outfielder has risen through the minor league system and consistently found himself listed among the organization's best prospects. Last season, he played 32 games in three stints with the big league club and spent the rest of the year with Triple-A Norfolk. But after just a brief look this spring, Avery finds himself at Double-A Bowie, a victim of improved outfield depth in the organization, as he battles for another shot to impress the Orioles.

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Outwardly, Dylan Bundy made it clear that he came to his second big league spring training with the goal of winning a starting rotation spot with the Orioles. But despite the tremendous amount of upside and talent the organization's top prospects possesses, it quickly became clear that Bundy being sent to the minors was less a question of if than when. With two weeks remaining in spring training and Orioles pitchers beginning to get stretched out for the regular season, Grapefruit League innings are suddenly becoming scarce.

Right-hander Daniel McCutchen, whom the Orioles signed to a minor league deal this winter and was sent out of camp March 23, has been suspended for 50 games for violating the league's drug policy for using a banned substance. According to a Major League Baseball press release, McCutchen tested positive for Methenolone and a metabolite of Trenbolone. The suspension begins immediately. McCutchen, 29, was 1-0 with a 6.14 ERA in 7 1/3 innings over seven games this spring with the Orioles.

Xavier Avery is not satisfied. Since being taken in the second round by the Orioles in 2008, the 23-year-old outfielder has risen through the minor league system and consistently found himself listed among the organization's best prospects. Last season, he played 32 games in three stints with the big league club and spent the rest of the year with Triple-A Norfolk. But after just a brief look this spring, Avery finds himself at Double-A Bowie, a victim of improved outfield depth in the organization, as he battles for another shot to impress the Orioles.

Jair Jurrjens said late last week that he didn't expect he'd have his physical in Baltimore until at least mid-week. I am being told it likely will be Thursday and could bleed into Friday before an announcement is made. Nothing unusual there. Jurrjens agreed to terms on a one-year, major league deal last week and will compete for a rotation spot. He has minor league options remaining, so he can be sent down if he doesn't make the big league club. The Orioles have signed another outfielder with major league experience to a minor league deal.

Two older gentlemen sit in the back of the press box, arguing over the validity of the diving catch the Bowie Baysox right fielder just made. "I'm going to give Barfield defensive player of the game after that catch," one of the two Baysox staffers exclaims, while his counterpart shakes his head and looks down at his scorebook. "No way. He took the wrong angle," the other says. "It was a nice catch but only because he was out of position. " So it goes in the career of Josh Barfield, the former top prospect of the San Diego Padres who now finds himself as a 29-year-old utility man for the Orioles' Double-A affiliate.

After more than a year of being out of big league baseball while attempting to rise above concussion symptoms, second baseman Brian Roberts is back in the game. He started his rehab assignment Wednesday in Double-A Bowie. The clock now starts ticking. He has 20 days to be activated by the big league club, though the team can halt the clock if he suffers a relapse or another injury. Otherwise, they would have to waive him, and the Orioles won't do that with their most veteran player and $10 million man. So the next three weeks are going to be interesting.

Right-hander Daniel McCutchen, whom the Orioles signed to a minor league deal this winter and was sent out of camp March 23, has been suspended for 50 games for violating the league's drug policy for using a banned substance. According to a Major League Baseball press release, McCutchen tested positive for Methenolone and a metabolite of Trenbolone. The suspension begins immediately. McCutchen, 29, was 1-0 with a 6.14 ERA in 7 1/3 innings over seven games this spring with the Orioles.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Veteran right-hander Freddy Garcia, who was signed to a minor league deal on Friday, arrived at the Orioles' minor league facility at Twin Lakes Park on Sunday morning, passed his physical and threw a bullpen session in front of Orioles coaches. Wearing a No. 9 jersey without a name on the back, the 14-year veteran said he feels ready for the season - he threw five innings and about 80 pitches in last Saturday in his final start with the Padres before his release - and hopes he can get back to the big leagues with the Orioles.

The decision the Orioles face with Ryan Flaherty was already one of the most difficult ones of the of the spring before major league camp began, and as the team's days in Sarasota are whittled away, the 26-year-old utilityman has done nothing to make the organization's choice any easier. Last season, as the Orioles' Rule 5 draft pick, the choice was more definitive. If the Orioles didn't keep Flaherty on the roster for the entire season, they'd very likely lose him. This year, Flaherty can be optioned to the minor leagues.

Orioles left-hander Brian Matusz's five-inning, one-run outing on Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers continues to make this spring battle for the No. 5 rotation spot tight with less than two weeks to go in big league camp. On Tuesday, Matusz was very aggressive in pounding the strike zone. Both Matusz and Buck Showalter agreed that Matusz probably was too aggressive and needed to try to bury a couple more sliders while ahead in the count to keep hitters off balance.

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Outwardly, Dylan Bundy made it clear that he came to his second big league spring training with the goal of winning a starting rotation spot with the Orioles. But despite the tremendous amount of upside and talent the organization's top prospects possesses, it quickly became clear that Bundy being sent to the minors was less a question of if than when. With two weeks remaining in spring training and Orioles pitchers beginning to get stretched out for the regular season, Grapefruit League innings are suddenly becoming scarce.

-- The Orioles made a few more cuts Monday, optioning three members of their 40-man roster to Triple-A Norfolk while bringing the number of players in big league camp to 53 with three weeks remaining in spring training. It was no surprise that outfielder Xavier Avery, right-hander Zach Clark and lefty Mike Belfiore, all of whom could have roles with the big league club at some point this season, were sent out to get more consistent playing time. The 23-year-old Avery, who hit .223 in 32 games for the Orioles in 2012, had just two singles in 11 at-bats this spring.

The Orioles have placed infielder Wilson Betemit on the 15-day disabled list after an MRI taken before Thursday's game showed a small cartilage tear in his right wrist and a deep bone bruise. First baseman Joe Mahoney was called up from Triple-A Norfolk to replace Betemit on the roster. Betemit hadn't played in a game since Saturday. Before the call-up of rookie Manny Machado last week, Betemit had become the team's everyday third baseman. The switch-hitting Betemit has been one of the club's best hitters against right-handed pitching, batting .306 from the left side of the plate.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Kevin Gausman, the Orioles' first-round pick last season out of LSU, threw his first bullpen session with the big league club Thursday. Gausman said he hasn't been informed of any innings count limit for this season, but Orioles manager Buck Showalter has indicated that Gausman and Dylan Bundy will be paced so that they are available to the major league club in September and October. Gausman, a 22-year-old right-hander, threw in front of pitching coach Rick Adair late last season during a road series in Tampa Bay, but Thursday's was his first structured session in his first big league camp.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- When the Orioles claimed Russ Canzler off waivers last week, the 26-year-old first baseman-outfielder had been planning to spend spring training in Tampa with the Yankees. He had already booked his housing, his transportation, everything. But Canzler has become used to being flexible during a zany offseason that included him being placed on waivers four times. He's been claimed each time. Since mid-December, Canzler was on the 40-man rosters of the Indians, Blue Jays, Indians again, Yankees and then the Orioles.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Kevin Gausman, the Orioles' first-round pick last season out of LSU, threw his first bullpen session with the big league club Thursday. Gausman said he hasn't been informed of any innings count limit for this season, but Orioles manager Buck Showalter has indicated that Gausman and Dylan Bundy will be paced so that they are available to the major league club in September and October. Gausman, a 22-year-old right-hander, threw in front of pitching coach Rick Adair late last season during a road series in Tampa Bay, but Thursday's was his first structured session in his first big league camp.