Minor League

With several American League East opponents on the spring schedule, Orioles manager Buck Showalter has chosen to pitch some of his starters in minor league games at Twin Lakes Park. Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen got his work in during a Class-A game Monday. Right-hander Miguel Gonzalez threw five innings Wednesday at Twin Lakes. Next week, when the Orioles play back-to-back night games Wednesday and Thursday, Showalter said he will likely throw Jason Hammel and Chen in minor league games.

Just met with Orioles manager Buck Showalter prior to tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Sarasota. Here are some highlights: Brian Roberts is back in the Orioles lineup Thursday after fouling a ball off his ankle in the sixth inning Wednesday. He said he was fine; he was. Nolan Reimold is back out in left field for the second consecutive game. Showalter said previously that Reimold needs to play the field to be active on Opening Day. Right now, Showalter said he feels “good about [Reimold playing left field]

Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman, in what is likely was his last test before re-joining the big league rotation, threw three innings against Tampa Bay Rays Triple-A players Tuesday and felt no pain in his sore abdomen. “Felt good. It was a good step in the right direction,” he said. Tillman, who hadn't pitched in a big league spring training game since March 3, pitched for the second time this week at the Twin Lakes minor league complex and said he expects to get back on his regular turn next time out. If he pitches on four days of rest, he'd likely be scheduled for Sunday in Bradenton.

SARASOTA, Fla. - For the second time this spring, Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen went to the team's minor league complex at Twin Lakes Park on Monday's off day to build his innings and work on his pitches. Chen has made just two Grapefruit League starts this spring, partially because Orioles manager Buck Showalter wants to avoid pitching him against American League East competition in big league games. On Monday, he pitched five innings against a Rays Class-A team with no worry that major league hitters could see him there.

Orioles first-base prospect Tyler Townsend, a Delaware native who was the organization's third-round pick in 2009 out of Florida International, is hurt again and has no set timetable for returning to action. Townsend, 24, injured his right wrist in the offseason and entered minor league camp with that injury, according to a team official. He's now dealing with a hip flexor and has not been able to play in games. Once considered among the system's best power prospects, Townsend has been riddled with injuries and played in just 68 games last season - although he had six homers in 21 games for Double-A Bowie last year.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- One of the best stories in the Orioles organization last year got a little better on Monday. Old Mill graduate Josh Hader appeared in his first minor league spring training game Monday at Twin Lakes Park, throwing two scoreless innings. And because it was an off day on the major league level, executive vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter were there to watch. Think about that. You are an 18-year-old kid, and on your first outing of the year, months after being drafted, the brass from your childhood team is watching you.   “I saw them.

Orioles minor league pitcher Jonatan Isenia suffered a strained right elbow injury while pitching for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. The 19-year-old Curacao native will be replaced on the Netherlands roster by Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen. Isenia threw just 3 2/3 innings in the World Baseball Classic, allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts and two walks. He was added to the Netherlands roster when the final rosters were released. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Isenia pitched for the Orioles' Dominican Summer League team last season, going 0-1 with a 1.47 ERA in 13 relief appearances and allowing 14 hits with 10 strikeouts over 18 1/3 innings.

The Orioles reassigned a pair of non-roster invitees, catcher Jose Gil and infielder Nuiman Romero, to minor league camp on Thursday. The moves leave 51 players remaining in big league camp, 14 of them non-roster invitees. Romero was 4-for-11 with and RBI and a walk in 12 Grapefruit League games. Gil was 0-for-10 with five strikesouts in seven spring games.  

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles manager Buck Showalter and his staff spend the spring breaking down the game into increments of 90 feet - the distance between the basepaths. But one ninth-inning mistake in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Tampa Bay Rays -- a catcher's interference call on Luis Exposito that allowed the eventual winning run to score -- cost the Orioles a 4-3 decision in front of a record-setting announced 8,797 at Ed Smith Stadium. Rays top prospect Wil Myers laced a leadoff double to left-center off Orioles top prospect Dylan Bundy in the ninth, and he moved to third on a wild pitch by Bundy.