Orioles Pitcher

Orioles pitcher Zach Britton went into his second throwing session today feeling optimistic about the left-shoulder inflammation that's been bothering him since August. Britton, 24, threw for this first time this spring Thursday in a long-toss session. He's planning to throw again today. If all goes well, he will throw on back-to-back days for the first time Monday and Tuesday, take Wednesday off, then throw Thursday and Friday. It seems like this is just the beginning of Britton's "throwing progression," as the club called it. He threw from a mound just once this offseason and doesn't figure to do so here in camp for about two weeks.  Britton couldn't seem to shake the pain in the shoulder, despite having gone on and off anti-inflammatory medication since returning from the disabled list in last August and shutting himself down for two weeks after his first offseason throwing session.

When Colorado Rockies left-hander Jamie Moyer became - at 49 - the oldest pitcher in history to win a major league game last Tuesday night, it probably didn't cross his mind that a few million middle-aged guys suddenly felt a little bit younger and lot more alive. It wasn't about that. It wasn't some quest to prove that life begins at almost 50, or to prove anybody wrong. It wasn't to write his name in the record book or write out Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Jack Quinn, who was a couple months younger when he set the record 80 years ago that Moyer just broke.

Alfredo Simon, a 29-year-old pitcher who became a key component of the Orioles' bullpen last season, is suspected of fatally shooting a man and wounding another during a New Year's Eve celebration in the Dominican Republic, police there said Sunday. Police in the northern coastal province of Puerto Plata obtained an arrest warrant for Simon and said they wanted to question him about the incident, which they said occurred as revelers gathered in a park in the resort town of Luperon.

After his final outing of the spring Tuesday, Orioles left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada said he felt physically ready to join the big league club for Opening Day in Baltimore on Friday. But the Orioles brass believes Wada, who signed a two-year, $8.14 million contract in December, will benefit from remaining in Sarasota to build his arm strength and pitch count. Manager Buck Showalter said Tuesday that Wada will begin the season on the disabled list. He will make a minimum of two starts - his first in an extended spring training game scheduled for Monday - in hopes of reaching a pitch count of 90. His second start could be a minor league rehabilitation assignment.

The 17-year-old Dominican boy who police suspect was shot in the right arm by Orioles pitcher Alfredo Simon during a New Year's party told a reporter Tuesday that it was indeed Simon who had fired the shots that wounded him and killed his 25-year-old half brother. Simon, who is in custody pending charges, told police after turning himself in Monday that he had been firing celebratory shots into the air and that the death of Michael Esteban Castillo Almonte and the wounding of his sibling were accidents.

What's certain is that Orioles right-hander Alfredo Simon is scheduled to start against the Cleveland Indians on Saturday night before heading to his native Dominican Republic on Sunday. What's uncertain is what comes next for Simon. The team hopes Monday's hearing in the Jan. 1 shooting death of Simon's cousin will be the end of the case, but based on how things have progressed this year, the Orioles aren't sure what will happen. "We simply don't know. It's a legal process," Orioles director of player development John Stockstill said.

Jeremy Guthrie, Orioles pitcher Is it distracting to you when rumors start circulating about a manager's job status? For me, it's not a distraction. As players, we really don't hear a lot. Fans think we hear and read everything, but we don't know nearly as much as the people asking the questions or the fans think we know.

What was the hardest part about having a torn anterior cruciate ligament? Just being away from baseball for that long. It happened right about a year and two weeks ago. I missed a whole season of baseball. To try to sit there and watch it on the couch is next to impossible.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - As Orioles pitcher Tony Saunders packed for his trip to spring training, a friend wanted to make sure the left-hander hadn't forgotten any of the necessities. Or the importance of having a sense of humor. "He asked if I had all my syringes," Saunders said, the joke going over well for a player who otherwise hasn't laughed much lately. Saunders, 30, remains bitter at the accusations of steroid use that appeared in Jose Canseco's new book. They were teammates briefly with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999 - about six weeks before Saunders broke his arm for the first time while throwing a pitch.

The widow of Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler has filed a $600 million lawsuit against the maker of the ephedra-based diet drug and stimulant that was in his system when he died of heatstroke in February. New York attorney David Meiselman, representing Kiley Bechler, filed the suit Wednesday against Cytodyne Technologies, the company that produces Xenadrine RFA-1, and named New York-based manufacturer Phoenix Laboratories and Cytodyne president Robert Chinery as codefendants. The suit alleges the controversial nutritional supplement was directly responsible for Bechler's collapse during a spring training workout at the Orioles' training facility in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Feb. 16. Bechler lost consciousness and his body temperature rose to 108 degrees, causing his major organs to fail.

Two likely members of the Orioles' starting rotation - left-hander Wei-Yin Chen and right-hander Tommy Hunter - made their final spring starts Sunday afternoon to varying degrees of success. Chen, pitching against the Tampa Bay Rays in the Orioles' Grapefruit League finale, allowed seven runs - just three earned - on six hits over five innings in an 8-5 loss at Ed Smith Stadium. He allowed three home runs on an afternoon when the wind was blowing out of the stadium.

There's little debate to the notion that Orioles left-hander Brian Matusz has pitched well this spring training -- especially considering he's coming off an awful 2011 season -- but whether he's dazzled the team brass enough to earn a starting rotation spot remains to be seen. Orioles manager Buck Showalter has made it clear that this year, rotation spots will be earned, not given away. He has said all spring that Matusz will be evaluated on his entire body of work, with his dazzling moments as equal as his stumbles.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles pitcher Zach Britton will not need surgery on his ailing left shoulder, but a process to help lessen the inflammation could sideline the 24-year-old left-hander up to six weeks. It means he will miss Opening Day and potentially all of April. "I'm not going to rush back and have the same issue crop back up," said Britton, who has been dealing with the inflammation off and on since August. "It's just a process that I've got to take. I'm frustrated with it, but if it's going to help me pitch and have a long career, that's the most important thing.

Right-hander Kevin Gregg took his place in the parade of major league pitchers who worked in Sunday's "B" game, but didn't take it personally. The Orioles have to schedule extra spring games to get enough innings for all the pitchers in camp, and it wasn't like Gregg was being relegated to a lower class of competition. He pitched between possible No. 1 starter Tommy Hunter, who apparently has won his bout with lower back soreness, and left-hander Zach Britton, who was testing his injured shoulder for the first time in a game.

Three critical cogs of the Orioles' pitching staff spent Tuesday morning on the back fields of the Ed Smith Stadium complex. While the Orioles' travel squad was on its way to Fort Myers to play the Boston Red Sox for an afternoon game at JetBlue Park, right-hander Tommy Hunter , left-hander Zach Britton and right-hander Jim Johnson — all rehabilitating injuries this spring — participated in a simulated game in Sarasota. For the trio, this was their first time pitching in game scenarios.

The nightmare is over now. Alfredo Simon wakes up in a cushy bed every morning and goes to work at one of the most beautiful spring training venues in baseball. It is quite a contrast to the place where he spent most of spring training last year. "It was the worst place I've ever been in my life," he said. Prisons are like that. Simon sat in a cell in the Dominican Republic for three months, waiting to find out whether he would stand trial for a Jan. 1 shooting that left one man dead and another wounded in the town of Luperon.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Trouble apparently found Orioles pitcher Sidney Ponson again this week. Three months after being arrested in his native Aruba for fighting, Ponson arrived at the ballpark for yesterday's workout with his right hand swollen after an altercation Tuesday night while defending himself against a male patron at a local restaurant, teammates said. X-rays taken in the morning didn't reveal any broken bones, but it's uncertain when Ponson will pitch again. Last year's Opening Day starter, he's more likely to be No. 2 in the rotation this season behind Rodrigo Lopez.

Right-hander Kevin Gregg took his place in the parade of major league pitchers who worked in Sunday's "B" game, but didn't take it personally. The Orioles have to schedule extra spring games to get enough innings for all the pitchers in camp, and it wasn't like Gregg was being relegated to a lower class of competition. He pitched between possible No. 1 starter Tommy Hunter, who apparently has won his bout with lower back soreness, and left-hander Zach Britton, who was testing his injured shoulder for the first time in a game.

Orioles left-hander Brian Matusz said he's put last season's struggles behind him and feels he's become a better pitcher having gone through them. Matusz looked impressive in his first public bullpen session Wednesday. Catcher Matt Wieters said it looked like Matusz's mechanics had improved and he regained his 2010 form. “I felt good,” Matusz said. “I felt nice and loose. The ball was coming out of my hand with no effort and it was coming out nice. I feel like the stuff is there.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles left-handed pitcher Zach Britton continued to progress in his throwing program recovering from left-shoulder inflammation Monday, throwing about 60 long-toss throws from 100 feet, including 15 pitches from his full delivery motion. The 24-year-old Britton is slated to throw another 60 pitches again Tuesday, the first time he will throw for back-to-back days. "The best way to sum it up is that I feel as good on the morning I wake up and I'm throwing as the day after," Britton said.