Rotation

Jeremy Guthrie , the only Oriole who has managed to stay in the rotation from Opening Day until now, will throw a bullpen session Sunday and if all goes well, he'll face the Minnesota Twins on either Tuesday or Wednesday. Guthrie, who is 5-16 with a 4.55 ERA and has thrown 164 innings this season, hasn't pitched since Aug.13 because of right shoulder stiffness. "I'm probably going to throw my bullpen tomorrow. That would put me on pace to start Tuesday or Wednesday this week, depending on what works best for the rotation,' Guthrie said.

Stevenson has thrown as many as six guys out for faceoffs, but three - senior Doug Reidt, junior Sam Ramatowski and freshman Sam Wyatt - have taken at least 96 draws each. Reidt owns the best percentage this season at 53.6 percent and has taken the most faceoffs (181). Ramatowski ranks second in attempted draws (110) and has won 51.8 percent. Wyatt has been the team's first option in the Greyhounds' last two contests, winning a combined 59.1 percent (13-of-22) in victories against Ohio Wesleyan and Birmingham-Southern.

In this morning's Baltimore Sun, I wrote a story in Orioles right-hander Steve Johnson, who hopes to stick next season after making an impressive major league debut in 2012. Johnson will have the opportunity to crack the Orioles' starting rotation this season , manager Buck Showalter says. He might be a dark horse for the role, and his flexibility might actually hurt him -- he did well as both a starter and reliever last season -- but the Orioles had to be impressed with his process last season.

CLEVELAND -- Manager Johnny Oates had his pitching rotation mapped out for the remainder of the season, but now he isn't willing to look past the weekend series against the Detroit Tigers."

Brad Bergesen was officially added to the Orioles' active roster Wednesday, replacing J.J. Hardy , who went to the disabled list with a strained left oblique. But the question remains whether Bergesen, who is scheduled to start Sunday's series finale in Cleveland, can show enough consistency to remain in the rotation. When he was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday to make room for Chris Jakubauskas , it marked Bergesen's third demotion in about a year. "It's a huge challenge," Bergesen said.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles left-hander Brian Matusz threw two scoreless innings in his first spring start Monday against the New York Yankees, overcoming a pair of singles to open the game to retire the final five batters he faced. “It was nice to get out there and get the first one out of the way, kind of get in the rhythm again,” Matusz said. “It's been a while since I've been a starter. It's nice to work on the routine again and try and find that. Out there on the mound, working well with [catcher Matt]

When the Orioles activate outfielder Endy Chavez off the disabled list today, they will have to make a corresponding 25-man roster move to create space for the club's utility outfielder. Given yesterday's roster moves, which included activating infielder Mark Reynolds, the move would figure to include an infielder, especially because Reynolds' return creates a potential logjam at third base, making utility infielder Steve Tolleson the likely one to be optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.

The Orioles' trade of right-handed pitcher Jeremy Guthrie leaves a significant void in the top of the club's starting rotation just a dozen days before pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Sarasota, but the move continues to fulfill new executive vice president Dan Duquette's offseason priorities geared at improving the Orioles pitching staff as a whole. The arrival of right-handed starter Jason Hammel, 29, and reliever Matt Lindstrom, 31, from Colorado won't dazzle fans who might rather have high-end prospects than two additional pieces to the current pitching staff puzzle.

Orioles left-hander Dana Eveland entered his Grapefruit League start Wednesday against the Toronto Blue Jays as a dark horse to make the team's starting rotation. While other pitchers have been working their inning counts into the teens, Eveland came into the day having thrown just nine innings this spring. His previous two outings were single-inning relief appearances, and his last start had been 17 days earlier. Against a Blue Jays lineup that included seven position-player starters, Eveland didn't do much to help his chances Wednesday.