Third Baseman

Third baseman Josh Bell got his opportunity to start on a regular basis last season when Miguel Tejada was traded to the San Diego Padres. Bell finished the 2010 season with a .214 average, three homers, 12 RBIs and 53 strikeouts in 159 big league at-bats. A little more than one year later, Bell appears to be in line for another starting opportunity, this one under less preferable circumstances. With Chris Davis still experiencing right shoulder pain and his status for the rest of the season in doubt, Mark Reynolds will likely move across the diamond and play first regularly.

Knowing that there was a possibility that Derrek Lee would be traded, Orioles third baseman Mark Reynolds took it upon himself to order a first baseman's mitt late last month. He didn't anticipating having to use it this much, this soon. With Chris Davis unavailable because of right shoulder soreness, Reynolds started his third straight game at first base in the Orioles' 7-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, and it went much like the previous two. To go along with his two home runs, including just the second one to land in the second deck in left field in Camden Yards' history, Reynolds made all the plays that were required, though he certainly wasn't as tested as much as he was Saturday night.

Josh Bell's last major-league call-up was so quick he couldn't even pour a cup of coffee. He was in Baltimore on Monday, pinch-hit, singled and scored a run against the Boston Red Sox, and then returned to Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday. The 24-year-old third baseman is back again, receiving the promotion Saturday when outfielder Luke Scott was placed on the disabled list. "I've seen that I was in the lineup," Bell said Saturday afternoon before batting seventh and playing designated hitter against the Los Angeles Angels.

Continuing to tinker with their roster on a daily basis, the Orioles optioned starter Mitch Atkins to Triple-A Norfolk after Sunday's game and are planning to add right-handed reliever Mark Worrell and third baseman Josh Bell before Monday's series opener against the Boston Red Sox. Atkins sealed his fate by allowing three earned runs on six hits and two walks over three innings in the Orioles' 8-3 victory Sunday over the Cleveland Indians....

A day after a frustrated Mark Reynolds stood by his locker and said his two-homer game meant nothing because the end result was another loss, the third baseman rescued the Orioles with one more powerful swing. A half-inning after the Atlanta Braves had scored four times to take the lead, Reynolds launched a two-run homer off Scott Proctor and the Orioles bullpen survived some anxious moments late to close out a 5-4 victory in front of an announced 23,492 at Turner Field. "It's a little nail-biting," said Reynolds, who has 18 homers this season and four in his past four games.

Hitless in his past 14 at-bats, Mark Reynolds was held out of the starting lineup Wednesday night for the first time this season, but Orioles manager Buck Showalter said there are no plans for the slumping third baseman to sit for an extended stretch. "We've considered it," Showalter said. "Obviously, we're doing it today. You kind of look what the other options are, and right now, we're giving him a day not starting. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I'm going to have a conversation with him between now and game time and get another feel for where he is. He's a 27-year-old man. This is not some guy who has been playing in the big leagues for 100 years.

A homer was the last thing on Mark Reynolds ' mind when he strode to the plate in the seventh inning Sunday against New York Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain . After going 22 consecutive at-bats without a hit, the Orioles' new third baseman would have been plenty content with a swinging bunt hit, a broken-bat single or a blooper into shallow right field. Even when he redirected Chamberlain's pitch to deep right field, he half expected something bad to happen. Six consecutive games without a hit will do that to a player.

Brooks Robinson continues to recuperate from an infection that has hospitalized him for more than a week, a source close to the family said Thursday. Robinson, 73, the Orioles' Hall of Fame third baseman, was admitted to Greater Baltimore Medical Center March 30 with the infection, one day before he was to undergo an outpatient procedure there. "Everything is going well, everything is progressing," the source said. "Brooks is on a lot of antibiotics and he's just exhausted.

Brooks Robinson is resting comfortably at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, he said in a statement Friday. The Orioles' Hall of Fame third baseman was admitted earlier in the week when he developed an infection and fever. "I had a successful procedure yesterday to relieve the symptoms of the infection," Robinson said, according to the news release. "The doctors are optimistic that the inflammation and infection will be completely cleared by the end of the weekend and they can move forward with my originally scheduled routine procedure early next week.

Here's the assignment: Construct the perfect ballplayer for the city of Baltimore. Start with attitude. He's got to be a hustling dirt dog willing to play banged up for this blue-collar town. That's a given. Now, put a chip on his broad shoulders. Let him think the power brokers afford him little respect — like Baltimore in Washington's shadow — so he'll work harder. He must be community-minded and courteous to the fans, and have a goofy side, too. Make him good-looking enough for the teenage girls to swoon, but not a pretty boy. How about occasionally shaggy hair and an easy smile connected to a fullback's body?