A little extra on Roberts

I listened to a recording of Brian Roberts' interview on Scott Garceau's show, and he confirmed that he visited a back specialist in St. Petersburg on Tuesday and "no major structural damage" was found in his lower back. The plan for now is to keep Roberts shut down and calm the inflammation. "It'll probably take me a few weeks of down time and rehab and physical therapy and really taking it slow, and he thinks once I go through that progression, I shouldn't have any problems," Roberts said. The specialist doesn't believe that the latest discomfort is related to the herniated disk. The inflammation might have been caused by Roberts' increased baseball activities. "Everybody feels confident that this isn't something that will cause problems as we move forward," Roberts said. "That's been a boost of energy for me." Roberts said he'd be more inclined to rush back from his latest medical crisis, or whatever we're calling it these days, if the Orioles were in contention. And he'd probably end up back on the disabled list. "I'd want to be out there even more so than any time in my career," he said, "but right now, I have to be careful and cautious and make sure there are no lingering effects from it." Roberts said he arrived at the specialist's office at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday and didn't return to Sarasota until 10:30 p.m., causing him to miss Stephen Strasburg's debut on TV.