Buck Showalter on Caleb Joseph's strong caught stealing percentage (Gonzalez debuts)

Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph does not yet qualify for the American League defensive league leaders. If he did, his caught stealing percentage of 52 percent would be tops in the AL.

A player needs to appear in 50 percent of his team's games to qualify. Joseph has played in 33 of 83 Orioles games.

The AL leader is Robinson Chirinos of the Texas team the O's face tonight. He has caught 48.8 percent. The Yankees' Brian McCann is second at 45.5 percent.

Joseph has thrown out 13 of 25 for the season. He clearly is doing a very solid defensive job for the Orioles. Manager Buck Showalter talked yesterday about Joseph and that impressive caught stealing percentage.

"Well, first of all, it's Caleb," Showalter said. "Caleb has improved and he's worked hard at it. The pitchers at this level give the catchers a chance better than they do behind.

"Not in our organization, I'll tell you. At every report we hear, they've held runners well. Just like teaching a changeup or command, times to the plate start in Aberdeen or Sarasota.

"John (Russell, O's coach) and Don Werner (minor league catching instructor) would be the first to deflect all of it to Caleb. But they've worked very hard with him. He's an athletic guy. He's really, more than anything, improved his footwork. Everybody talks about throwing better - usually that is a direct correlation to (quicker) footwork."

Over the years in the minors, Joseph's defense was questioned at times. But last year, it seemed he took a big step forward with his defense at the same time he was having a huge year on offense for Double-A Bowie.

Joseph's times in getting the ball to second base have never been better, according to those with a stopwatch. He is recording times as good as in high the 1.8s this season.

Showalter said Joseph knew that his pop times, as they call them, needed to improve.

"Caleb knew that was the last piece," Showalter said. "You talk to pitchers about him wherever he's been (and) they all talk about how much they like throwing to him. Which means he's engaged, no matter how he is doing offensively in the game calling, which is really what pitchers ask. You are into their outing. But he's a late bloomer. He's a good one."

When you consider the other O's catchers this year have thrown out just 13 percent combined at 6-for-46, Joseph's 13-for-25 looks even better. Joseph has made 29 starts this year and the Orioles are 18-11 in those games.

The Orioles have taken the first two games of the series with Texas. They are now 44-39 on the season. Since May 31, the Orioles are playing .600 baseball with an 18-12 record.

Some more notes on the O's:

* The Orioles have scored 22 runs in the last three games and have done that while going 3-for-23 (.130) batting with runners in scoring position. But the Orioles have 31 hits in those three games and almost half are for extra bases, with five doubles and nine homers.

* The Orioles, who led the major leagues with 46 homers in June, have hit seven homers in two games of the Texas series. They have five straight multi-homer games, hitting 13 in that stretch. They have hit at least one homer for 11 games in a row, hitting 25 in that stretch.

* Jonathan Schoop has three straight multi-hit games for the first time in his big league career. He is 6-for-12 (.500) with four runs and a double, raising his average from .213 to .227.

* In his last two outings, Tommy Hunter had needed just 12 pitches to get six outs. He got three outs on three pitches Sunday and got three outs on nine pitches in the seventh inning last night. Hunter has not allowed an earned run over his last seven games and eight innings, lowering his ERA to 4.61.

* In June, two Orioles ranked among the top six in the American League in OPS (minimum 50 plate appearances). Steve Pearce was second at 1.099 and Adam Jones was sixth at 1.026.

Top pick debuts: The Orioles' top pick in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft, high school left-hander Brian Gonzalez, made his pro debut this afternoon. He pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first inning in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and then came out of the game. Gonzalez, out of Archbishop McCarthy High School near Fort Lauderdale, Fla., got a strikeout, a lineout to second and flyout in his first inning as an Oriole.

Last night, the club's Round 4 pick, right-hander Pat Connaughton out of Notre Dame, and its Round 5 pick, right-hander David Hess out of Tennessee Tech, made their pro debuts, pitching for short-season Single-A Aberdeen. Connaughton got the start and pitched a 1-2-3 first inning. Hess pitched the second inning, allowing a single during his scoreless frame.