SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter provided updates on a few injured players and heaped some serious praise on Steve Pearce as part of his pregame session with the media, which took place behind the cage while his club finished up batting practice.
On Travyon Robinson:
"He feels good. He feels good. We'll give him another day. He's having spasms, cramps. Richie (Bancells) feels he'll be back tomorrow. During the season, I could probably use him."
On Ryan Flaherty starting in right field:
"I wanted to give Nolan (Reimold) a day. Nolan's leading our club in plate appearances. He's been making every trip."
On taking regulars to Fort Myers on Tuesday:
"We're going to be the Griswolds. A family road trip. Some of these guys have got to go and get some gray pants."
On Steve Johnson:
"Stevie's had a little discomfort in his (lower back). A little discomfort in that area. Richie said, 'Let's get this straight and give him one more day.' "
On Steve Pearce, who leads the club with six home runs:
"You've heard me say a lot of times, guys 28 to 32 kind of figure out who they are and what works. Steve's a professional hitter and he plays first base OK and he plays the outfield OK. That's why he's in demand every year. He's constantly getting looks and jobs because people trust him. He's an easy guy to trust with the bat. He's a pro. And as you can tell, he's not missing any chances. He squared up three balls yesterday.
"He's also had some base hits to right field off breaking balls. He's a pro. We're lucky to have him. He had some opportunities and it made us feel good that he wanted to come back here. He had some people very interested in him."
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