Notes on rebuilding, a pitcher making an impression and Cashner's return

TORONTO - As the Orioles look to add younger players this year and the rebuilding process really kicks in, the club may have to do even more teaching at the major league level. Young players need to keep learning and developing, even as they play and sometimes take some lumps in the major leagues.

"That is one thing that has really changed in the game over the years," manager Buck Showalter said before Saturday's game. "You have do a lot more of that at the major league level because guys come (to the bigs) so quickly and you can't assume anything. That is why you know the quality of instruction our guys get down below, with our guys (coaches) that have been there for a while, you see it. I think a real strength of our organization has been our player development system. The group of people we have down there, it's as good as it's been since I've been here. If we can continue to add talent, we'll get it out of them. I have as much confidence in that as anything."

One player that seems to be taking advantage of an opportunity right now is 25-year-old bullpen lefty Paul Fry. A 17th-round draft pick by Seattle in 2013, Fry was traded to the Orioles on April 14, 2017 for international bonus money.

In the majors for the first time, he has an ERA of 1.80 through his first nine games. Fry began this season at Double-A Bowie and pitched well, although he did walk 11 over 19 innings. But then he moved up to Triple-A Norfolk. In 33 1/3 combined innings for Norfolk and Baltimore, he has five walks and 41 strikeouts.

Throwing a four-seamer at 91-92 mph and a slider, his fastball is showing late life and getting by some hitters. Showalter has been impressed.

"Paul is still a young man (at 25). The thing that has been obvious and you hear me say it a lot, they aren't scared," Showalter said. "I tell them all when they come up, 'Just let it rip.' Don't give these guys too much credit. You make good pitches, they'll make outs.

"But he's trusting himself. He's got that little late come again action on his fastball. What happens when you get through that ambush stage, where guys really don't know them, we talk a lot in advance meetings about you have to play this guy's velocity up. He may be 91 (mph), but you have to play it up because of the late life."

Fry's career path is trending up and he is at his third level this year after starting at Double-A. He is trying to prove he's a nugget moving forward, a very capable bullpen lefty.

"You look at his career and you see things like maybe (too many) walks and this period where he's not," said Showalter. "Not only here, but in the minors. You try to find out, why is his command better? I think you can make the mistake of thinking 29 different organizations don't know what they are doing. They do. They tried everything. With anyone you acquire. It's up to you. I want to give our scouts the confidence to draft for or trade for a semi-flawed player, so you can correct that flaw and make them into a complete player. That is what we're here for."

It can be hard for a career reliever like Fry to get on some of those top prospects lists. He's never been on one. But it's not stopping him from having major league success and trying to plant a seed to be a part of the Orioles future.

Cashner's return: Orioles right-hander Andrew Casher returns to the starting rotation today and that should be a good thing. Before he went on the disabled list July 11 for a neck strain, he had put together five quality starts in his past seven games. That could help an Orioles rotation that currently has just one quality start the last 13 games.

Cashner (2-9, 4.56 ERA) gave up five runs July 10 in his last start versus the Yankees. Before that, his ERA was 3.18 over his previous six starts.

On July 11, he got an injection for neck discomfort. It is something he's done before and he said he's good to go for today's start.

"Yeah, I think it was more maintenance than it was an injury," he said. "It was a chance to get ahead of something. I was feeling some discomfort. But I think I'm able to post the rest of the way. It is something I dealt with before and kind of moreso just jump ahead of it before it gets worse."

Cashner is pitching on 11 days' rest today but he threw some over the All-Star break.

"I threw the whole break," he said. "Played catch the whole break and threw a bullpen the first day here. Feel good and looking forward to getting back out there. I don't anticipate rust. There is a chance of it. But it's more about getting back to feeling pain-free."

Cashner was signed to join Alex Cobb and the Orioles rotation holdovers to help produce a contending team in 2018. That went nowhere and now the Orioles are in rebuild mode. Cashner hoped to be part of a playoff team or at least one that would challenge for that in Baltimore. Now he's with an organization headed in a different direction.

"You know, it's definitely going to be tough," Cashner said. "But at the same time, my job is to show up and pitch and those decisions are not my decisions. For me, it's show up, be a great teammate, pitch my game and try to help these young guys."

Series ends today: The Orioles play the series finale in Toronto today after losses by 8-7 in 10 innings Friday and 4-1 on Saturday. At 28-71, they have lost 12 of 16 and 19 of 24 games. They are 5-26 in their last 31 games against American League opponents. They are 0-6 this year at Rogers Centre. Toronto, which swept four from the Orioles here in June, can sweep three with a win today. The Blue Jays are back over the .500 mark at home at 26-25 and they've won 14 of their last 20 at home.