Notes on Tillman's start, Alvarez's press conference and more

SARASOTA, Fla. - Chris Tillman felt good physically today after his B game start, his right hip no longer sore. Brian Matusz should start throwing Sunday or Monday, his back no longer hurting. T.J. McFarland could start throwing before Matusz, his elbow no longer swollen. Ozzie Martinez could start playing soon, his neck no longer aching.

Pedro Alvarez could make his Orioles debut on Sunday in Fort Myers. He doesn't care whether he's used as the designated hitter. Manager Buck Showalter said Alvarez won't be a "pure DH."

Those are the highlights since the last time you heard from me.

Tillman threw 19 of 30 pitches for strikes against the Pirates' collection of minor leaguers.

"I was pretty happy with the way it went and I think I go again on Sunday, bullpen Sunday, go from there," Tillman said.

Discomfort in the hip is "random now," Tillman said, "but not to the point where I'll even be worried about it."

"It's kind of normal soreness," he added. "I feel really good in my delivery and normal day-to-day activities, like walking and working out and running and stuff, is fine."

The Orioles believe Tillman can be ready for the start of the season despite the setback.

"Yeah, I mean in the back of my head I'm thinking I have to catch up, but I don't think there's much catching up to do," Tillman said. "I think I'll still get four more, five more maybe. I'll have to sit down and talk to Wally (Dave Wallace) and Dom (Chiti) and see where we're at with that.

"I don't feel I have much more catching up to do because I threw the whole time. Pretty good about it."

The Orioles have a variety of ways to build up Tillman's innings, including trips to the minor league camp.

"The games don't start down there until the 16th, but there's also a Puerto Rican game, an Australian game," Showalter said. "There are some other ways to do it if we want to put him in there."

Showalter studied Tillman throughout the start, and not just his pitches.

"You look at his facial expression after he throws a pitch and maybe the ball's hit," Showalter said. "I watch him throw the ball. All indications were pretty good, but we'll see what tomorrow brings. I know talking to him he was upbeat about it. He was happy to get that behind him. Get on his way.

"I think there's only one more missed start before it puts the season in jeopardy. He's still missed one, the way that Wally has it figured. It would be close, which would push him to the back of the rotation. But right now he's still in line to pitch wherever we want him to pitch."

The Orioles will check on Tillman Friday to make sure he bounced back properly.

"I asked him today, 'How does the leg feel?' He said, "Nothing. I don't think about it at all. I'm getting ready to run and I'll let you know.' It will be interesting to see how he feels tomorrow, but I think it should be OK," Showalter said.

Alvarez wants to start playing, telling Showalter he's ready and "Let's go."

"I'm not going to put a hard date on it," Showalter said. "I know what I'm thinking it might be. He worked back here. He took regular BP with the guys and wanted to be in that culture and environment with them. That's why we were a little late coming in here, doing a lot of work with Bobby (Dickerson), trying not to go too fast.

"I don't care how much work you've been doing, and obviously he's been doing a lot from seeing him in the reports we were getting, you still go through a period in the spring where I feel like, 'I haven't done anything.'

"I know in my mind ... I was talking to him about the 'B' game. It won't be tomorrow. It won't be the next day unless he's a really good salesman."

Are there too many swing-and-miss guys in the lineup?

"It's about run production," Showalter said. "I got it. You can break down everything and say, 'This is that and this is that.' There's no team that has nine perfect players. It would be pretty boring. I'm aware of it. As long as the contact-to-damage ratio is high ...

"I know what it looks like. I'm looking forward to finding out. Sometimes things like this happen where you don't get them on the field at the same time all year. The biggest hope is to come out of here with all our bullets. So far, so good. We don't have anybody that we're counting on that looks like they're in peril yet."

Darren O'Day threw on the side today while the media was preoccupied.

"Working on a couple of things he didn't want the whole world to see," Showalter said.

I'm not sure whether the whole world saw Alvarez's press conference on MASN, but lots of Orioles were in the room, including Tillman, Matusz, Yovani Gallardo, Kevin Gausman, Miguel Gonzalez, Brad Brach, Ryan Flaherty, Manny Machado, Chris Davis, J.J. Hardy and Jonathan Schoop.

"I just want to say I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be here," Alvarez said. "This is a very storied franchise with a lot of history and I'm grateful to be a part of that now. My plan has always been to become the best player I can be to help all those around me and nothing's changed. Again, very grateful to be here for being given this opportunity by Mr. (Dan) Duquette and Mr. Showalter. Just excited to be out there and playing."

Alvarez on the free agent process: "Patience is the key. Obviously, it was something different, but you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I just took it day by day and tried to prepare as best as possible for when the time came. I've got some good people in my corner who have been through the ringer before but yeah, patience was the key. Just take it one step at a time."

On coming to the American League: "I'm very excited. Again, very, very grateful for this opportunity. There's adjustments to be made every day no matter where you're at. A different group of pitchers, but it's all guys you've seen before. We all watch enough baseball to know what everyone can do, so it's just matter of going out there and getting some experience."

On being the primary designated hitter: "My job is to help this team in whatever capacity they need me at, so whether that's DH or that's in the field, I'm confident I can bring a lot of help to this team and that's the reason why I'm here. Whatever is needed of me, that's what I'll do."

On whether he thought he'd eventually come to the Orioles: "My thought process was my path could take me anywhere. There were 29 other ballclubs out there that I could have ended up on, and again, just trying to take it day by day. Whatever came my way, just take it in stride. I'm very glad that I'm here now."

On his attraction to the Orioles: "At the end of the day, I thought that it was just the best fit and what transcribed between said parties I think was something that was done very well, very professional. Who wouldn't want to come and potentially be in a lineup with the guys that are here already? You know the staff that's here, very respected. Just a well-rounded organization. It's got a lot of pros to being here and obviously those are things that played into the decision."

On the power in the lineup: "Like I said, we all know. We all watch enough baseball to know who's around and like I said, this is a very potent lineup already. Any time you can have a lineup like that, it's a big headache for the other team. Everyone's a threat, and again, I think it'd be such a privilege to be part of a lineup like that and be able to contribute any way possible. Again, it's just one of those things where I'm just so grateful to be here. It's going to be a fun year."

On getting adjusted to Camden Yards: "It's just one of those things where you have to just get out there and play. I'm not worried about that. I know that, you know, I'll make the adjustments whenever they need to be made. Obviously, everybody wants to make them as soon as possible, but those are things that I'm not worried about. My job right now is to be here in camp and continue to get better, get acclimated and get some baseball under my belt."

More on Camden Yards: "I've been there before and it's a beautiful stadium. It's a great place to play at, great atmosphere. It's just a very, very good baseball town."

On his time with the Pirates: "Obviously, I'm grateful for getting my start there, but we're here now and my focus again is on getting immersed in the culture of this team and getting to know my teammates better, which they've done an amazing job already taking me in. This is just one of those things where I'm here to learn from these guys and see what I can help them out with."

On being eager to play: "Obviously, everyone that plays this game has that competitive edge and just wants to be out there. This is new for me. I've never done this before, so we are taking the approach we need to take, which is smart but aggressive at the same time. I'm working with everyone to get up to speed."

On whether Ryan Flaherty recruited him: "I'd get a call every once in a while. Me and Ryan have had a close relationship since college and the thought of playing alongside him was a good thought. I'm glad I get to be in the same clubhouse as him."

Showalter disputed the idea that Alvarez will work exclusively as the designated hitter and be in a strict platoon.

"I don't believe in setting limitations about him being a DH against right-handed pitching," Showalter said. "It's much more than that. I think you're going to be ... Some people don't realize this is an athletic guy who's got potential to give us a lot of options around the field and continue to keep him in that. He's just not going to be a pure DH. He's shown the ability to do damage against left-handed pitching, too. When he controls it, and he gets it going and it's fun to watch and it's something we want to take advantage of.

"We did a lot of looking at it, about how it fit and what we're trying to do here. We think there's some versatility there that can help us and provide a lot of what-ifs in different places if we get bumps along the way. I don't put any limitations on it. I don't really go into it with any preconceived ideas. I know he's going to give us ability to do a lot of different things and make everybody else better, like he talks about."

As for today's Grapefruit League game, Tyler Wilson allowed two runs and three hits in the first inning, including Starlin Castro's RBI double. Adam Jones hit his first spring home run in the bottom of the first to cut the Yankees' lead in half.

Chris Davis singled and Matt Wieters reached on a bunt single to third base against the shift, but catcher Carlos Corporan picked off Davis at second base.

Wilson gave up a leadoff single in the second before inducing a fly ball and double play grounder. He gave up a two-out single in the third and struck out Aaron Hicks to complete his day.

Wilson is charged with two runs and five hits in three innings, with no walks and two strikeouts.

Wilson and Ubaldo Jimenez are the only starters to work three innings.

Hyun Soo Kim grounded out to second base, making him 0-for-22 this spring.