Orioles with gains and losses in injury department

The Orioles were late posting their lineup compared to most days because they needed to check on Mark Trumbo's back.

It was fine during pregame drills with first base/outfield coach Wayne Kirby. But what about later in the morning?

"Kirb and him went out and ran around in the outfield," said manager Buck Showalter. "I wanted to make sure that didn't all of a sudden 20 minutes later tighten up on him. In order to get (Pedro Alvarez) in the lineup, (Trumbo) has got to play right field. I think also, sitting around a lot ... There's two ways to look at it. Which one's more beneficial? But we wouldn't put him out there if he hadn't answered everything we can.

"Who knows what's going to happen in the heat of the game? He says he's fine and ready to go. He's had a wealth of experience with this, so we're really leaning on him. Like he told us, he knows if he goes too early it's something that could really hamper him the rest of the season. I have as much confidence as you can that he's ready to go. We'll see."

The Orioles get healthier and still seem to spin their wheels. Trumbo returns to the lineup and Darren O'Day comes off the disabled list, but Steve Pearce will undergo season-ending surgery for a strained right flexor mass and Joey Rickard is unlikely to play again due to lingering pain in his right thumb that also may require a procedure.

Rickard only took a couple of swings Thursday in Sarasota before shutting down again.

"Joey's not progressing very well," Showalter said. "I don't think that's imminent. At some point if it doesn't get better, I don't know if they'll contemplate some surgery or something. I don't know. They're not there yet.

"The first ball he got semi-jammed on, it bit him pretty good."

Pearce wasn't going to play again this season, so the Orioles moved him to the 60-day disabled list to create a spot for first baseman Trey Mancini on the 40-man roster.

Is Pearce done as an Oriole?

"That's something we'll discuss when the year is over," Showalter said. "Stevie knows how much we like him. I'm sure other clubs will covet him too, but you get first shot at it if you're so inclined.

"I was talking to him in the outfield yesterday. I understand from a professional standpoint, he wants to present himself in the offseason as a guy who's ready to go in April. If he waits ... The thing I wanted to make sure from talking to the doctors and everything was that he wasn't going to be a guy capable of hitting and DHing on Oct. 15 if we're fortunate enough to get that far. They told me no, that probably wouldn't happen. The doctor and the agent decided to go forward with that and I understand it. I would, too, if I was in his shoes. I wouldn't wait.

"The four (months) is the quick and the six is the long. Somewhere in there. I know with Stevie it will probably be sooner rather than later."

Pearce is expected to be full-go after the rehab process, with no lingering effects.

"It shouldn't be an issue," Showalter said. "It should be fine. It's not something like Tommy John."

Trey Mancini will wait to make his major league debut. He was able to distract himself last night from another Notre Dame loss in football by getting the news of his first promotion.

Mancini's defense helps to make him an attractive option for the Orioles, who also considered outfielder Dariel Alvarez before the outfielder flew home to be with his pregnant wife.

Reports were "good," Showalter said.

"He works very hard at it and they were very positive about it. I'm not comparing him to Chris (Davis). That's a tough comparison. And there's some unknown there. What happens a lot is guys come up here and the ball is harder, it moves, more top-spin, it's exaggerated. The bat speed is more. There's some different things with the game kind of speeding up. But we had good reports. He works very hard at it."

Mancini also could benefit from exposure to a pennant race. There's nothing quite like September baseball.

"I was telling Dan (Duquette) yesterday when we were trying to decide with Dariel's situation and (Christian) Walker and Mancini, we needed a right-handed bat, and that's one of the byproducts of it," Showalter said. "You get to expose him to the atmosphere. I think we saw it some with (Hyun Soo) Kim the first week or two, it was good for him. I think Trey could benefit from that, too, and it was something that I discussed with Dan.

"First time he's hear with the crowd, September baseball, third deck, hitting at Camden Yards. He's earned it. This guy had a really good year. He's solid. He's had a solid year. And I think there are some real side benefits to him being here other than maybe just helping us."

Wade Miley could offer a huge lift today with a quality outing in the series finale against the Rays.

"It's about command," Showalter said. "If he can locate his fastball today, he'll give us a chance. If he doesn't, it will be a challenge."