Showalter on Bridwell and Scott

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles are on the road again after two straight home games, making the long drive to Clearwater to play the Phillies at 1:05 p.m.

Mike Wright is on the mound after working the first inning in the first intrasquad game and retiring all three batters he faced. He struck out Rule 5 pick Aneury Tavárez, retired Johnny Giavotella on a ground ball and retired Ryan Flaherty on a fly ball to left field.

Tavárez is supposed to play left field and bat leadoff today. Flaherty is supposed to stay back at the Ed Smith Stadium complex and receive treatment on his sore right shoulder.

I'll go out on a limb and say Giavotella will make the trip. He's appeared in all four games, going 3-for-3 in the opener in Lakeland.

The Orioles are trying to, as manager Buck Showalter says, get their arms around Parker Bridwell. They may have learned a little more about him yesterday by how he responded to Saturday's poor outing. Or he just confirmed what they already knew, that he's got the stuff to get hitters out and is working to become more consistent.

Bridwell, 25, served up back-to-back home runs to the Pirates' Chris Bostick and Jin-De Jhang in the eighth inning, accounting for three late runs in a 6-2 loss at LECOM Park. He gave up a one-out double yesterday to the Yankees' Greg Bird, but he induced a fielder's choice grounder from Aaron Judge and popup from Rob Refsnyder.

A solid response to Saturday, and an example of why the Orioles remain so intrigued by him despite their occasional frustration.

"It's kind of been Parker's challenge," Showalter said. "We even saw it in the big leagues. He'll go through an inning or sequences and you'll go, 'wow,' and then it gets away from him. He got a little cutter happy last time."

Bridwell made two relief appearances with the Orioles last season, his first exposure to the majors, and allowed five runs and five hits in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out three batters, but also surrendered two home runs.

Four of the runs scored over 1 1/3 innings in an Aug. 24 game against the Nationals in D.C. In his debut three nights earlier, he struck out the first batter he faced, the Astros' Evan Gattis, and retired Tony Kemp on a liner to center field, but Jake Marisnick homered to left field.

Bridwell came back out for the ninth and allowed a leadoff single to Teoscar Hernandez, who was erased on stolen base attempt. A fly ball and called third strike completed Bridwell's line.

Bridwell's minor league experience consists of only four games at the Triple-A level. He was a starter through 2015, but he made 20 relief appearances among his 27 outings in 2016, the role change coming after he broke a rib.

"It's a tough call," Showalter said. "A lot of people are talking bullpen, starter, bullpen, starter. I know how I feel about it, but Parker's got the full assortment and I'm hoping this is the year that he really pops, because he's a guy who you get asked about a lot because he's got all the presentation."

Teams have been inquiring about Bridwell for years and the Orioles keep refusing to part with him. They'd like for their faith and patience to be rewarded, making the 2017 season an important one for him.

Meanwhile, left-hander Tanner Scott struck out two batters in a scoreless eighth inning after coming over from minor league camp. He walked one batter.

Scott's fastball kept climbing into the upper 90s, but the Orioles already know he can bring the heat.

"It was good for Tanner to get in there," Showalter said. "He threw some good breaking balls. He's not just a one-way Harry with the fastball.

"I was talking to Roger (McDowell) today. Roger's got a couple things he'd like to see him do with his hands and close him off a little more. His presentation is a little open. That's why he misses up and away a lot."

The breaking ball must develop to complement Tanner's fastball, which has been clocked at 100 mph.

"You know the guys are going to have to cheat a little bit to get the fastball and it makes them really susceptible to the breaking ball, because the recognition is so late," Showalter said. "If he can get a breaking ball like he threw today, it gives him a chance to really take it to another level. And a lot of it is because of velocity."