Showalter talks rotations and more

NEW YORK - Orioles manager Buck Showalter hasn't passed along his rotation for the Division Series, but he confirmed that he's going to use four starters. Showalter joked that the Game 1 starter is obvious. It's going to be Chris Tillman. I believe that Wei-Yin Chen will start Game 2, followed by Miguel Gonzalez in Game 3 and Bud Norris in Game 4. However, changes are possible depending on the opponent. Nothing is official or etched in stone. Showalter has his rotation lined up for the remainder of the road trip, with the exception of Sunday afternoon's starter in Toronto. He's going to use someone from the rotation, but he also plans on going heavy to his bullpen to provide work for his relievers before the layoff. "There will be a starter," Showalter said. "It may be that somebody comes in and throws to one hitter. I just think everybody needs to get the ball in their hand on Sunday. If someone has to pitch on Saturday, extended, that might change. We will be trying to win those games, but we will have a starter from that six starting that game. "We want to pitch everybody in the 'pen on Sunday. I don't want them sitting around for more than three days. Same with position players, I don't want to see them sitting around for six days and not play in Toronto. We're trying to win games, trying to make sure everybody's ready, because I'm going to give everybody completely off (Monday) and we'll work out Tuesday and Wednesday." As I wrote earlier, Ubaldo Jimenez is starting Tuesday night's game against the Yankees. "It just kind of fits with all our options," Showalter said. "He's coming off a pretty good start and it fits into our maneuverability for the next seven games to be able to find out what we need to find out and make sure everybody's getting the proper rest and give us our options to do some things. "It's still competitive for us. We're trying to hold onto home field advantage in the first round and trying to win every game. But our guys have worked real hard, the whole organization, to put us in a position where we can do some things that you normally can't do. Let's face it, a guy like Steve (Pearce), we probably would have let it sit for a day and then tried it again. Same way with Nick (Markakis). We probably would have pushed the envelope on that during the year. Just want to position ourselves with rest. "You don't want starters to sit around more than an extra day. After you get past one, it's a little iffy depending on who it is. We've got it wired out through the end of the first round, but we're going to wait and see a couple things. How everybody feels. And also not being sure who you're playing yet." Markakis took batting practice and seemed fine. Showalter was prepared to switch Markakis from right field to designated hitter, or scratch him from the lineup. "It's one of those things, it's not like it's a bruise that he can do something that's going to set him back," Showalter said. "I'm hoping once he gets in the flow of everything... He wants to play today. He wanted to play yesterday. See how it goes. "Steve feels good, too. That was encouraging." Pearce expects to play Wednesday. "That's what we were thinking," Showalter said. "In a perfect world, I'd rather have him take batting practice, go through everything and see how it feels the next day. I think he'll give it another day and see how it feels tomorrow. Probably play wednesday or Thursday."