Some notes from Twin Lakes Park, where minor league games start today

SARASOTA, Fla. - Today is the first day of spring training games for the Orioles' four full-season minor league teams. The Orioles' Triple-A and Double-A teams are on the road in Fort Myers against the Minnesota Twins. The O's two Single-A clubs are playing the Twins here at the Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park at noon.

Today's scheduled starting pitchers include the Orioles' Zach Britton. He is expected to throw two innings here today for Single-A Frederick. Don't jump to any conclusions over that. It is just that, with the start of the minors games giving the O's a chance to get major league pitchers work in spring games. Britton won't be the last of the Orioles to find his way to Twin Lakes Park over the next couple of weeks.

The other starters today are Nick Additon for Triple-A Norfolk, Mitch Horacek for Double-A Bowie and Ofelky Peralta for Single-A Delmarva.

Don't read too much yet into which players are with which teams. The final rosters for the minors will not be set until close to the minor league opening day on April 7.

Here are today's lineups:

NORFOLK
DH Julio Borbon
CF Mike Yastrzemski
1B Trey Mancini
LF Henry Urrutia
RF Quincy Latimore
DH Mike Carp
C Chris O'Brien
3B Patrick Palmeiro
2B Corban Joseph
SS Adrian Marin

BOWIE
LF Jay Gonzalez
CF Josh Hart
C Chance Sisco
1B Aderlin Rodriguez
3B Drew Dosch
DH Tucker Nathans
DH Rubi Silva
SS Jeff Kemp
RF Conor Bierfeldt
2B Tanner Witt

FREDERICK
CF Ademar Rifaela
2B Drew Turbin
LF DJ Stewart
3B Jomar Reyes
1B Alex Murphy
DH T.J. Olesczuk
C Jonah Heim
RF Randolph Gassaway
SS Ricardo Andujar
DH Derek Peterson

DELMARVA
CF Cedric Mullens
3B Alejandro Juvier
SS Ryan Mountcastle
LF Gerrion Grim
RF Mike Odenwaelder
1B Seamus Curran
C Christopher Shaw
2B Jack Graham
DH Jerry McClanahan
DH Tristan Graham

Yes, you can bat 10 in the lineup and use two designated hitters in a minor league spring training game.

Earlier this morning, I had a chance to talk with right-hander Jason Garcia and 2015 first-round pick outfielder DJ Stewart. On Monday, Garcia was optioned to Double-A Bowie from major league camp. The Orioles will use Garcia as a starting pitcher to begin the year in the Baysox rotation.

"I'm excited to be starting again and get back in that routine," Garcia said. "It is good to see the organization put even more trust in me in starting. I'm kind of excited about this. Last year, me having to stay up all year and pitching out of the bullpen will benefit me a lot this year. Now I've seen both sides, starting and relieving. So I feel pretty confident to where if I got called up and they needed me to fill in one of those spots, I could do that."

As a Rule 5 pick in 2014, Garcia may have flown under the radar somewhat. But he ended the year pitching to an ERA of 2.81 after the All-Star break. Not bad for a 23-year-old that have never pitched above low Single-A ball until the 2015 season.

"Confidence was the biggest thing. Just trusting my stuff and realizing I belonged. Just going out there every day and competing," Garcia said.

Garcia will make his first minor league start on Friday and throw two innings for Bowie.

Stewart, drafted 25th overall last June out of Florida State, hit just .218 in 62 games last summer for short-season Single-A Aberdeen.

"It was a learning experience," Stewart said. "Obviously, I would have liked to hit better than I did. But it was my first half season in professional baseball. I didn't really know what to expect. I gained a lot and learned a lot from it. Got a lot of information from the coaches and am here just working on everything."

Stewart tweaked his batting stance during instructional league. He hit out of a very low crouch most of his time at Florida State, but stands a bit more upright now.

"I made an adjustment," he said. "There was a suggestion by the organization that it would be more beneficial for me. I'm standing up a little bit more now. Just trying to make sure I can get to every single pitch and not make it tougher than it needs to be. Just simplify things with my stance and my swing."