Wada talks about his elbow

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada mostly downplayed the condition of his left elbow, saying, "This is something that's not even on a level I would consider reporting in Japan." "It's a discomfort that I feel about every year and I just thought I would say something about it right off the top," Wada said through interpreter Danny MacLeith. "It comes about this time every year. Usually, I have no problem if I take two or three days off and then play catch." Wada felt the discomfort during Saturday's fielding practice and informed the club this morning. X-rays were negative. He had the elbow drained and received a cortisone injection. Wada probably won't be cleared to throw for three days, though he'd like to try it tomorrow. That's not going to happen. Asked if he feels that he's behind the other pitchers, Wada replied, "I do feel that, but there's nothing else that can be done about it. I'm just going to do what I have to do. It's not even something to really recover from. I'm just going to do what I'm supposed to do." Wada speculated that getting used to the flow of workouts here and having less time between drills might have contributed to the fluid build-up, but since it happens every February, there probably isn't a connection. Wada said he considered pitching with the discomfort, "but that would cause problems for the team, so I think doing it this way was best." "The fluid was drained from my arm and that was just in order to help me come back faster," he said. "That's how they do it here, and that's what we did. In Japan, I probably would have just taken a couple of days off and it goes away. That's what I do every year. Pushing through it, this is just spring training. There's no reason to max myself out. "It's not pain, it's discomfort. Like I said, in Japan I would usually just wait and the swelling or whatever it was would go away and I would keep throwing. This time, it was a bit different and I was a bit worried about it, so I decided it was a good idea to go ahead and get it taken care of." Wada is working out as a starter, but it's possible that the Orioles move him to the bullpen in a long-relief role.