Notes on Nuño, Ondrusek, Davis, Andino and more

SARASOTA, Fla. - Left-hander Vidal Nuño will participate in his first workout on Wednesday before leaving March 5 for the World Baseball Classic. He's pitching for Team Mexico.

Manager Buck Showalter said Nuño has been working out for a few days and conditioning won't be an issue.

"He's going to be in pitching shape when he gets back," Showalter said. "I think he's OK. Get a chance to talk to him and see where he is with everything."

Nuño could head north as a third left-hander in the Orioles' bullpen, capable of pitching in long relief and making spot starts.

"Nuño's a really good competitor and our scouts like the way he competes in the American League," said executive vice president Dan Duquette. "We got a chance to see him first-hand when he was with the Yanks and he had a good year as a starter. And he's had a couple good years since. Very competitive and keeps the ball down, changes speeds, has a pretty good breaking ball. So, he has good equipment and a good approach and looks to be like a pretty good fit.

"We were looking for some depth to our pitching staff and he can pitch out of the bullpen effectively. Really good control, so he can come in and throw strikes out of the bullpen. And he gives us another option as a fill-in starting pitcher. But over the course of his career and three years major league experience, he's pitched over 300 innings in the league and he's done well. He's a three-plus player, so we could have him for the next couple of years."

Nuño has a minor league option remaining, which also gave him an edge over left-hander T.J. McFarland, who was designated for assignment to create room for Nuño on the 40-man roster.

"It gives us some flexibility with the pitching staff, some additional flexibility," Duquette said. "That was the thing with T.J., he was out of options and it's just hard to make unilateral roster moves when the player's out of options.

A team claiming McFarland off waivers would pick up his $685,000 salary for 2017. The Orioles could attempt to trade him.

"We're going to try to resolve his contract status in the next three or four days." Duquette said.

Nuño has lost 15 of his 20 decisions in the majors, but he's registered a 4.02 ERA in 126 appearances. He averaged 1.7 walks per nine innings last season with the Mariners and had a 4.64 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

"Nuño should be a good complement to our staff," Duquette said. "We have four right-handed starters, so he could give us some innings out of the bullpen and be available if needed to fill in as a starting pitcher. He gets good, solid results. Look at his other numbers."

Showalter views Nuño as a starter or reliever. He's not limiting his expectations.

"That's one of the attractions of him - starter, long reliever, options," Showalter said. "If you look at how much more our whole pitching staff is from a maneuverability standpoint and versatility, we've got to have that. We got caught in some tough situations last year where we just couldn't manipulate and maneuver like we needed to because of some of the option status, and it's something that Dan and I talked about a lot, and we've been able to really improve that.

"That's one of the things with the decision with T.J. If you don't feel like it's a given that he's going to make your club, and you're sitting there at the end of spring ... But we're hoping that he ends up back with us. We'll see what the next couple of days bring."

Vance Worley's versatility and production enabled the Orioles to avoid making an excessive amount of moves with their bullpen and risk losing certain pitchers.

"We were fortunate that Vance was good at it last year," Showalter said. "If they're not, the only way to maneuver around it is to release a guy. And that has a certain sense of finality that it's tough to do early on.

"I look at it as 36 pitchers between Bowie and Norfolk and Baltimore. I think our guys really believe that. Someone was telling me the number of players who started the year not in camp last year who ended up playing with us. But we've got to continue to have those guys who have that option."

Logan Ondrusek won't pitch in the intrasquad games being held Tuesday and Wednesday at Ed Smith Stadium. He's still recovering from an injury to his right ankle.

Chris Davis looks like a guy who's swinging the bat without any discomfort in his left hand. The injury hindered him for most of the 2016 season, though he still managed to hit 38 home runs.

"I'm sure it impacted him - mentally, too," Showalter said. "You know things aren't 100 percent. Sometimes, guys all have something wrong with them during the course of the year. Some don't affect you as much as that one. Chris had some swings the year before where he swung one-handed, but it's a tribute to him. He didn't use it as an excuse.

"I talked to him a lot about it during the year. Couple times he was like, 'It's not going to get better until the offseason, so let's go.' And that was a real tribute to how much he could impact our team defensively. He's talked this year about wanting to get back in the Gold Glove picture again. But he knew how much he meant to our club.

"How many walks did he end up with last year? He scored a lot of runs. You look where he ranked in a lot of our departments. But it would be different if we were like, 'OK, you can take off two weeks and it will be fine.' When you get that deep of an injury like that, nothing but a real extended period (will help). You might think he's starting to head the other way and then one swing, you're right back to square one again. It certainly impacted him."

Davis drew 88 walks to lead the team last season and scored 99 runs to rank second behind Manny Machado (105).

Center fielder Adam Jones told Showalter that his right shoulder feels much better.

"He's back from that," Showalter said. "You watch him take infield and throw the ball around, he said this is the best his shoulder's felt in a long time. That's encouraging."

Showalter also has been impressed with Craig Gentry's arm.

"We've got a good group out there," he said. "This is a big upgrade from, as a total group, the outfielders we had in camp last year."

Robert Andino began today's workout at third base, but he also moved to shortstop and second base. He won't stay in one spot.

"I told Buck to put me everywhere," he said. "Put me in the outfield. I'm going to see if I can steal somebody's first baseman's mitt somewhere. Just whatever I've got to do, try to play in October, that's what it's all about. Whatever I've got to do to help the team win, I'm here."

Andino always hoped that he would come back to Baltimore, where he played from 2009-2012.

"I kept it in the back of my mind," he said. "You never know in this game. It's real exciting and it's a blessing to be back. It took long enough, but I'm just happy to be back."

Andino became a fan favorite after his walk-off single beat the Red Sox in the final game of the 2011 season. The Red Sox missed the playoffs, fired their manager and "The Curse of the Andino" was born.

"Oh yeah, man," he said, smiling. "My first time here in '09, Buck gave me a chance to show what I can do. I'm from Miami, but Baltimore's always my home. I always have a special place for Baltimore."

Unfortunately, Andino said he won't bring back his popular movie reviews that played on the video board at Camden Yards.

"I ain't focused on no movies this year," he said, another smile creasing his face. "I'm focused on catching the ball. Ain't going to see no 'Andino at the Movies.' If they ask me, I'm focusing on catching the ball, putting a bunt down or something."

Andino served as a mentor of sorts to Machado and loves sharing the same spring training clubhouse again.

"I messed with him today a little bit," Andino said. 'He used to use a Rawlings. 'You've got to use a Wilson. You've got a Platinum Glove now.' He's the man, now. I've just got to get back into it and try and fit in the game, you know what I'm saying?

"This is their team. I'm just here to try and help them win a championship."