Caleb Joseph is soaking up every minute he spends as an Oriole

There were reports over the weekend indicating that the Orioles are aggressively pursuing adding another catcher. That may be true, but Caleb Joseph is one of their current catchers. A major leaguer for just five days, right now he's aggressively pursuing what the big league experience is all about. For a long time, it looked like the 27-year-old Joseph might never make it onto a big league roster. He played at Double-A Bowie for parts of the last four seasons and no player has ever played in more games for that franchise. But last year Joseph had a breakout year for the Baysox and this spring he got a long look from manager Buck Showalter at big league spring training. Now he's on the Orioles roster. After 639 games in the minors, he's no real life Crash Davis, but he's soaking up every minute he gets to play in an Orioles uniform. "It's amazing. It's everything you dreamed it would be. It's not comparable to anything in the minor leagues. It's been a lot of fun," Joseph said in the clubhouse before Sunday's game. It didn't take him long wearing an O's uniform to understand the one stat that matters most here - the win total. "The reality is, if I individually don't succeed but the team wins, it's a success," Joseph said. "Had to understand that first and foremost. That is what (Jonathan) Schoop and I talked about. He said 'little different here isn't it?' In the minors you go 0-for-4, you're ticked off. Here it is truly all about winning." Joseph got called up last Wednesday and started his first two days in the bigs. He caught Bud Norris and Ubaldo Jimenez. They gave up a combined three runs over 11 innings and the Orioles won the two games when Joseph was behind the plate. His defense has gotten some criticism at times in the past, but it looked solid in the games against Tampa Bay. Some feel he took some nice steps forward last season on defense. I asked Joseph if that were the case, or maybe was it that his defense was decent all along even when some questioned it? "I tried to focus on a lot of things with (minor league catching instructor) Don Werner," Joseph said. "He's been such an inspiration because he believed in me since day one. We kind of pulled together a few things which made me more well-rounded which made me look like more of a major league catcher. I think certain movements have always been there to catch in the big leagues and maybe there were a few things missing that I really tried to work on." With Matt Wieters on the disabled list now, Joseph's roster spot is secure, for the moment. He got two starts against left-handed pitchers against Tampa Bay and he has hit lefties rather well the last two seasons. In 2013 at Double-A Bowie, he batted .416 with six homers, 37 RBIs and a 1.092 OPS against southpaws over 149 at-bats. This season with Triple-A Norfolk he went 14-for-30 (.467) against lefties with one homer and four RBIs. "I've just always felt really confident hitting lefties," Joseph said. "With their breaking pitches coming into me rather than moving away from me, I really stay closed well off lefties. Sometimes against a right-hander with breaking balls and sliders, you lose the front hip and that takes you off the ball." Joseph went 0-for-7 against the Rays over those two games last week, so the thrill of getting that first big league hit still awaits. But for now he's soaking up every minute he spends in the big leagues. It's a feel-good story and Joseph is feeling good being a part of this team. He spent a lot of time as an Oriole in spring training and that made it comfortable for him to walk into that O's clubhouse last week in St. Petersburg. "Oh yeah, that made a huge difference," Joseph said of his time in spring training. "The minute I walked in this clubhouse I was greeted by guys I had just seen a month ago. Guys I had gotten to know. There was no feeling of intimidation not knowing how they would receive me. "Knowing it was my first taste of the major leagues, they just brought me in and showed confidence and were so nice to me. It was amazing and it was everybody. Every single player in here. I don't know if that's common or not. We have just an incredible group of quality guys in here."