Clevenger on being called up, Hardy on back

The battery on Steve Clevenger's cell phone picked a bad time to run out of juice.

Clevenger said he slept through five calls from Triple-A Norfolk manager Ron Johnson, who wanted to pass along news that the Orioles were calling him up. Pitcher Steve Johnson was next on the call list and he woke up Clevenger.

Clevenger has finally returned to the majors after being optioned on April 7 to make room for first baseman Chris Davis, who was reinstated from the suspended list.

"I'm excited," he said. "I'm going to try and help the team anyway I can. Feeling good at the plate and I have been playing really well out there. I'm just excited to get out on the field and play here."

Clevenger, 29, hit .352/.413/.451 (32-for-91) with three doubles, two home runs and 14 RBIs in 27 games with Norfolk, but the Orioles were more interested in his work behind the plate.

"I went down there on a mission," he said. "Coming into spring training this year, I wanted to focus more on my catching and I tried to do that. I went down there and played very well. Just tried to concentrate on my catching and helping the pitchers do what they can do best, and that's pitch and not worry about anything else. I was just playing solid defense down there."

Clevenger had to fight through the disappointment and frustration of being optioned after one game.

"It's never a good feeling when you get sent down," he said. "Everyone wants to be in the big leagues. I was a little bit frustrated, but you can't let that get the best of you when you get down there. You need to keep going down there and grinding things out and just playing to the best of your ability."

The Orioles aren't expected to carry three catchers after Matt Wieters comes off the 60-day disabled list, so Clevenger could be packing his bags again in nine or 10 days.

"I want to show Buck (Showalter) that I can contribute to the team and help the team win," he said. "I didn't set a goal to get sent down in two weeks or whatever, but I'm going to try and help the team any way I can. Try and stay here for a year."

Showalter thinks Clevenger will do a better job handling the sporadic playing time than Ryan Lavarnway, who was 3-for-28 and didn't collect a hit in May.

"I just don't think Ryan's swing and the things he's capable of doing are conducive to playing once a week," Showalter said. "Who is? Steve is better at it. Obviously, Steve is swinging the bat well.

"Clev's caught and thrown and handled the pitching staff real well down there, as has Ryan. We hope he stays. There's a chance he could be in Norfolk.

"Hopefully, we've got Matt coming around the corner."

Showalter said the club gave Clevenger clear instructions about what he needed to do in Norfolk.

"I try to be blunt to a fault about what they need to do when they're there," Showalter said. "I talked about continue to be engaged with the pitcher and catching and throwing. I said, 'You're going to be out of options next year, you're going to control all this.' I said, 'Try to present yourself for us and everybody else in the game as good as possible. Go down there and lead the league in hitting.'"

Clevenger would have ranked second if he had enough plate appearances.

The Orioles aren't expected to carry three catchers, and they're not looking to send out Caleb Joseph, who's made the majority of starts in Wieters' absence.

"Caleb could play some first base," Showalter said. "Clev could play a couple of places adequately maybe, but I'd rather not. It depends how the rest of our club is constructed by then. That's a long way off. A lot of things can change between now and then, but you're assuming that Matt's going to be back on X definitive date. But I'd rather not."

Shortstop J.J. Hardy is back in the lineup after failing to convince Showalter yesterday to keep him in it.

Hardy's back felt tight yesterday and he came out of the game after the bottom of the seventh inning.

"It was tight when I woke up in the morning. I tried to get it loose, went out and ran around and took swings, and I was trying to tell myself that if I'm starting this game, I'm going to finish it. I think Buck just saw that I was favoring it a little bit too much," Hardy said.

"I guess it is definitely experience because when I was first going through back issues, I didn't know what to do. And now I feel like I have a pretty good handle on it. I think Buck definitely made the right decision, but I still wanted to stay in there."

Hardy continues to perform various exercises for his back.

"I think the stuff that I have been doing kept it from being what it was last year, all the core exercises that I've been doing," Hardy said. "I think last year, that same situation, I would have had some back spasms and I would have been out a couple days. So, I'm hoping the stuff I'm doing is helping."

Hardy said he felt some discomfort in his back while hitting yesterday. He was grimacing after his single in the seventh inning.

"It bothered me a little bit yesterday," he said. "Just wasn't quite sure, so I didn't feel like I could swing 100 percent. I'm sure it'll be much better than yesterday."

Hardy, 32, knows he has to listen more closely to his body as he gets older. Certain concessions must be made, no matter how badly he wants to stay in the lineup. He understands that he occasionally has to hold back.

"I'm not OK with it yet, that I'm getting older," he said. "It's frustrating, it really is. I told Bobby (Dickerson) yesterday I can't stand it when my body doesn't cooperate. It's a process that I guess everyone's going to go through. I definitely want to be out there as much as I can."