Davis and O'Day in good health

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis said he started to swing a bat about a month ago and hasn't experienced any discomfort in his left hand. It's a sizable piece of good news in the offseason.

Davis dislocated his left thumb early in the 2016 season and continued to play through the pain, batting .221/.332/.459 with 38 home runs and 84 RBIs. He led the majors with 219 strikeouts in the first year of his seven-year, $161 million deal.

"It's good," he said. "I started hitting about a month ago and I was a little nervous before I got in the cage, just to kind of see how it felt and hoping there was no lasting effect. And it feels good. I really didn't realize how much of an impact it was having on my swing until I took some cuts this offseason. It's nice to have two hands to hit with again.

"Just a dislocation early in the season. A lot of that was my doing. I knew that it wasn't right, I knew that it wasn't 100 percent, but I didn't want to just sit around and hang out. I felt that as far as our team was concerned defensively, I was picking guys up. And I honestly thought it was something I could get through and just kind of battle through.

"It took a toll on me offensively, but I think defensively I was able to help our team out and I'd like to think we were better with me on the field."

Davis was a finalist for a Gold Glove in the American League. His defensive didn't suffer.

Davis attended Mark Trumbo's press conference yesterday at Camden Yards. He's glad that the club reached an agreement with the major's 2016 home run leader.

"I was pretty excited to hear the news," Davis said. "I pretty much kept my distance. Having gone through the process two years ago, I knew how stressful it can be and I wanted to give him as much space as I could. I was so excited to hear, not only that we signed him back, but just to know our front office is still out there trying to better the team. I thought it was a huge move."

Meanwhile, catcher Matt Wieters remains on the market and the Orioles appear to have moved on from him.

"I didn't see it playing out like this at all," Davis said. "I thought it was going to be a lot quicker process, just the whole free agency process this year with the number of guys out there and the quality of players out there. But I feel for Matty right now.

"It's really tough not knowing where you're going to be, and especially in his situation being a catcher coming off an injury two years ago and all the hard work that he's put in to get back to being the player that he is. I wish him all the best."

Reliever Darren O'Day also is in good health after making two stops on the disabled list last season with hamstring and shoulder injuries. He was limited to 34 games after signing a four-year, $31 million contract.

"I can't wait," he said. "Offseasons are nice to enjoy your family and friends and everything, but I'm ready to get back. Less than happy personally with the way my season went last year. Could I have contributed more to the team? I'm looking forward to doing that this season."

O'Day joked about a changing role with the bullpen returning Brad Brach, Mychal Givens and Donnie Hart ahead of closer Zach Britton.

"I'm going to be pitching like the fifth inning or something," O'Day quipped.

"It's exciting. It certainly is. It's cool to see how far Mychal has come since he came up. Brad, too. The club has done a good job. Every year there's a guy like that. It seems like he comes out of nowhere and ends up being a really high-quality reliever. I don't mind pitching whenever they want me to pitch. I'm excited for us to shorten games. It's going to be a real strength.

"You can never have too much depth, as evidenced by last year. I'm 34 now, getting old. People tell me I'm old. That's crazy, but in baseball that's old. It's nice to have these young guys really always pushing you to be better and to do your job."