Hardy on Janish: "He struck me out in '09, so use that"

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles return to the field today after taking a break yesterday, the weather cooperating long enough for many players to get in a round of golf. Heavy rain early in the morning gave way to mostly sunny skies.

The schedule consists of a second and final trip to Bradenton, where the Orioles will play the Pirates at 1:05 p.m. They get a second look at Radhames Liz, who allowed one run and two hits in two innings in a March 19 start in Sarasota.

Ubaldo Jimenez will make his fifth start of the spring. He's shown slight improvement in each outing, allowing two runs and five hits over four innings on March 18 against the Twins in Fort Myers.

Jimenez has walked one batter and stuck out five over his last two starts covering eight innings. He isn't exhibiting pinpoint control, but he's also not walking the ballpark. It's an encouraging sign.

The Orioles could make more cuts today with their camp roster at 41 players. I feel bad because I keep predicting that pitcher Chaz Roe will be reassigned, but he remains at the Ed Smith Stadium complex.

Barring an injury or two, the Orioles eventually will reassign infielder Paul Janish to minor league camp. He got a late start after having surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow, but manager Buck Showalter loves his defensive skills at shortstop and keeps saying that he could impact the club later this summer.

Janish also has impressed shortstop J.J. Hardy, a three-time Gold Glove winner.

"I took notice of it when he was in Cincinnati," Hardy said. "He's a really, really good defenseman. I haven't seen him play second or third or anything, but I saw him play short a lot in Cincinnati when I was in Milwaukee and he's really good. Really good. And he struck me out in '09, so use that."

Wait, what?

"In a blowout game," Hardy said. "Yeah, he struck me out. He threw a 92 mph cutter. I don't think he meant to, but it cut."

Janish was walking past Hardy's locker and corrected him.

"I think you might have gotten the changeup," he said. "That was my strikeout pitch."

"No, no, it was 91-92 and it cut a little bit," Hardy replied. "I didn't get the changeup.

"See, he didn't even need to use his changeup. He just threw fastballs."

Janish won't have a second career as a reliever. He pitched twice in 2009 in emergency duty and allowed 11 runs and nine hits in two innings. However, he also struck out three batters, including Hardy.

"I was having a bad year," Hardy said. "I was a little off. It wasn't my best day, but he had good stuff, a good arm. But, no, he's got really, really good hands."

The Pirates already posted their lineup for today's game, so here it is:

For the Pirates
Josh Harrison 3B
Gregory Polanco RF
Andrew McCutchen CF
Neil Walker DH
Starling Marte LF
Pedro Alvarez 1B
Jordy Mercer SS
Jung Ho Kang 2B
Tony Sanchez C

Radhames Liz RHP