Hearing from Showalter and Flaherty before tonight's game

If it isn't an injury, it's an illness.

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2015 Baltimore Orioles.

Bud Norris could miss Saturday's start against the Angels after becoming sick again last night.

"Bud, I think he was out to dinner last night and he had a recurrence of the sickness," said manager Buck Showalter. "He's going to come in here after everybody goes on the field. Pretty good chance it's contagious, so just to see the doctor. His start tomorrow might be in jeopardy."

Open dates on the schedule yesterday and Monday make it easier for Showalter to adjust his rotation.

"We're making plans because of the off days," he said. "We've still got the rest, so (Ubaldo) Jimenez might pitch tomorrow and (Chris) Tillman might pitch Sunday. They've already been alerted to that and we'll see.

"Sounded like very similar symptoms, except he may be running a fever here. I don't know. We'll know more after the doctor sees him. He actually participated in the (golf) event yesterday and got sick afterward while he was out to dinner with his friend, who happens to be his agent."

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The news is much better regarding catcher Matt Wieters, who's approaching an injury rehab assignment and could be activated from the 60-day disabled list on June 4.

"Wieters took batting practice today," Showalter said. "Scotty (McGregor) gave me an update, said that went real well. He said he was really turning it loose, which was a good sign.

"Right now, the plan is for Matt to join us in Miami when we go there, and I'm hoping Jonathan (Schoop) does too, and hopefully go out (on a rehab assignment) from there. Jonathan is going to start baseball activities tomorrow, so that's a big step."

It's possible that Wieters and Schoop could begin a rehab assignment on the same day, though the second baseman is more likely to join an affiliate at a later date.

"I hope so, but I think it's probably a little premature for Jonathan. He's going on the field for the first time tomorrow," Showalter said.

Wieters is eager to meet up with his teammates in Miami.

"It's something Matt wanted to do, just join the team for a couple of days," Showalter said. "He's been catching seven to nine innings in smoking hot weather. I can tell by watching some of the games he's gearing up a little bit. You can tell he feels pretty good about how he feels right now. Whether he catches back-to-back, that might be up here. I'm not real sure about how long that might last if he goes out after Miami. I'm hoping it's the fourth."

Ryan Flaherty, on the DL again with a strained right groin, will head down to Sarasota in a few days "as soon as the PRP runs its course," Showalter said.

The injection could improve the chances of Flaherty coming off the DL when his 15 days have expired.

"Should help," Showalter said. "Wouldn't give it to him if it didn't. I think it causes real inflammation, which kind of triggers some things the body will do. Should speed up the process, but the first two or three days it's pretty sore."

Flaherty said he feels much better since receiving the injection on Wednesday.

"I'm going to check in with the doctor who did it tonight and then get going," he said. "I feel good, so I'm going to try to be aggressive with it and get after it. I feel good. It's just a matter of talking with her and then talking with the training staff and we'll see."

Flaherty doesn't know whether he'll need to go on another rehab assignment or just work out in Sarasota before rejoining the Orioles.

It's understandable if Flaherty is hesitant to rush back after experiencing a setback and returning to the disabled list.

"You don't want to have the same thing happen again," he said. "It's one of those weird injuries where you feel 100 percent doing everything until you have to make that quick twitch move."




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