Jannis talks about making the majors at age 33

The latest reliever swap by the Orioles has put knuckleballer Mickey Jannis in the bullpen, his major league debut at age 33 perhaps coming later tonight against the Astros.

The Orioles selected Jannis' contract yesterday from Triple-A Norfolk, with the news passed along by Tides manager Gary Kendall via a phone call. The team didn't play yesterday.

Kendall wanted to tell Jannis in person, but he couldn't do it.

"I don't think I could put into words what this means," Jannis said earlier today.

"He's like, 'The Orioles bought your contract and you're headed to the major leagues. Congratulations. Huge accomplishment and best of luck to you up there. Be yourself, do what you've got to do to stay.' "

Jannis called his wife, Emily, and woke up the rest of his family, including his parents and sister, back home in Mesa, Ariz.

"They were all surprised," said Jannis, who re-signed with the Orioles near the end of October.

"A couple of my buddies didn't believe me. They were like, 'No way, no way.' They thought I was messing with them. But I told them, 'Yeah, it's happening.' It was just crazy."

An apt description for how Jannis made it to the majors, including his idea to toy with a knuckleball in 2012 after the Rays released him and four years spent pitching in independent leagues. He was a 44th-round draft pick 2010. Nothing has come easily to him.

"Probably perseverance," he said when asked how he got here. "I think deep down I always believed that I could pitch in the major leagues and that's why I never gave it up. I told my wife, 'As long as I feel like I have a chance to pitch in the major leagues, I want to pursue this dream,' and she was all for it, backed me up. My parents backed me up, my entire family. So it's pretty special."

Jannis stayed in the bullpen last night in a 3-1 loss.

"I was just trying to take it slow and take it all in, look around, try to enjoy the moment," he said. "It's just really special, something I can't really put into words."

The signature pitch is thrown between 80-90 percent of the time, Jannis said, and is mixed with a fastball and slider. The effectiveness of the floater dictates the ratio.

"If the knuckleball is working that day," he said, "I'll stick with it."

Jannis is the first Orioles knuckleballer since Daniel Boone, who made four appearances in 1990. At 33 years and 188 days old, he will be the third-oldest pitcher in club history to make his debut. Jay Heard was 34 years and 97 days on April 24, 1954, and Koji Uehara was 34 years and five days on April 8, 2009.

Eight Orioles have debuted in their 30s.

"I think deep down I wanted to give myself that opportunity, knowing that I was one of the few to be throwing the knuckleball, especially this day and age where everything's about velocity, spin rates and things like that. I'm taking spin off the ball. I definitely wanted to give it everything I have to try to make it and it got me here," Jannis said.

"I think it's not just about just getting here, but staying here. So until I get out there and pitch and really get on the mound, I think that's when it will really sink in, and go from there."

Austin Wynns caught Jannis in spring training and during bullpen sessions, but not in games with Norfolk. Pedro Severino asked to catch him yesterday to get a closer look at the pitch.

"Just been trying to throw to as many catchers as I can, just trying to get them used to it," Jannis said. "Everybody's pretty much embraced it, so that's a good thing."

Umpires will inspect Jannis for sticky substances, just like every other pitcher, though the idea that he'd use it for a knuckler is absurd.

"That's going to be part of the game," he said, "so whatever they've got to do."

Jannis had a 2.92 ERA in seven games with Norfolk and tossed five perfect innings in a relief outing in Jacksonville.

"He's throwing the ball well in Norfolk," said manager Brandon Hyde. "A guy we saw in Triple-A with a few appearances. It's a different look. I don't know much about him, to be honest with you, but he's gone bulk innings in Norfolk and we potentially need guys who can throw multiple innings here and we're going to give him an opportunity."

Hyde said he has "zero" experience with knuckleballers.

Is he confident that his catchers can handle Jannis?

"Sort of," Hyde said. "We'll see about that, too."

The Orioles designated Rule 5 pitcher Mac Sceroler for assignment to create room for Jannis on the 26- and 40-man rosters.

Sceroler missed two months with shoulder tendinitis, made five appearances and allowed 12 earned runs (15 total) and 15 hits in 7 2/3 innings. He walked seven batters, struck out 11 and surrendered six home runs.

"It's tough to evaluate when he didn't have the regular workload out on the mound," Hyde said. "It's also tough to pitch in the Florida State League a couple years ago and then to pitch in the big leagues.

"I really like his stuff, I think he's got starter stuff. That's why we held on to him as long as we possibly could, because we think he's got big upside and is going to be a good major league pitcher. It was just hard to evaluate just because of the usage, as well as him going down for about a month. I wish him the best of luck."

Anthony Santander has returned to the lineup and right field tonight as he plays through soreness in his left ankle.

"Right now it's day-to-day," Hyde said. "He has good days and bad days. We're trying to manage it as best we possibly can. He started to feel better a little bit yesterday and was available off the bench last night. He felt good day, so he's in there. I'll check with him tomorrow and see how he's feeling. So it's going to be one of those things we're managing for a while."

Here are the starters for the four-game series against the Blue Jays in Buffalo:

Thursday: Dean Kremer vs. Anthony Kay
Friday: Matt Harvey vs. Alek Manoah
Saturday: Keegan Akin vs. Hyun Jin Ryu
Sunday: Jorge López vs. Ross Stripling