Jimenez and Showalter speak following today's workout

SARASOTA, Fla. - Ubaldo Jimenez says he's looking to get a fresh start. It begins on March 3 when he gets the start in the first exhibition game against the Tigers.

"Last year was really tough," said Jimenez, who was 6-9 with a 4.81 ERA in his first season with the Orioles after signing a four-year, $50 million contract. "This is the beginning of 2015 and I'm excited to be part of the first game."

This won't be Jimenez's last road game of the spring.

"It puts him on the gray pants schedule," manager Buck Showalter quipped.

"It's part of the game," Jimenez said. "Last year I only pitched one game away, so this year if that's how it has to go down, I'll take it. It's baseball. You have to get ready for everything."

Jimenez is ready to face hitters and break the monotony of side sessions and batters tracking pitches.

"When you get here, the first couple days you just want to get ready," Jimenez said, "but after a week you just want to start playing right away because spring training gets kind of boring because you want to start playing right away."

Being in a rotation competition doesn't suddenly make Jimenez want to achieve better results this spring. He's always trying to do it while also taking the necessary steps to be prepared.

"I'm pretty much going to do what I have done all my spring trainings and that's getting myself ready for the season," he said. "It's not like you go out there and you just want people to score on you. No, you're trying to make your pitches and get ready for the season."

As I wrote in my last entry, Showalter said he received a text message from Nick Markakis regarding the outfielder's harsh comments toward the Orioles in a USA TODAY article.

"I got a text from Nick. I did read that, which was expected. Context which was presented compared to how he meant it," Showalter said.

"It's not a subject matter or topic. We know. Obviously, we wanted him back. We made an offer. We wouldn't match the offer that Atlanta did, so he went there. I think everybody here wishes him well and likes him. We're lucky to have had him pass our way for an extended period of time. We probably would have done the same thing he did and he would have done the same thing we did.

"I think we all know about context. It hasn't really been a topic much. He's good people. He did good things for us. You have to keep in mind that Nick wanted to come back. It can't be a bad thing. And we wanted him back, the example of the offer."

Matt Wieters looked so comfortable in fielding drills again today that Showalter almost forgot about the elbow surgery.

"I saw him throw a ball today and I had to catch myself because it looked like normal and I thought, 'Geez,'" Showalter said.

"There wasn't that recoil or de-accel at the end that you see with a lot of guys. We saw it a little the first day with Stevie (Johnson) and now it's gone. I thought I saw it a little bit the first day with Dylan (Bundy) and yesterday, his third time, he was getting down the hill the way people who don't have any precaution at all get down the hill."

Wieters won't catch in an exhibition game until March 17, but he'll get plenty of work. This isn't a paid vacation.

"Matt's not going to be sitting around," Showalter said. "He's going to be getting some duty down at Twin Lakes. He's going to be doing a lot of DHing, running the bases. We'll set up some games where no stealing is allowed. We'll have his legs ready to go.

"His first outing when he's actually catching in a game on the 17th, I think you'll see him catch probably five to seven innings right out of the chute because he already would have done that.

"I'm going to try to see as many people as we can see, but obviously getting Matt ready is a priority. He's going to make our club."

Whether he's catching on opening day remains a mystery.

Manny Machado continues to be a full participant in every infield drill.

"He looks good," Showalter said. "His face is good. You get to the point where he almost looks bored. It's kind of where he is. It's not step, 'is that going to hurt?' Step, 'is that going to hurt.' So far so good."

The Orioles will do pop up drills and priorities Saturday on the Ed Smith field, with crowd noise piped in from two playoff games at Camden Yards.

"You won't be able to hear," Showalter warned reporters, "so don't bother going over there."