Joseph's return, tonight's game and leftover balk talk

The Orioles have played seven games since recalling catcher Caleb Joseph from Triple-A Norfolk and he's started six of them, including last night's series opener against the Mariners at Camden Yards.

There's no platoon with two right-handed hitting catchers on the roster. There's no timeshare behind the plate. Joseph is the undisputed regular as the Orioles envisioned when they opened camp in February.

Rookie Chance Sisco eventually could have seized the role, but the Orioles optioned him June 17 while bringing back Joseph, who earlier had no choice other than accepting his demotion - however unfair on the surface if comparing his lack of offensive production to teammates who kept their jobs - and hitting the same reset button that the Orioles have placed in front of Sisco.

Joseph was batting .182/.203/.325 and threw out four of 19 runners attempting to steal when the Orioles decided to bring up Andrew Susac as his replacement. He committed four errors and was charged with two passed balls. Good throws were made when pitchers gave him no chance, and poor throws followed their quicker times to the plate, which only increased his frustration.

Discussions were held regarding the possibility of sending him down and it finally happened on May 17.

The version of Joseph that returned to the Orioles is a reminder of how he can impact games beyond his trips to the plate. The way he's been handling the staff and framing pitches and his stronger and more accurate throws to second base, though he sailed a ball last night and Dee Gordon slid under the tag. Joseph also couldn't prevent a wild pitch by Miguel Castro in the seventh that led the tie-breaking run score.

"I think sometimes when you go down or take a step back, you can see that maybe you were playing a little tense, even though you don't feel tense and you don't have that anxiety when you show up to the field," Joseph said. "You don't feel that performance pressure in your body, but when you take a step back, you realize that you were playing a little tense and you did have some performance pressure and it makes you not catch a foul pop up or try to throw a back pick and skip it. Things that I think would be uncharacteristic.

"I don't make throwing errors on back picks or catching foul balls, it hasn't really been a normal trend career-wise. And if you are kind of tight and tense sometimes, it can affect some of your brain processing. So, maybe there's a pitch here and there that if you're in the right frame of mind you would have called or not called. These are extremely small things that inside the game for folks, they understand how it magnifies. That could lose you a game. One pitch to one batter in a certain spot that you know nine times out of 10 you don't call.

"It's stuff like this that when you take a step back you realize, OK, maybe I wasn't really myself, even though you feel completely like yourself."

Joseph will catch Kevin Gausman tonight if he remains in the lineup, which will undergo a slight change from last night with Danny Valencia's insertion against Mariners left-hander James Paxton. Valencia could move to the outfield with Tim Beckham reclaiming third base, or he could serve as the designated hitter with Mark Trumbo in right field.

Gausman noticed yesterday how the team felt whole again as Beckham became the latest player to exit the disabled list.

"That's kind of the big question mark every year is if all the guys can stay healthy," Gausman said. "If the whole team can stay together, we feel like we have a good shot. Unfortunately, some things happened in the spring and it happened to Tim, too, early in the season. Those things are unfortunate.

"Obviously, what happened to (Zach) Britton in the offseason was a big blow for everybody, too. And not just what he brings on the field, but also just kind of having him around and having the morale. I know when I found out that happened it was like, 'Oh man,' because you knew he was going to be out for a while. But yeah, it's great to have everybody back and I feel like we had a good road trip. We played some really good baseball and I feel like we're finally doing what we've done as an organization since I've been here.

"I felt like we played pretty good defense over the road trip and pitched well and had some good clutch hitting, and that's really what we've done in the past. We kind of got away from being consistent this year in all aspects."

Gausman is 1-2 with a 3.04 ERA and 1.238 WHIP in four career starts against the Mariners, with nine runs and 27 hits in 26 2/3 innings. Denard Span is 6-for-13 (.462) with three doubles. Former teammate Nelson Cruz is 1-for-7 with a double and four strikeouts.

Paxton is 6-2 with a 3.72 ERA, 1.117 WHIP and two complete games in 16 starts this season and he's averaging 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings. But he's allowed 10 runs and 14 hits in his last two starts over 7 1/3 innings.

In two career starts against the Orioles, Paxton has surrendered five earned runs (six total) and 13 hits over 10 innings. He's made one start at Camden Yards and allowed two runs and four hits with three walks in 4 1/3 innings.

Manny Machado is 4-for-5 with a double lifetime against Paxton. Valencia is 4-for-8 with a double and triple.

The Orioles surely will remain agitated and confused by plate umpire Stu Scheurwater's balk call last night on Darren O'Day that led to the reliever's first career ejection.

"I didn't really see anything different than what Darren's been doing, for what, a decade now in the big leagues?" Joseph said. "He has an extremely unique way of coming set and delivering the pitch. I just heard the umpire say, 'That's a balk,' but nothing stood out to me.

"I was about to try and catch the ball, and then Nelson (Cruz) popped it up. I didn't see anything any different than what he's been doing for a long time now. It's unfortunate, but we got out of it, so that's good."