Miguel Gonzalez expects to start again this month

Orioles pitcher Miguel Gonzalez expressed relief today at the results of his MRIs and hopes to start throwing in the next couple of days.

Gonzalez was diagnosed with tendinitis in his right shoulder and elbow. He received a cortisone injection in his shoulder on Monday.

"The results, I was pretty happy," Gonzalez said. "It's just a little bit of inflammation, tendinitis, on my elbow and shoulder, so that's really good news.

"Just try to get the inflammation down and go day-by-day and see what happens."

Gonzalez expressed confidence that he would be able to start again later this month. He wasn't so sure after his elbow swelled up, bringing concern following his ligament-reconstructive surgery six years ago.

"Yeah, I'm excited because things like this you never know what can happen, but once we got the results back and were able to see what was wrong, it was definitely a positive and a plus there for sure," he said.

"About two weeks ago, felt it in the shoulder. Little fatigue. Treating it and all that, but it wasn't getting any better. I think it was just a matter of getting some rest and getting to step back a little bit."

Gonzalez doesn't know whether his struggles on the mound are tied to his health. He's posted a 6.04 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break.

"Obviously, I haven't been doing well in the second half, but that's part of baseball," he said.

Pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti kept checking on Gonzalez to gauge whether he was hurt.

"Honestly,I was feeling fine," he said. "Fatigue? Most of the guys can tell you they're fatigued right now, they're tired. But mine was a little worse than others."

Gonzalez remains shut down while the injection works its magic.

"First of all, he's got to get through the period where the shot, it's two or three days," Showalter said. "Then, he's going to do some exercises to strengthen it in there that they do with certain weights. If he meets all that criteria, then he will start throwing. It's a minimum of 15 days since the injection, I've been told."

Whether Gonzalez accompanies the Orioles on the upcoming road trip is up to head athletic trainer Riche Bancells and the medical staff, according to Showalter.

"Where he is in his treatment," Showalter said, "I expect him to go. There's some in-between period in Sarasota."

Gonzalez has thrown 141 innings. His stated goal in spring training was to reach 200.

"I think he's one of our hardest-working guys," Showalter said. I know he came into the season, his goal was to pitch between 190-210 innings. That was really something he wanted to do. And you've seen through the last two or three years with him, how many offs we give him, because you kind of get to know your guys a little bit and it's worth the effort and whatever it takes to give that to him. So I know it's disappointing for him.

"He's frustrated not to be able to get to that threshold where he wants to, but it's not for work and programs. He comes to spring training every year, he looks like, his definition. He works hard in the offseason. Brady (Anderson) was telling me he's one of his hardest-working guys. He barely takes much time off. He takes a couple weeks and he gets it going again, so it's frustrating for him. What's he got, 140 innings? And with some rest, too."

Showalter said he had his suspicions that something might be wrong with Gonzalez.

"You always ask. You do," he said. "But so many people just look at a gun. Well, it's 92 or 93, so he must be OK. That's not always it. And I say many times, you watch the other team, they tell you how somebody's stuff is. Just for me it was the command that was an issue, I thought more than anything. So you always have suspicions when you have a track record with somebody and they're not following it. What's wrong?

"Players realize like he said that nobody is 100 percent this time of the year. It's a matter of what his private thoughts were and what he was feeling. I'm not going to sit there and quiz him. That's the same reason why you like him so much. He wants to post up. He's a tough guy. This is a tough, competitive guy.

"Think about the first inning or two in Texas. It's a hot day game or whatever, he's not carrying very much, it doesn't look good. Next thing you know, he comes out there and figures out a way to get through three, four and five with pretty good stuff, a lot different stuff. And a lot of guys wouldn't do that. I take that out as a positive thinking about him. That's why you like him so much. This is a tough guy. He's competitive and he's tough."

There's a fine line, of course, between being a gamer and knowing when to back off.

"It always is," Showalter said. "What's injury, what's problematic? An old manager told me one time it's very important to know the difference between an injury and pain, because we all have it. Or discomfort. There's a big difference. And that's hard. You can't read people's minds, you can't put yourself in their body. That's why you get to know Miggy, you get to know (Wei-Yin) Chen, you get to know (Chris) Tillman, it looks like we're getting to know (Kevin) Gausman pretty well, and (Ubaldo) Jimenez. You know what it's supposed to look like when they're right. And out of 30-35 starts, they may have that everything right maybe five if you're lucky."

Chen is expected to start Monday in New York.

"Right now, Wei-Yin is pitching Monday in New York," Showalter said. "That could change. He could pitch Saturday. Wally and I and Dom have met last night and today and see how people feel, work days.

"Miguel's not an option. We're going to have to scramble there somewhere."

Shortstop J.J. Hardy may not require an injury rehab assignment before coming off the disabled list. He's eligible on Sept. 8.

"We were talking about that last night and the day before yesterday. We're going to bring that to a head here in the next couple of hours," Showalter said.

"I know what J.J. wants to do and I know what Richie thinks and everybody. We can set some stuff up. I'd rather not him go to Toronto and then go back to play games and back to New York.

"I don't think he necessarily has to play in (rehab) games. He can do a lot of that in Toronto, sim games and stuff."