Norris feeling better as he readies for latest rehab start

Judging by appearances and sounds, Orioles pitcher Bud Norris is on the road to recovery as he prepares to hit the road again for his next rehab start.

Norris looks like he's feeling better and he's no longer coughing every few minutes. He's moving past the bronchitis that forced him to the disabled list.

"I'm getting there," he said. "I didn't know how much it took out of me. I'm glad Buck (Showalter) did what he did and I'm glad I got one under my belt and I've got one more to go. I'm really excited just to get my weight back on my body and kind of get through all of this."

Norris allowed nine runs and 12 hits in 2 2/3 innings Friday night at Triple-A Norfolk, leading the Orioles to keep him on the rehab assignment for at least one more start.

"I went down to the bullpen and started to warm up and felt great in the 'pen, and by the time I pitched the first inning, I could feel my legs kind of giving out," Norris said. "As much as I do squatting and running and all that good stuff, missing as much time as I did, my body definitely took a toll. Losing as much weight as I did, I never had anything happen to me like that before. I'm excited to put it back on and take care of my body."

Norris appeared to be feeling better at the beginning of last week, but his condition worsened.

"I didn't know how much my body went through, but that Saturday, Sunday and Monday I basically slept all day," he said. "Every time I got out of bed for 20, 30 minutes, I got so weak I had to get back in bed. My parents came into town and stayed a couple nights with me, which was extremely helpful. I got some homemade chicken noodle soup from my mom, which I was really excited about, actually. But like I said, I didn't know how it was going to take a toll on me. It did. It took its course and I'm definitely learning from it.

"I lost about 14 pounds at the time. I got down as low as like 204 and my playing weight's around 215, 220. In my Houston years, it was 225. I'm probably back to about 212. I went into camp in a little bit better shape this year. I thought I was in the best shape of my life, but weight's something I've got to monitor through the course of the season.

"I'm just trying to get through my throwing program, getting my lifting back into it. I felt good. I worked the last couple of days on my own. I'm happy with those workouts. I think I have a side planned today and go from there. So once we kind of discuss it, go from there."

The key is building up strength and endurance so he's better equipped to tackle a 9.88 ERA over his 27 1/3 innings this season.

"I'm getting there," he said. "That's all my gym stuff and my running, so any time I can get all my sprints and my gym stuff all the way through, I feel a lot better after that."

Norris can't remember being this sick in his entire life.

"Absolutely," he said. "I didn't know what it was. I didn't want it to really affect me. I wanted to get back out there and act like it never happened, but it clearly happened. Like I said, I could't put words on it and it was unfortunate and sad, but I'm excited to get it out of my system and back out there and do what I did."

Norris was prescribed antibiotics for his bronchitis.

"I think that's really what treated most of it," he said. "I had a lot of congestion in my chest. I still have a lot of amounts of phlegm and I think that's what the doctors said, let's get all that phlegm up. Once I've gotten most of that out, I'll feel a lot better.

"I think the pollen count, the allergies, everything's kind of affected it. I'm taking a lot of my Claritin and hopefully that helps a lot."

A native of Northern California, Norris perks up when talking about the Golden State Warriors, who are one win away from making the NBA finals. They might be the best medicine for him.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "If they sweep in four, that's going to be even a better sign."