Notes on Hardy, Joseph, the rotation and Lee

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy played catch from 90 feet yesterday as he continues his recovery from a fractured left foot.

The throwing required Hardy to apply pressure to the foot.

"That was good to see, that he was out on the field and throwing," said manager Buck Showalter. "Carry a little pressure on the foot to do that. That was good to see."

Caleb Joseph received gentle hugs from teammates at his locker this morning, his first appearance at Camden Yards since suffering a testicular injury on Monday that required surgery.

"He said he wasn't coming back until he wasn't embarrassed to walk," Showalter said. "I think they had some show-and-tell down there somewhere. I did not participate."

Showalter passed along John Kruk's phone number to Joseph so they could talk about the injury. Kruk was diagnosed with testicular cancer in the spring of 1994.

"I want to say how much I appreciate John Kruk reaching out and wanting to talk to Caleb," Showalter said. "John had testicular cancer and very serious. I know Caleb really appreciated it. They talked for a while about some of the things he was going to be feeling after surgery."

Showalter still doesn't know when Joseph will be ready to come off the disabled list.

"I don't know. I don't have a whole lot to base it on," he said. "It could be sooner than later, it could be later than sooner, because there's not a whole lot of ... I think everybody's different. I think Caleb will get back as fast as he's capable.

"There's a certain period they go through, even though you feel like doing it, they tell you it's too risky until X number of days, so we're not close to that yet."

Joseph will have to clear a mental hurdle once he's back behind the plate. Being hit with foul tips is inevitable. It comes with the job description.

"I would think so," Showalter said. "Let's face it, we're not talking about this injury with outfielders much. It's kind of like when somebody gets hit in the head with a pitch, that first time up there you've got to kind of get back on the horse.

"I've got a feeling the first time we'll probably go through some BPs and do some stuff with it, but I don't think that's imminent."

Showalter still intends to wait until after today's game to announce Monday night's starter. The obvious candidates are Mike Wright and T.J. McFarland.

If one of them is used in relief today, the other gets the start against the Royals.

"I could use one of them, both of them and go get somebody else, so we're prepared for all three scenarios," Showalter said. "We're going to try to win today and see where it takes us. Some days, we have to back off today to get there. We had to back off some guys last night."

Double-A Bowie left-hander Chris Lee is going on the disabled list with a strained lat muscle. Lee has been scratched from his last two starts due to the injury.

Lee, 23, is 5-0 with a 2.98 ERA in eight games (seven starts). The Orioles view him as a possibility for their rotation later this summer if he's healthy.