Notes on rotation, Infante, Sucre, Sisco and defense (tied 4-4)

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Alex Cobb is making his Grapefruit League debut in Friday's split-squad game against the Rays at Ed Smith Stadium. Nate Karns is making his second start in the night portion against the Yankees in Tampa.

No way to shield them from a division opponent, especially with the Orioles returning to Fort Myers on Saturday to play the Red Sox.

Cobb has been slotted ahead of Andrew Cashner after throwing live batting practice yesterday on Field 2 at the Sarasota complex. Cashner threw today and will have another session on Sunday before taking the mound in an exhibition game.

Dylan Bundy makes his debut Thursday against the Phillies in Clearwater.

Manager Brandon Hyde trusts the input he's getting from the veterans. He knows where it's safe to lean.

"I think it was depending on how they lined up," Hyde said. "We talked to them both about how much rest they'd want, certain amount of days in between, especially early on. Then we'll kind of get them in their five-day rotation as we go on.

"All three of those guys are on a little bit different schedules from a rest standpoint. Cobb has been around for a long time. So has Cash. And I know what they needed and we kind of worked with them on proper rest.

"It's really depending on rest and how much time they want between starts."

The Orioles haven't listed a starter for Saturday or Sunday, the latter game at home against the Tigers.

Left-hander Josh Osich hasn't pitched since the Orioles claimed him off waivers from the Giants on Feb. 19.

"He's good," Hyde said. "We want to give him a live BP before he gets in game action. I want to give him every opportunity to have success. I don't to rush him out on the field. Working with him on having him face some hitters before he gets in game action. That's all there is."

Pitcher Gregory Infante has made it out of Venezuela and team doctors are examining him in Miami. Catcher Jesús Sucre is close to resolving his visa issue, with Hyde saying the paperwork is close to finalized.

"It sounds like it's all progressing well," Hyde said, "and hopefully he can be here soon."

Hyde isn't ready to start making cuts, especially with Friday's split-squad game requiring the extra players.

"I want to give these guys an ample opportunity to get at-bats and get a couple appearances under their belt before we start getting the numbers down, but that's coming up pretty soon, a little bit more of a workable number," Hyde said. "But definitely want to gives guys opportunities to get on the field a little bit and have a least a couple appearances on the mound or get some at-bats before we start making those types of decisions."

Chance Sisco is the designated hitter today, but the Orioles continue to work with him on his technique behind the plate and restoring confidence lost in his rookie season. He told the media at FanFest that he was determined to win the starting job, appearing to have moved on from the two demotions to Triple-A.

"Chance has got a ton of ability," Hyde said. "He's got a chance to be a really good catcher, he's got a chance to be able to swing the bat from the left side. I just want him to play with confidence and be the leader on the field and have it be OK for him to show personality. That's really hard to do as a young player, but I want him to know that we have confidence in him and we worked a lot so far on communication behind the plate, understanding when there's times to be vocal.

"That leadership-type on the field is really, really important. Not easy to do with a young catcher, but it's something we're working on this spring."

Hyde and catching instructor Tim Cossins are relying less on last year's scouting reports and more on what they've seen in camp.

"We watched him the first couple of weeks," Hyde said. "We're going to watch him a lot more. He's got Cuz, who's a catching guy, and I caught. There's certain things that we believe in from a leadership standpoint behind the plate. Not everybody's the same, you don't want everybody to be the same. Everyone's got their own personality.

"I just want him to come out and not be timid. I want him to throw behind runners and I want him to be aggressive and make mistakes physically here by being aggressive. That's pretty much the mindset of all our guys."

This is why Hyde can accept Yusniel Diaz running into an out at third base yesterday before Jonathan Villar crossed the plate, costing Rio Ruiz an RBI. Multiple players have run into outs over the past few games.

"I don't want anybody to feel bottled up," Hyde said. "You've seen us run into a couple outs the last couple of games. That's great. Diaz ran into the out yesterday. Commended him for it, talked a little bit about the situation and we'll learn from that. But if we don't go in that situation and we don't do things physically, you're never going to know.

"That's the message I'm sending our guys is to play free and we'll learn from there."

Another message is to tighten up the defense. Some mistakes can't be overlooked, and this includes errors and the failure to turn double plays that are scored as a fielder's choice.

"We have a long way to go defensively and we are getting there every single day," Hyde said. "I really like the work that we're putting in, but we're just scratching the surface on the kind of defensive club that we need to be. But our guys are working the right way."

The Orioles brought pitchers Luis Gonzalez, Zach Muckenhirn, Tanner Chleborad, Matt Wotherspoon and D.J. Snelten and infielder Mason McCoy from minor league camp for today's game.

Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, also is on the trip.

The Red Sox closed their clubhouse to the media this morning due to one of the players having a family emergency. No other details were provided at the time, but manager Alex Cora told reporters that the impact on the team was similar to the passing last week of Boston Globe reporter Nick Cafardo.

A team official passed along news shortly before first pitch that 23-year-old Romell Jordan, the younger brother of Blake Swihart, passed away this morning.

Batting practice was cancelled and only the Orioles hit on the field.

Update: Leadoff hitter Jackie Bradley Jr. homered off Gabriel Ynoa on an 0-2 pitch to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.

Update II: Sisco hit a two-run homer to center field on an 0-2 pitch from Eduardo Rodriguez to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead in the second inning.

Update III: Sisco hit another two-run homer in the fourth, this one off Tyler Thornburg, but Michael Chavis tied the game 4-4 with a three-run shot off Bo Schultz in the bottom half of the inning.