Notes on Teagarden, Urrutia and more

SARASOTA, Fla. - Catcher Taylor Teagarden woke up this morning with spasms in his lower back and will take off the next few days, according to manager Buck Showalter. Teagarden was sidelined last spring with lower-back discomfort. We're not certain if it's a similar condition. The clubhouse is closed to the media during batting practice, but we hope to meet with Teagarden later and get a full report. "We've got plenty of time. We're not going to rush him," Showalter said. "I think we'd show the same amount of caution with anybody with this amount of time. But we do understand some of the challenges that Tea's had there." Minor league catcher Luis Martinez, who's been shut down with a strained left oblique, is close to resuming baseball activities. However, he's not expected to play in a game for another five to seven days. "We don't want to get too quick with that," Showalter said. Cuban outfielder Henry Urrutia, who finally received his work visa this week and left Haiti, is taking his physical today. He reported to the Ed Smith Stadium complex this morning and left a few minutes ago to continue the examinations. One of the Orioles' team physicians handled the orthopedic part of the physical yesterday. Showalter said Urrutia is "a legit 6-foot-4." "Right on the button," Showalter said. Urrutia weighs about 190 pounds and figures to bulk up. He's apparently eager to get on the field. The Orioles keep telling him that it can't happen before he passes his physical. "We brought him in the meeting and introduced him to all the staff," Showalter said. "He's pretty excited to be here. His wife is still in Haiti. He doesn't have any children. "He's a good-looking kid. It's exciting to get him in the mix. And when we get all this stuff taken care of, then we can pay him. I'm sure he's real excited about that." Showalter said he will lay off Adam Jones for a few days when the center fielder returns from the World Baseball Classic. As for Jones wanting to play every game this season, Showalter said, "He won't play 162. But don't hold me to that. I kept trying to get him out of there last season." The Orioles brought seven minor leaguers to camp for today's game, including catcher Steel Russell, son of bench coach John Russell. Pitchers Devin Jones, Branden Kline, Chris Petrini, Rob Delaney, Zech Zinicola and Jason Gurka also are here.