Notes on Tyler Wilson, Brad Brach and Christian Walker

SARASOTA, Fla. - If we were giving trending grades right now for some Orioles starting pitchers, 26-year-old right-hander Tyler Wilson would get a thumbs up. His stock has been rising in the Florida sun.

With the Orioles rotation not exactly setting the world on fire in the Grapefruit League, Wilson drew heavy praise from his manager when he pitched in relief Tuesday in Dunedin. Against the Toronto Blue Jays, he threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two runs in three innings against the Yankees on March 10. But his ERA in his three other outings is 1.42 (one earned run in 6 1/3 innings).

The Orioles 2014 minor league Pitcher of the Year is trying to pull off an upset and emerge with a starting rotation spot on opening day.

Wilson had some major league success last year. He went 2-2 with a 3.50 ERA over 36 innings. Take away an outing where he allowed six runs to Tampa Bay and his ERA would have been 2.27. That success provided some confidence for him heading into this camp.

"It definitely means a lot," Wilson said. "It is an invaluable experience to have been there before. You kind of know what to expect with intangible things like routine and what the locker-room is like. Just knowing what it's like to get on the mound in that stadium. There are experiences you can build on from last year."

The goal for Wilson is obvious - make this team. If not opening day, then as soon as possible.

"For sure. That is what everyone here is trying to do," he said. "My goal is to work on my game in any way that I can and get better and be ready for when that opportunity presents itself. Whether that is April 4 or May or August, whenever it is. I'll be ready to go and compete and get outs."

* Meanwhile, relief pitcher Brad Brach is in a different situation than Wilson. He knows he will make this team. He went 5-3 with a 2.72 ERA last season. He posted an ERA of 1.92 his last 42 games and averaged 10.10 strikeouts per nine innings over the course of the year.

Brach would never boast that he has this team made - that is not his style at all - but he does.

"This is different for me," Brach said in the home clubhouse this week. "They (the coaches) said get my work in and work on different things. Every spring I've tried to work on getting results. I know that matters. But now I am trying to work on a few things and get ready for opening day."

Brach can throw a fastball that can touch the mid 90s. But despite that velocity, he said it was an off-speed pitch that was a big key for his 2015 season.

"Last year, just having full confidence in the changeup was big," he said. "I could throw it any count and feel confident just like my fastball. That was the first time in my career I felt confident throwing my secondary pitches in any count. Any time I got into a jam, the hitter had to be ready for either one. That was a big difference maker."

* Does less stress lead to more homers? For Christian Walker, it might. It is easy for a coach to tell players to relax and let their talent come through. But it might not be as easy to do.

When I interviewed Walker before spring training, he told me that one key to his big second half at Triple-A last year was just that - a little more relaxing.

"To be honest, I think I just needed to stop putting so much pressure on myself," Walker said. "Go out and play the game and have fun. I love to play the game. So just get back to that and play the game for the right reasons and have a good time.

"I kind of got to the All-Star break and did a quick reflection of the first half. I just tried to take the pressure off myself. Stop trying to go 4-for-4 with four home runs. Just trust the hard work that I put in and the results were then much better for me."

Walker hit 18 homers with 74 RBIs for Norfolk last season, but it was those second-half power numbers that really stood out. In 206 at-bats after the All-Star break, he hit .257 with 13 homers, 44 RBIs and an OPS of .856 for the Tides.

This spring he is batting .290 with four homers, 14 RBIs, a slugging percentage of .839 and an OPS of 1.124. He has hit three-run homers in back-to-back games and has three games of three RBIs this month.