O's Brian Graham on why Tanner Scott will pitch in the first inning this year

As the Orioles look to help young, hard-throwing left-handed pitching prospect Tanner Scott improve his control and work further on his pitches, they will use him as a starting pitcher this year. O's manager Buck Showalter revealed that news during the Orioles' pitching mini-camp in Florida in January.

But this is no role change for the 22-year-old Scott. But rather, it is the best move for his development at this point, according to the Orioles director of player development Brian Graham.

Between Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie last season, Scott went 5-4 with a 4.76 ERA, making 43 appearances, all in relief. Over 64 1/3 innings the southpaw with a fastball that has touched 100 mph, and even more on occasion, allowed just 40 hits. But he issued 57 walks and fanned 81. Over his career, Scott has fanned 11.38 for every nine innings but his walk rate is 6.87.

So Scott, who will likely start the year at Bowie, is a starting pitcher at the moment. One that will pitch every fifth day.

"We will use him as a starter for the purpose of having scheduled outings," Graham explained. "I wouldn't anticipate him pitching more than three innings at a time. But if he starts then he can have a day off followed by a bullpen day. He can work on his delivery, work on his breaking ball and changeup and the command of his fastball. Then he'll have two days off and be back in the game. When you have a guy that throws 100, you want to do the very best thing for that player to develop. This is 100 percent about his development."

The Orioles' early minor league camp at the Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park will be busy today with the first workout. These 37 players were due to report yesterday:

Pitchers: Keegan Akin, Garrett Cleavinger, Stefan Crichton, Brian Gonzalez, Luis Gonzalez, Trey Haley, Jefri Hernandez, David Hess, Branden Kline, Lazaro Leyva, John Means, Brian Moran, Tomo Ohka, Cody Satterwhite, Tanner Scott, Cody Sedlock, Alexander Wells, Jimmy Yacabonis

Catchers: Daniel Fajardo, Stuart Levy, Alex Murphy, Austin Wynns

Infielders: Sean Coyle, Juan Francisco, Adrian Marin, Ryan Mountcastle, Preston Palmeiro, Jomar Reyes, Aderlin Rodriguez, Garabez Rosa, Erick Salcedo

Outfielders: Randolph Gassaway, Austin Hays, Ryan McKenna, Cedric Mullins, D.J. Stewart, Mike Yastrzemski

I asked Graham the reason that the Orioles are once again holding this early camp.

"It is for several reasons," Graham said. "It is a group of players that gives Buck (Showalter) some options for split-squad games and for extra players in exhibition games when he needs them. For any activities that happen over at big league camp - live BP or sim games where he can use players from minor league camp.

"It also allows our starting pitchers to have some extra time to get stretched out. You hope with a couple of extra weeks that they get stretched out to 75 or 80 pitches prior to leaving (spring training) camp."

The bulk of the minor league pitchers and catchers will report to that camp on March 3, with position players due to report March 7. The first spring games for the minor league players is set for March 15.

Wells and the WBC: Orioles left-handed pitching prospect Alexander Wells was named to the roster for Australia for the World Baseball Classic. But we may not see him pitch in the WBC. He is not among their group of pitchers listed for their play to start the WBC. I am told he could pitch later in the tourney should Australia advance. That could be a problem since Australia, which is 1-8 in three previous WBCs, is in Pool B with Japan, Cuba and China. Only two of the four squads will advance.

Wells, who turns 20 later this month, was signed by the Orioles in August 2015. Last season, he went 4-5 with a 2.15 ERA over 13 starts for short-season Single-A Aberdeen. He ranked third in ERA in the New York-Penn League.

The candy man wins: Right-hander Brad Brach won 10 games last season and yesterday we learned that he won against the Orioles in an arbitration hearing, a real rarity. But Brach had a strong case and will earn $3.05 million this season.

In 2016, Brach went 10-4 with a 2.05 ERA and 1.038 WHIP. He had an ERA of 0.91 before the All-Star game and 3.94 after. He dominated right-handed batters who hit .126/.187/.212 against him, for an OPS of .399. Left-handed batters hit .288/.352/.432, for an OPS of .784.

That ERA of 2.05 ranked seventh-best among all major league pitchers that worked 70 or more innings last year. It was a season where Brach made his first All-Star Game.

"I think (last year) I just learned to trust in myself and in my stuff," Brach said. "I did that the whole first half. In the second half, I was worried about maybe something mechanically, or what I was throwing. It was between my ears more than anything else. I think every year is a learning experience. And I learned that to have sustained success, it's a long season. You have to stick with it and grind out every day."

Even in losing the arbitration case, the Orioles, it would seem, are still getting solid value for Brach with that salary. According to this list from Spotrac.com, Brach's 2017 salary will be only the 68th largest for a reliever this year.

No. 13 is No. 7: Orioles third baseman Manny Machado has been ranked as No. 7 on MLB Network's list of the Top 100 players right now. Mike Trout was ranked No. 1, followed by Clayton Kershaw, Josh Donaldson, Kris Bryant, Jose Altuve, Miguel Cabrera and Machado. Rounding out the top 10 are Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper and Joey Votto. Click here to see the entire list.

The rankings took into account player performance over the past several seasons with an emphasis on 2016 and this year's ranking also weighted projected 2017 performance. Players returning from injury and young players expected to break out were taken into account, as well as base-running, defensive value and award finishes. The top 100 included 19 players 25 and younger along with eight Cy Young winners and 12 MVPs.

The Orioles placed three players on the list. Closer Zach Britton was rated No. 39 and first baseman Chris Davis was ranked No. 83.