O's notes on Tanner Scott, Kevin Gausman and Joey Rickard

JUPITER, Fla. - For hard-throwing O's lefty Tanner Scott, maybe it is a case of less is more. The 23-year-old Scott has a fastball that can touch 100 mph. But it seems this spring he's taken a bit off the heater and it's producing solid results.

The Orioles need a lefty for their bullpen besides Richard Bleier and Scott's latest chance to state his case came Thursday in Jupiter. He pitched a scoreless eighth inning against the Cardinals and again did not walk anyone.

For the spring, he has thrown six innings, allowing six hits and two runs with one walk to six strikeouts.

After yesterday's game, manager Buck Showalter said that Scott isn't trying to light up any radar guns, but he could if he so chooses.

"He isn't trying to. He can," Showalter said of Scott. "You can see him go get it, when he wants to. The slider is the thing. It is kind of like Andrew Miller. When Andrew really started grasping the slider, the whole world came to him.

"He threw a 2-0 slider today for a strike. He did that a couple of times. He sometimes shows better command of that (pitch over his fastball). He's got a good feel for his release point on his breaking ball right now. You throw that many fastballs and all the sudden throw your first slider on a 2-0 count and throw it for a strike. That's impressive."

A few days ago, Scott talked about the big gains his slider made in 2017 and he reiterated that was the best aspect of his development last season.

"It was massive (gains with that pitch). It helped me get a lot more outs. It definitely was a big help. I feel very confident throwing it at anytime," Scott said.

Check out more on Scott here. He told me how Zach Britton has become a big mentor for him.

Gausman on a roll: While we don't get pitching lines for simulated games, we sure do for spring games and right-hander Kevin Gausman has now put together back-to-back scoreless outings. That is with a sim game between his three perfect innings on March 3 versus Philadelphia and his five scoreless Thursday afternoon in Jupiter.

Gausman gave up just two singles at Roger Dean Stadium. Over these past two games, he's thrown eight scoreless with one walk and six strikeouts.

Is he pushing for another opening day start?

"If it is me it will be two in a row. But we have a lot of other guys that deserve it. (Dylan) Bundy had a great year last year and obviously (Andrew) Cashner did, too. I don't know who it is going to be. I don't make those decisions and that is probably a good thing," he said with a laugh.

Rickard's struggles: At spring training two years ago, outfielder Joey Rickard was trying to make the Orioles roster as a Rule 5 pick. He did just that with an outstanding spring where he hit .397/.472/.571 in 28 games. He hit .291 last spring. But this year in spring games, Rickard struggled badly. He batted just .152/.282/.182, going 5-for-33 with 10 strikeouts.

He just didn't look good at all and Wednesday he was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.

"Joey needs at-bats," manager Buck Showalter said before Thursday's game. "Obviously, he's not swinging the bat very well. Joey just needs to get his head cleared and get going again. If you walked in and watched his spring, you wouldn't think very much of it.

"But because we have a history and knowledge of how good he is, I just want him to get some consistent at-bats every day and kind of relax more than anything. I'd be real surprised if in these next few days he doesn't get it going down there.

"We talked a lot leading up to it. You're going to see him again. It's not 'Bye, see you later.' We all thought this was in the best interest of him getting back on point, so to speak. He's a good man and he'll be fine."

Later today, the Orioles (13-8-1) look for their eighth straight win when they play the Mets in Port St. Lucie at 1:10 p.m. Cashner makes his second O's start. He pitched four scoreless allowing just one hit on Sunday night in Sarasota versus Philadelphia.

Click here for Thursday's wrap up from the win over St. Louis where Showalter talked about the solid pitching and provided updates on the injuries to Mark Trumbo and Ryan Mountcastle.