Orioles must make decision on Means

The Orioles should know later today whether left-hander John Means is making the opening night start at Fenway Park. They can't wait any longer because he'll need to throw for a couple of days without any arm discomfort. Has to prove that he can do it.

A dose of good news would lift their spirits. This team is crawling to the starting line.

Contingency plans are in place in case Means can't pitch. The Orioles have been prepping for his absence since last week.

Withholding Wade LeBlanc from today's scheduled simulated game would offer a hint that he's the guy. Otherwise, manager Brandon Hyde floated Tommy Milone and Thomas Eshelman as possible options, saying they're also in the mix.

Eshelman figured to be a long reliever at best and perhaps a taxi squad inclusion for the first five games. He also could have been moved to the alternate camp site in Bowie.

In the quest for interesting and griping storylines, Eshelman becoming the opening day starter after registering a 6.50 ERA and 1.611 WHIP last summer in 10 games (four starts) would rank among the all-timers.

He was rolling through spring training until that disastrous final outing on March 11, the last game prior to the shutdown. The Blue Jays hit three home runs in the first inning and totaled nine runs and nine hits in two frames. Eshelman appeared to pitch himself off the team.

A lot can happen during a shutdown that lasted four months.

Hyde didn't mention Asher Wojciechowski while mulling the replacements, but he also indicated that other names were part of the discussion. The right-hander hasn't pitched since working 4 2/3 innings in Friday night's intrasquad game.

Some of the names have changed in the Red Sox lineup, but the Orioles still could have spun his track record.

Wojciechowski made three starts against the Red Sox last season and held them to two runs with 20 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings. His dominance was best illustrated in a July 21 game at Camden Yards, when he tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings with only one hit allowed and 10 strikeouts.

The hit was put on hold until the top of the seventh when Rafael Devers stroked a leadoff double.

The Orioles called an audible last year after Alex Cobb went on the disabled list and Andrew Cashner was handed the opening day assignment in New York. The new regime has experience doing it.

Meanwhile, Kohl Stewart is starting tonight in D.C. He was held to one outing in spring training due to biceps soreness and the extended break seemed to work in his favor.

Having Stewart face an imposing Nationals lineup gives the Orioles a nice evaluation tool while setting up their pitching staff.

"I'm looking forward to him pitching (tonight)," Hyde said. "Like I've said before, we just got such a limited look at him in spring training. We love the arm, but we just didn't see him pitch much in the spring training 1.0.

"He's throwing the ball better and he's been healthy through this summer camp, so we're continuing to watch, but it's an arm that we really like. I like the shape to his pitches. He's got major league starter stuff. So it's about going out there and being able to pound the strike zone with it and being able to work ahead of hitters, especially in this division."

Stewart, the fourth overall pick by the Twins in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft, only knows that he's competing for a job on the staff. He won't allow himself to assume that the only mystery is whether he's a starter or long reliever.

"I still feel like I'm trying to show them something," Stewart said. "I have really no idea what their roles are for me. I think they obviously want me to be a guy who can go at least five innings out of the gate here, but every time I go out there, I feel like I've got something to prove, so I'm not trying to think in that way at all. I'm just trying to at least make the adjustments that I need to make on the way to the season and just kind of stay focused on that."

Stewart is exactly where he needs to be physically, which was a losing battle for most of spring training. It's a fair fight in July.

The second camp feels odd, of course, but Stewart is able to compete in it.

"It is different," Stewart said. "In spring, we all get so used to that, we all get so used to having six to eight weeks of really being able to face hitters and at least use that intel that we gather to kind of at least prepare for what the beginning of the season's going to be like. And not having that is obviously very different for everybody.

"I do feel like I could go out there and pitch and throw five or six innings right now. I trust my body is going to hold up for 60 games. But it is different. I'm not going to lie. It's a different feeling being home facing guys for three or four innings and then showing up and doing it for real for at least three or four innings right out of the gate. But it's just an adjustment.

"Everybody's in that boat and we're going to have to make it and I think the guys that listen to their bodies the best, I think those guys are going to be the best prepared."