Pregame notes from Sarasota

SARASOTA, Fla. - Not much news coming out of Orioles camp this morning.

Manager Buck Showalter said reliever Ryan Webb remains day-to-day with a sore left knee. The swelling has gone down slightly and Webb could be available to pitch Friday in Dunedin or Saturday in Sarasota.

Showalter could make a few cuts later today, depending on whether he meets with executive vice president Dan Duquette.

"If I don't get a chance to talk to him, I'm not going to do it," Showalter said.

The Orioles performed pickoff and rundown drills this morning on the stadium field while piping in noise from Camden Yards. Now they'll wait to find out whether a nearby resident files another complaint.

"We didn't turn it up as high today," Showalter said.

"It's funny the energy level when you have that noise. It's just a whole different atmosphere. It's a lot more realistic. I'm glad we had some stuff to pull from last year, some soundtrack. Years past, we would have had to go to the '83 club to get that amount of noise. We were able to create our own noise from our fans."

Showalter said he'll use some of his starters and regulars in the March 14 game against Puerto Rico and the March 15 game against a B team on the Camden Yards replica field. He'll send a starter to the March 16 game against Canada in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Showalter was asked what he's seen offensively from Matt Wieters, who will catch the first two games. Wieters is hitless in 16 at-bats this spring.

"Little by little," Showalter said. "I think he's second on our team in plate appearances in the spring. Just run him out there. It's going to take a little while. We knew coming in. He's missed a lot of time. You think how long it's been since he was actually in game speed.

"That's the least of my worries. It'll click at some point. It's not like he's swinging and missing a lot. He's just not squaring up balls like he will."

I checked again on the Orioles' rumored interest in Phillies slugger Ryan Howard. I reported earlier that the sides talked at the Winter Meetings and the Phillies wanted to include Howard in a Marlon Byrd trade, but the Orioles balked.

The Phillies would have to eat most of the $60 million remaining on Howard's contract and I don't sense after talking to someone in the Orioles organization that there's anything hot involving the club. Stay tuned, of course, but don't let it consume your thoughts.

The Orioles announced their promotional scheduled earlier today, and it includes a Showalter garden gnome on June 27 to the first 25,000 fans 15 and over.

You know that you want one.

There's also an Orioles barbeque apron, a cap with orange panel, a tote bag, a plaid floppy hat, high socks, a trucker hat, a pet leash, a hooded sweatshirt, a knit scarf, a knit bomber hat and a Bird bobblehead, along with a Chris Tillman growth chart and J.J. Hardy replica jersey.

Check out the complete schedule here.