Showalter on Hart: "He's got a chance to serve a role"

In order for manager Buck Showalter to get a clearer read on Donnie Hart's potential in the majors, he's going to need the rookie left-hander to fail at the job.

Hart knows adversity and the doubts that creep into a young pitcher's mind at the minor leave level, the long bus rides providing ample time to think and overthink, but his Orioles tenure has been smoother than a bowling lane.

Hart hasn't allowed a run in 16 games since the Orioles selected his contract from Double-A Bowie on July 15. No runs in 13 2/3 innings to begin his major league career.

Left-handed hitters are 5-for-29 with two walks and seven strikeouts against Hart. He struck out Kevin Kiermaier on Thursday night leading off the top of the ninth inning. He retired David Ortiz in Boston. He's bested Bryce Harper twice, including a strikeout.

The former 27th-round draft pick is an overnight sensation at age 26, with no Triple-A experience and no fear. The Orioles finally may have found their lefty specialist after the trade market and other internal options left them unsatisfied. And this was before the organization chose him as its minor league Pitcher of the Year.

"It bodes well," Showalter said, "but that doesn't mean it's going to happen."

Which takes us back to Hart's smooth road needing a few bumps before the Orioles can start to figure him out.

"I'm more interested in the first time he gets squared up with a breaking ball strike or something happens and he gives up a couple runs. What happens his next outing and his next one?" Showalter asked.

He's hoping the answer is similar to the one delivered by Zach Britton, who came back strong after a blown save two years ago at Yankee Stadium.

Carlos Beltran hit a three-run walk-off homer in Britton's first season as closer. Britton had been 9-for-10 in save opportunities. Giving it up in the Bronx can rattle the most stoic of pitchers.

Britton didn't allow a run in his next two appearances, both non-save situations, and converted his next six as if Beltran never existed.

"I remember walking up the runway with Wally (Dave Wallace) and I said, 'We may have something here,'" Showalter said.

"That's a stage, being able to perform in that arena, and everything's fine now. What happens when it gets a little sideways, which it does with everybody? Do they fight back?

"You're seeing it some now with (Brad) Brach, Mychal Givens had a couple outings where he was really frustrated, and all of a sudden he's right back on there. But you have to give them that opportunity in order for them to do it. But he's got a chance to serve a role. We'll see."

Unlike Hart, Oliver Drake has enough Triple-A experience to teach classes at the local community college.

Drake isn't an International League lifer, but he's made 90 appearances with the Norfolk Tides in parts of three seasons, beginning with one game in 2011 before shoulder surgery altered his course, if not his delivery.

(I'm not sure whether his delivery changed, but I liked my turn of a phrase and ran with it.)

Drake shared the organization's minor league Pitcher of the Year award with Givens last summer. He made 13 relief appearances with the Orioles and allowed seven runs (five earned) and 16 hits in 15 2/3 innings, with nine walks and 17 strikeouts. Averaging 5.2 walks per nine innings won't cut it.

Drake has surrendered nine runs (eight earned) and eight hits this year in nine appearances spread over 13 1/3 innings and a couple of promotions. He's walked six and struck out 17.

Saving his best for most recently, Drake retired all six Rays he faced in Thursday night's series opener. He bore scant resemblance to the pitcher who, in back-to-back games in San Diego in late June, allowed six runs in 2 1/3 innings and was optioned back to Norfolk.

"He seems a little more comfortable," Showalter said of Drake, the 43rd-round pick in 2008 out of the Naval Academy. "His fastball command has been better. If Ollie can command the fastball, he can have some success up here, but that's ...

"He's got an out pitch, and sometimes the fastball is the out pitch. He throws a forkball, not a split. That's what's different about him. There's a difference between a forkball and a split. He throws a forkball. And the ball to strike forkball, you've got to be careful with when you're ahead in the count. But the strike to ball forkball is the pitch that will allow him to have a lot of success, especially if he can command the fastball. But those are two efficient innings he pitched (Thursday) night. That was good to see.

"That's something that's been impressed upon, we've talked about being more efficient there and not having those 25-pitch innings. In the American League, you're not as valuable to a club and that's why we've had so few appearances out of our bullpen, because guys have been able to pitch multiple innings."

* Chris Davis has hit 199 home runs with the Orioles. He's one shy of becoming the eighth player to reach 200 with the team.

Six of Davis' 38 home runs this season have come against the Rays, his highest total against any team.