Showalter on Wieters and other pregame notes and quotes

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles catcher Matt Wieters is available off the bench tonight, according to manager Buck Showalter, after having his right elbow examined by Dr. James Andrews in Pensacola, Fla., and grabbing a flight back to Tampa.

Showalter anticipates that Wieters will be in Thursday night's lineup against Rays left-hander David Price. He's expected to serve as the designated hitter.

Showalter said Wieters should be catching again "in the near future."

Wieters underwent an MRI on his right elbow Monday and met with Andrews today.

"It's kind of what we thought," Showalter said. "Most of the national doctors, so to speak, concurred with our guys and Johns Hopkins, and we're very lucky to have them.

"It's the type of thing you want to make sure you know what you're dealing with. That was the whole idea with the MRI on Monday and letting him see Dr. Andrews today, so we could proceed forward. Once again, it's kind of the same thing our guys have been saying."

Asked how we should term the injury, Showalter replied, "I don't know. I think it's kind of old, something that's been there since maybe even from his pitching days at Georgia Tech.

"If you took a picture of the elbow or shoulder of everybody out here, you're going to find something abnormal about it. We're just trying to judge the severity. He's not having any point tender pain. It's not like it's some pain he can't ... He's just been getting it treated a little bit because it didn't feel like he was getting the same strength from it. I think he'll be catching for us here at some point in the near future."

Wieters isn't going to catch tonight, but mainly because he's working on limited rest.

"Matt will be available to us tonight," Showalter said. "I expect him to be in the lineup tomorrow in some form or fashion. We'll see how he feels.

"It's not a given that he's going to have to have some form of surgery, either. A lot of guys manage this the rest of their careers, so that's about as good of news as... But everything's been kind of the same diagnosis. Just a little more detailed by guys who have seen a lot of elbows and shoulders of major league catchers."

Showalter said he doesn't intend to rest Wieters any more than already planned before the elbow exams.

"It doesn't hurt him to hit at all. That's not a problem," Showalter said.

"I'm not going to give an exact time frame when he might be catching, but if it proceeds down the path that we hope it does, he will be catching again in the near future. "

The Orioles brought Caleb Joseph to Tropicana Field as sort of a 24-hour taxi player because they had to make sure Wieters would avoid the disabled list.

"We had a pretty good idea what they were going to say, but if they say he's on the DL and you're sitting here with one catcher, so we had Caleb come in," Showalter said. "He's going to play some. The plan for him is to catch tonight and we'll see where we are tomorrow."

Joseph is making his major league debut at 27 after being named the Eastern League's Player of the Year last season.

"He's kind of been a steady climber," Showalter said. "He really wants this. He's gotten a little better each year.

"One common thing is pitchers really like throwing to this guy. Very engaged with the game. I think he'll be a quick study with the advanced reports. He'll be all right. He's a pretty big moment for him and he deserves it. He very easily could have been our minor league Player of the Year last year. The guy drove in almost 100 runs at Double-A. That's saying something.

"It's fun to watch it through his eyes."

Outfielder Francisco Peguero will begin an injury rehab assignment Friday at Triple-A Norfolk.

Double-A Bowie left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, on the disabled list with a sprained knee, threw 45 pitches in the bullpen today at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota and will throw live batting practice on Saturday.

"Hopefully, we're close to getting Eduardo out of there," Showalter said. "I know a lot of people are interested in him. That's going well."

Needing to make room for Joseph on the 25-man roster, the Orioles turned to their surplus of infielders and optioned Jemile Weeks to Norfolk.

"He hadn't done anything wrong, just like I told him," Showalter said. "He's a little more of a move around guy than people give him credit for. He's worked hard at shortstop and the outfield and he has a little more arm strength than people think when he turns it loose, but we've got to carry three catchers right now. Who knows, it might get to that point where we don't have to, but immediate future, until we let everything with Matt kind of quiet down from the last couple of days, I want to carry a third guy."

Weeks was 3-for-11 in three games with the Orioles after being recalled from Norfolk on April 26.

"You just keep working on whatever you think your weaknesses are and bettering those and staying consistent with everything else. That's the name of the game, to stay as consistent as possible all season," Weeks said.

"Any time you can come up and just watch some of the best guys in the world play baseball and be a part of it in the pregame and the BP, it's always a positive there. But my aspirations aren't just to come and watch every day. I'm here to play. I think they know that. You've just got to do what the game wants you to do for the time being.

"It wasn't a numbers thing. It was a thing where they had to make room, make space, and it you've been watching how they've run the team and the lineups and stuff, I was the odd guy out. There's no bitterness or anything."

Chris Davis ran sprints, threw and fielded baseballs rolled to him today as the latest progression in his workouts. He joked later that he pulled a hamstring and rolled his ankle. He's having fun with the media's obsession over his oblique.

The Orioles list Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez and Chris Tillman as their starters for the three-game series against the Astros that begins Friday night at Camden Yards. Former Oriole Scott Feldman will start Friday for Houston.