Showalter pregame in Houston on the Matusz trade and more

HOUSTON - The Orioles have a different left-hander in their bullpen tonight. Ashur Tolliver joins the team from Double-A Bowie after Brian Matusz was traded yesterday.

Today, in his pregame press update, we got our first chance to hear Buck Showalter's thoughts on yesterday's Matusz trade and other moves.

"Brian and I have been together for a long time," Showalter said. "I was talking to him yesterday, and he seemed to be in good spirits. I think he knows this is a good thing for him in the long run. Now he kind of gets to pick where he's going.

"I know in the back of his mind, he'd love to have an opportunity to start. Hopefully, somebody will give him that. He'll be in the big leagues again, and he'll pitch well again. And I hope he does. We'll be pulling for him. In the long run I think it'll be a good break for him and hopefully work out for everybody."

Showalter was asked his opinion on the Orioles trading another draft pick.

"We all have personal opinions on it," he said. "It depends on if the players you're getting back are as good as our draft pick. I like the two guys we got. We really added four pitchers yesterday - one with a pretty good track record and some major league experience (in Brian Duensing). The kid from Cincinnati is interesting. All three of these guys. And, you know, it allows you to reinvest some of that in other areas, maybe at the trade deadline. Who knows?

"The two pitchers we got back, they could be as good as who the 76th pick is. I don't know. But I know the thinking behind it. It's good for Brian and good for us. We think we're a better organization this morning than we were yesterday."

Showalter spoke about the O's veteran players already going out of their way to help Tolliver.

"They make their path easier," Showalter said. "There's no hazing here. He's no 21-year-old bright-eyed rookie. Ashur is 28, he's been down a lot of roads. When you get this opportunity after waiting so long, I don't think he's going to be timid about it. Like to get him in there (tonight) if I can. We'll see what the situation dictates.

"We had some people that we were considering that were out of options, that we would lose going back if we made another move. For what our needs were at this point, Ashur was the best option. Just felt, for where we were right now, this would be the best move for the time being. Could be forever, I hope. Hope he takes it and runs with it. I know he does."

Showalter confirmed the next few days for right-hander Yovani Gallardo. They will include a second bullpen session tomorrow and he'll throw a two-inning simulated game on Saturday. After that another sim game could follow of three to four innings. By then, Gallardo could be ready for one or more or minor league rehab starts.

Showalter has also set his rotation through Saturday's game at Cleveland. After Chris Tillman tonight, Tyler Wilson and Kevin Gausman pitch in Houston. Mike Wright is set to start Friday at Cleveland with Ubaldo Jimenez going on Saturday.