Showalter talks about decision to option Joseph

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said catcher Caleb Joseph will rejoin the club in 10 days after being optioned today to Triple-A Norfolk.

Joseph probably would have played only once or twice before rosters expand on Sept. 1 and he needs the at-bats, a season-long offensive funk leaving his average at .193 (22-for-114) with two doubles and no RBIs.

Matt Wieters came off the paternity list today and Francisco Pena will remain with the club. Joseph was in the clubhouse this afternoon.

"John (Russell) and I spent some time with him," Showalter said. "We'd like to get him some at-bats consistently with Matt back. In fact, he would have caught tonight if Matt wasn't back. Got an opportunity to get him 10 days of at-bats, some things he's been working on. Get him back.

"Just thought the benefit would have been better there. He doesn't lose any service time or anything. He'll be back in 10 days. Before that if we have a problem."

Showalter stated the obvious that Joseph would rather stay in the majors, but he listened to the reasons why the Orioles decided to send him down and understands the logic behind it.

"I think it benefits us and him, not only 10 days from now but in the future, too," Showalter said. "There are a lot of variables. But it was an opportunity that we had to get him some consistent at-bats and some of the things he's been working on getting back to."

Joseph hit .234/.299/.394 in 100 games last season, with 16 doubles, 11 home runs and 49 RBIs. He never got on track offensively this season, the frustration mounting to the point where he broke a bat over his knee Saturday night after fouling out in the ninth inning and stranding two runners. He also missed a month of the season with a testicular injury caused by a foul ball.

"This guy's got a pretty good track record offensively behind him," Showalter said. "He's a better hitter than he's shown here and I think sometimes it kind of gets mentally and emotionally in there.

"Caleb's driven in some big runs for us and he's been a nice guy to have down the bottom of the order, because if you relax on him, he's a guy you like to see coming up with people on base. We've just got to get him back to that, and how do you do it? Sitting around playing once every 10 days. It doesn't work too good."

Showalter didn't read too much into Joseph breaking his bat Saturday night.

"A lot of people do," he said. "He's a very driven guy, very competitive, smart, good catcher. I think it's more something where we're thinking about, how do we get him back a little bit I think mentally? I like Caleb a lot. Very good catcher, very good teammate. He's a winning player. It's just we have an opportunity here we may not have to give him 30 at-bats maybe before he comes back."

Meanwhile, Chris Tillman remains scheduled to start Thursday against the Nationals in D.C., and left-hander T.J. McFarland is pitching tonight for Double-A Bowie in Trenton.