Showalter on Tillman, Reimold, Trumbo, Perez and more

SARASOTA, Fla. - Chris Tillman worked out this morning after receiving a cortisone injection yesterday in his left hip. Manager Buck Showalter said Tillman continues to feel good and is expected to start on March 9 or 10.

"That injection, a lot of times you have to take a day or two after," Showalter said. "This is like where you're looking at a monitor and you see the exact little bitty hot spot and you're able to put it right on it. The only thing is, he's a little sore from the point of entry, but he's doing everything today. He's ready to go. Hopefully, that will finish it off.

"He's good. (Yovani) Gallardo felt good from yesterday, so they'll move in there."

Nolan Reimold is in the lineup today as the designated hitter, with Mark Trumbo playing right field.

"With the shoulder (Reimold) had last year, we're taking it real slow with him, but I want him to get his at-bats," Showalter said. "He's throwing and doing some things. Just use the opportunity. I want them both to get at-bats today.

"One of them is going to DH and one of them is going to play right field. Nolan, give him another day or two with his shoulder and get Trum out there."

Trumbo's last appearance in right field at Ed Smith Stadium led to a misplayed fly ball in Sunday's intrasquad game.

"It's kind of like (Hyun Soo) Kim in left, just trying to familiarize yourself on their comfort level and our comfort level with them," Showalter said. "Spring training's real good about that. You get a lot of looks like that.

"If you can play the outfield in spring training, you can play it anytime. It's one of the most challenging positions in spring training. It's a big fooler. You can really get fooled by outfielders' defensive abilities in spring training on the negative side, all the backgrounds.

"Here, it's good because you can see the ball off the bat and the wind and the high sky. The depth perception is so hard. You don't see many good breaks on balls around here unless they're low. You see those OK. Any other ball that's up in the air, with the wind and the depth ...

"I'm afraid we're going to be here a while today with the wind blowing out."

I wrote earlier that Triple-A catcher Audry Perez threw out Ozzie Albies trying to steal yesterday in the bottom of the 10th inning. I asked Showalter about it.

"We had a really good time to the plate by (Pedro) Beato and we had a really good time to second. He makes most of his throws from his knees. That's one of the things that he was going to work on a little bit, and he throws real well from his knees. He's one of those guys.

"Audry, that was a thing where we really wanted to bring him back. That was a quick major league invitation to keep him from going out there. We actually thought he might be taken in the Rule 5. I know our manager and pitching coach in Triple-A and all the pitchers there really like Audry. He's another depth guy for us."

Pitchers David Hess, Joe Gunkel and Donnie Hart came over today from minor league camp.

The Mariners signed Efren Navarro to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. The Orioles designated Navarro for assignment after signing Gallardo, and he refused an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.

Chris Davis heads to batting practice before Orioles' home exhibition opener.