Smith making slow progress with injured leg (updated)

Has Seth Smith dodged the disabled list?

It's never easy to prognosticate when a player is day-to-day with an injury - in Smith's case, a sore right hamstring.

Smith downplayed it after leaving Tuesday night's game in the sixth inning, insisting that his removal was precautionary and he could have stayed on the field. Manager Buck Showalter painted a bleak picture yesterday, saying the hamstring wasn't getting any better and the team might have to make an adjustment to its roster this weekend, perhaps as early as today.

Where does the leg stand now? Showalter said Smith felt better today. Smith did some running before batting practice and hit in the cage, raising hopes that he can be available against the Red Sox.

Smith's only shot at the starting lineup is Saturday against knuckleballer Steven Wright.

"We'll see how it goes," Showalter said. "He didn't do a whole lot on it yesterday besides get treatment on it. Hoping he moves around and feels pretty good.

"We're hoping today he takes a step forward."

Without limping, of course.

The Orioles toyed with the idea of activating Joey Rickard, who's trying to get the last bit of soreness out of his left middle finger. Suggested treatments don't include holding it outside the car window.

Rickard would have been limited to pinch-running and playing defense, "but that's a risky thing unless he has a real good day tomorrow (in batting practice)," Showalter said.

"Say he hits while he's active and then it swells up and blows up the next day because you've done it too early. Then you lose all those days on the DL. Not going to do that at this point. We've got a little bit of an issue because we don't have a position player on the (40-man) roster. It's a little bit of a challenge. Nothing that we can't overcome."

The Orioles should have an update on closer Zach Britton's MRI later tonight. Britton had his elbow and left forearm examined.

"He feels good," Showalter said. "He was ready to pitch. Yesterday in the dugout he said, 'I'm ready to throw.' He was champing at the bit yesterday. He said, 'I feel good. I'm ready to go.' "

Welington Castillo is behind the plate tonight, his usual spot when Wade Miley isn't pitching. He's batting .326/.341/.419 with four doubles and three RBIs in 11 games.

Showalter isn't designating Caleb Joseph as Miley's personal catcher. He doesn't like such arrangements. But he's also not prone to fixing something that isn't broke.

"I try not to. But I'm not stupid, either," he said.

"The only thing I was really saying, and I meant, is it's a dangerous proposition when it doesn't work. I had that in New York with a couple of catchers and the guy was always politicking behind the scenes, talking to the pitchers. 'Say this, say that, be quoted saying this.' And the guy wasn't very good and it got to be an issue. I don't see that here.

"I like things that help us win baseball games, OK? It can work into an excuse, which our guys don't use. Wade doesn't mind throwing to anybody. He is what he is. But you've got to be careful with it. I'm not saying it doesn't serve a purpose sometimes in some cases. Most cases, it's not and in some cases, you do benefit from it."

Showalter will hold firm to his beliefs while also staying flexible.

"I'm not going to try to show how big my tail is, but if it gets to the point it's a definite advantage, then we'll go with it," he said. "I'm going to do what's best for the Orioles and our best chance to win. If that's pretty obvious, then we'll go there. And that's not backtracking, that's reality."

Update: The Orioles lead 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Adam Jones in the third and Manny Machado's two-out, 421-foot home run to left-center field in the fifth.