Steve Johnson X-rays negative, and other notes

SARASOTA, Fla. - The X-rays on pitcher Steve Johnson's right middle finger today came back clean. It's just a bruise and he's day-to-day like the rest of us. Johnson can resume throwing once the discomfort subsides. Today's workout was cut short, ending at 11 a.m., so the Orioles could play in the annual charity golf tournament. Bullpen sessions were thrown by Dane De La Rosa, Brian Matusz and Wesley Wright in Group 1, Oliver Drake and Chaz Roe in Group 2, Tim Berry, Eddie Gamboa and Jason Garcia in Group 3, Chris Jones, Tyler Wilson and Mike Wright in Group 4, and Hunter Harvey and Logan Verrett in Group 5. The Orioles are piping in crowd noise from two playoff games at Camden Yards to simulate conditions during fielding drills. "When we do pop fly calls and priorities, we're going to have that playing over here," Showalter said, pointing to the Ed Smith Stadium field. "What happens on the back fields, when you do pop fly calls and priorities, it's not a big deal. We're going to do where when the ball leaves the bat, you start turning the volume up more and more as it's coming down, just like it is in the games, so when it's actually coming down nobody can hear anything." Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette stood behind the catchers to watch Rule 5 pitcher Garcia's bullpen session. Verrett, the other Rule 5 right-hander in camp, also threw today. "They were good," Showalter said. "We haven't had where you kind of turn your head sideways, what are they doing here moment at all. I've had some of those in the past, the first year here. It'll be interesting to see when the lights and the cameras and the games get over here." Harvey, the Orioles' first-round pick in 2013, also threw his second bullpen session in camp and continued to impress. "Good presentation, calm," Showalter said. "A lot of guys 20 years old come in here and try to throw it through the backstop. That presents a real confident front. When you tell him, 'Hey, take it easy, you're not going to make this club,' they end up doing things that make you think about it. "It was a contractual obligation for him to be here, but he's not out of place. I think that's a good compliment. He's not a max-effort on the side. His arm was a little higher today than it was last time out. That was good to see coming off some of the shoulder stuff he had." Harvey's father, Bryan, was an All-Star closer with a nasty splitter. The kid is working that pitch into his repertoire. "I noticed he threw a few splits today, so that's new," Showalter said, grinning. "I wonder where that came from." Showalter was asked about outfielder David Lough, who recovered from a slow start to bat .337 after June 1 in limited action. "He was as good a statistical hitter as we had there for a while," Showalter said. "We know he made contributions in other ways, but I think he's got another level he can go to. I'm excited about him. Obviously, you look at him, he's a very young-bodied guy. He's got a chance to be a late bloomer. "I like David. He's one of those count-on guys. You know what you're going to get from him. Great shape, very committed to doing the things he's got to do to be ready. He's a piece." Chris Parmelee is another position player who reported early to camp. He's trying to win a utility job. "Good first baseman, worked hard at being a good outfielder," Showalter said. "He's going to be interesting. Sometimes, he can go back to about where Steve Pearce was in his career at that same stage. That was a good addition to us." In Showalter's perfect world, one player would replace Nick Markakis in right field. Travis Snider is the leading candidate, but Showalter could go in other directions, including Pearce, Delmon Young and Chris Davis. "We're equipped to have that be a two- or three-headed player," Showalter said. "It also allows us to keep everybody in the flow and create a role for everybody to make contributions and hit their skill set. But somebody steps out there and takes off with it... "What's tough is the reason they're having success is the way they're being used or is the reason they're having success is they're ready to take on the full-time mantle? I don't know. All of a sudden you part the waters and you run them out there every day, sometimes a different guy shows up. That's why I think Steve's graduated a little bit from that, because he has now played every day. I think Stevie's got a grasp of who he is and what he's got to do to be successful. "Travis, I think there's only one outfielder here (Dariel Alvarez) who's younger than him. He's a young coming guy. If you look at his numbers, the left-on-left stuff doesn't scream platoon at you, so that's encouraging. You look all the way through his numbers from the minor leagues on up, he hasn't been a huge split guy when he's gotten extended at-bats." Snider is new to the organization, acquired from the Pirates for two minor league pitchers, but Showalter already is quite familiar with him. "I feel like I do know him personally, as much work as we did on him," Showalter said. "That's why I don't spend a whole lot of time in his ear. There will be plenty of time for that. I think about all the adjustments he's making. A new organization and everything. He knows how much we wanted him and liked him or we wouldn't have traded the good players we did for him. "Kirb (Wayne Kirby) was talking about him defensively already. They've been doing a lot of work out here. They think he's going to fit us well there. That was one of the things that was real attractive about him. He was not being taken out for defense. He actually was being put in for defense some, and they had a pretty good defense there. "We knew we were one left-handed bat short and I feel good about it right now. Plus, we don't have a lot of guys who are just huge splits. It's not like Delmon versus a right-handed pitcher or Steve Pearce versus a right-handed pitcher or Travis versus a left or Chris Davis versus left. It's not something where we've got to get them out of there, so that's encouraging. If we stay healthy, we should have a pretty good balance." Snider spoke with reporters via conference call after the trade, and he met with a few of us earlier today at his locker. Snider hit .288/.356/.524 with 13 doubles, nine home runs and 24 RBIs in 60 games in the second half last season. How does Snider carry it over to camp? "Just continue to get better," he said. "Throughout my career, I've been through ups and downs and I understand short-term success versus making a career out of things. "For me, I take things one day at a time. I come here with the goal of getting better at something every single day. We'll look up in September, October, once we get to the playoffs and worry about all that kind of stuff." Snider compared being with the Blue Jays, Pirates and Orioles, the first two being vastly different teams. "I came up with a club in Toronto that was full of veteran guys," he said. "I was traded over to Pittsburgh, which was a clubhouse full of young, scrappy players that aside from (Andrew) McCutchen and a few others weren't really established guys. At that time, we learned how to band together as brothers and go to war every single day. And coming over here, understanding the quality of talent. "The guys here have won Gold Gloves, guys here have played in the playoffs. It's a winning culture. For me, that's the most important thing when you come to work every day. The guys next to you believe that you're going to win. That's really why we show up every single day and put on this uniform is to get to the playoffs and get a ring. "When you get around winning teams, you see that culture and you take that pressure off yourself and you put it on the team, and the team is going to show up to play every single day and play for each other. And over the course of 162 games, that's something that gets lost in the shuffle, because you're going to go through tough times, you're going to go through ups, you're going to go (through) downs. It's really the quality and the character that you build in the clubhouse and amongst your teammates. I think coming here, that's something that's already been established, so I'm excited just to be a part of that, to come here and help this team win any way I can." And not feel pressure about replacing Markakis. "No, I have all the respect in the world for Nick and what he was able to do here and guys who get a chance to play for an organization as long as he did," Snider said. "Having played against him in Toronto for a number of years, again, I respect everything he's done here, but again, he's not here anymore. I'm here now. I'm not here to replace Nick Markakis, but to be another man on this roster and to come out here every single day with the goal of getting better, and when Buck puts my name in the lineup, I'll be ready to go." Snider, a native of Kirkland, Wash., missed FanFest to attend the Super Bowl as a rabid Seahawks fan. He said it took 24 hours to get over the crushing defeat. "It was tough," he said. "Flying home, some sadness. I think I tweeted that night, 'It's baseball season, so we're lucky. Our job starts now and we can start focusing on winning games and get back to the playoffs.' " Snider lost a bet with Maine native and diehard Patriots fan Ryan Flaherty. "We've got a dinner planned for the season," he said. "I'm going to take him out for a nice steak, pay my debt that's due. Having known that he's a Patriots fan and actually training with Ryan a few years ago, we developed that relationship prior to getting traded over here. As soon as he texted me prior to the Super Bowl, I knew what it was about. "I'm a man who's going to pay his debts. I look forward to taking him out to a fine steak somewhere of his choice." Snider didn't second-guess the Seahawks' decision to pass from the 1-yard line in the final seconds. "My view of the play is that I believe in the coaching staff," he said. "It's tough to sit back here and try to dictate what should and what shouldn't have happened. I understand that they trained a lot longer and a lot harder than any of us sitting back, trying to tell them what to do. "For me as an athlete, it gives you that perspective, but as a fan, it's frustrating when you're that close, but I couldn't imagine how frustrating it is for those guys that actually put the work in. So I try and keep that respect and hope that it's fuel for the fire going into next year."